Five tips for home seller inspections

Five tips for home seller inspections

By Pat Kapowich

Home seller inspections have gained commonality in the last 20 years. 

 #1 How are seller inspections used in a home sale? 

Savvy home sellers order presale inspections to avoid expensive surprises. Thanks to presale inspections and reports, home sellers and their agents can make repairs and corrections before selling. It's a brilliant gambit. Home seller inspections promote substantial offers, committed homebuyers, fewer days on the market, and successful home sales. 

 On the other hand, without home seller inspections, homebuyers surprised by property defects often renegotiate or cancel the home sale—and that's costly to home sellers. Additionally, if a homebuyer cancels due to perceived property defects, the property is stigmatized. Therefore, presale inspections empower home sellers seeking to avoid expensive and common transactional roadblocks. 

#2 Do homebuyers need inspections if seller inspections are available?

In a word, yes. It is not in the seller's best interest to have home buyers rely on inspectors they hired. It's in no one's interest. Homebuyers should be encouraged to employ their inspector, too. That's consumer protection. The agents involved must avoid having seller inspections as the primary source of property condition.

As the seller's agent, I make it clear to homebuyers and their agents that seller inspections are disclosures, not substitutes for homebuyer inspections. My seller clients allow time for homebuyers to investigate. It helps. Managing risk is a value-enhancing duty of an astute seller's agent. Protecting the rights of homebuyers is in everybody's interest. 

#3 Why would a buyer's agent insist on not hiring inspectors because the home seller is providing their inspections?

Many real estate agents believe that one set of reports and inspections on a property will be sufficient. They're mistaken.

Two sets of inspections are paramount to promote consumer protection for homebuyers and risk management for home sellers. Real estate attorneys agree. In California, disgruntled homebuyers file most real estate claims, and home sellers are the target. Home sellers and their agents must understand that they control the transaction before it starts. Since buyer’s remorse is the enemy of the home seller, buyer inspections are necessary. A buyer's agent unwilling to promote, schedule, and accommodate inspections for their buyer client is tempting fate.

#4 Are seller inspections helpful when selling a property?

Home seller inspections are worth their weight in gold. Homebuyers can confidently write offers after reviewing seller inspections, reports, and disclosures. Well-informed homebuyers write purchase offers with better prices, terms, and conditions based on full disclosure. Homebuyers who make offers without vital information, such as the property's condition, do so with less confidence. This is usually apparent in their purchase offers—homebuyers who are unsure if they made the right decision are more likely to cancel a sale. That renders home seller inspections pivotal. If homebuyers think that the likelihood of any surprises is reduced, the trend is to stay in the sale and buy the property. Presale seller inspections substitute buyer-beware concerns with value-added consumer confidence.

#5 Why should the home seller spend money on inspections?

Best practices have improved the consumer experience in residential real estate brokerage, especially when home sellers provide presale inspections as property disclosures. That's a fact.

For example, presale seller inspections and reports might cost up to $900 for a condo, $1,900 for a large house with a pool, and $2,900 for a home with well water and a septic system.
In my experience, the seller's investment in an inspection is recouped immediately through more substantial offers. The condo buyer might write a higher or list-price offer in multiple situations after reading seller disclosures. Without seller inspections, the same buyer might make an offer that is $5,000 to $10,000 lower.

For a house in the suburbs with a seller inspection investment of $1,500, a lone home buyer might write a request at the listed price. If that same homebuyer was competing for the property with other buyers, that homebuyer could confidently write an offer of $5,000 to $55,000 over the list price. Without seller inspections and reports, this particular homebuyer might write a purchase offer $5,000 to $55,000 under list price. Presale seller inspections are an investment that pays enormous dividends.

For more information, view the standards of practice page of the American Society of Home Inspectors: https://www.homeinspector.org/Resources/Standard-of-Practice

Questions? Or are you or someone you know navigating life’s transitions? Let lauded negotiator Pat Kapowich make your next move easy. Visit Kapowich’s website for free area housing data, insights and trends. Or put his artful blend of specialized credentials, decades of experience and endorsed skill set to work for you. Kapowich instills confidence when buying, selling, relocating or resizing homes. Do not just make a move — make the best move. Contact him today, Realtor Pat Kapowich, a career-long consumer-protection advocate.

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