Imagine you just added child number 3 to the family and you are quickly out-growing your current home. Maybe your children are grown and left the nest and now your family home is much to large. Perhaps a relationship ended or began or you’re being transferred out of the area for a new job. Whatever the reason – it’s inevitable – life happens. And oftentimes, life changes mean housing changes. Selling a home is a huge life change that often comes with a little (or a lot) of stress. However, there are some surefire ways to reduce the stress in selling your home in Lancaster County. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be hosting a blog series we’re calling “Stress-Free Selling”. Whether you’re selling a single-family home in Manheim Township, a townhome in Penn Manor, or a condo in Hempfield – this series will have practical tips that can help you.
Today’s topic in stress-free selling is pre-listing home inspections. We’ll explain what a pre-listing home inspection is and the reasons that getting a home inspection up front can reduce your stress when selling your home.
What is a pre-listing home inspection?
A pre-listing home inspection is when you hire a certified home inspector to come to your home and complete a full home inspection up front –Â before you place your home on the market for sale. This can also include a termite inspection, or a well, septic, or radon inspection if you so choose.
How does a pre-listing home inspection benefit me – the seller?
Be prepared and avoid surprises. By choosing to have a home inspection up front, you head off surprises that would otherwise occur in the middle of your real estate transaction. You will already know what items the home inspector has discovered that could be potential issues and will be able to disclose these to potential home buyers. By knowing this going into the transaction, you can avoid scrambling around to try to keep the deal together in the midst of the transaction.
Save thousands of dollars. Sure, when you elect to do an up-front home inspection, you’ll need to shell out a couple hundred dollars to a home inspector. However, the cost of a home inspection is nothing compared to the potential cost of home repairs needed – which could amount to thousands of dollars. If you were to wait for a potential buyer to pay for a home inspection after they’ve submitted a contract, you run the risk of the buyer requesting thousands of dollars for repairs. Knowing if repairs are needed up front allows you options – make corrections before listing the home for sale, disclose the repairs needed up front, or adjust the price of the home accordingly (if necessary).
Knowledge is power.  In this case, negotiating power. Many Lancaster County home buyers request home inspections when they place an offer on a home. Those inspections are done sometimes 10-20 days into the transaction and then afterwards, the buyers often come back and try to re-negotiate. By knowing the results of those home inspections up front, before even accepting the initial offer, you will be able to better determine what you’re willing to accept as a sales price. Also, you’re often able to negotiate with the buyers so that they choose not to do a home inspection. Since you’ve already had one done, buyers will often accept the results of that inspection, and choose not to do their own.
In short, a pre-listing home inspection gives you more information going in to the home selling process, allows you make more well-informed decisions, and has the potential to save you a boatload of money. Stayed tuned to our blog for more stress-free selling tips which will include home staging, appraisals, and more.