Higher Ground

Pre-Listing Inspections are becoming more popular because they virtually eliminate all the pitfalls and hassles associated with waiting to do the home inspection until a buyer is found.  In many ways, waiting to schedule the inspection until after a home goes under agreement is too late. 

 

Pre-Listing inspections are arranged and paid for by the seller, usually just before the home goes on the market.  Higher Ground Inspections works for the seller and generates a report for the seller regarding the homes current condition.  The seller can then make any repairs they deem necessary.  The seller can also makes multiple copies of the report and shares them with potential buyers who tour the home for sale. 

 

Pre-Listing inspections are a benefit to all parties in a real estate transaction and are a win-win-win-win situation.  

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Advantages to the Seller:

• The seller can choose a certified inspector rather than be at the mercy of the buyer's choice of inspector.

• The seller can schedule the inspections at the seller's convenience.

• It might alert the seller to any items of immediate concern, such as radon gas or active termite infestation.

• The seller can assist the inspector during the inspection, something normally not done during a buyer's inspection.

• The seller can have the inspector correct any misstatements in the inspection report before it is generated.

• The report can help the seller realistically price the home if problems exist.

• The report can help the seller substantiate a higher asking price if problems don't exist or have been corrected.

• A Pre-Listing inspection reveals problems ahead of time, which:

  • might make the home show better.

  • gives the seller time to make repairs and shop for competitive contractors.

  • permits the seller to attach repair estimates or paid invoices to the inspection report.

  • removes over-inflated buyer-procured estimates from the negotiation table.

• The report might alert the seller to any immediate safety issues found, before agents and visitors tour the home.

• The report provides a third-party, unbiased opinion to offer to potential buyers.

• A Pre-Listing inspection permits a clean home inspection report to be used as a marketing tool.

• A Pre-Listing inspection is the ultimate gesture in forthrightness on the part of the seller.

• The report might relieve a prospective buyer's unfounded suspicions, before they walk away.

• A Pre-Listing inspection lightens negotiations and 11th-hour re-negotiations.

• The report might encourage the buyer to waive the inspection contingency.

• The deal is less likely to fall apart, the way they often do, when a buyer's inspection unexpectedly reveals a last-minute problem.

• The report provides full-disclosure protection from future legal claims.

 

Advantages to the Home Buyer:

• The inspection is done already.

• The inspection is paid for by the seller.

• The report provides a more accurate third-party view of the condition of the home prior to making an offer.

• A Pre-Listing inspection eliminates surprise defects.

• Problems are corrected, or at least acknowledged, prior to making an offer on the home.

• A Pre-Listing inspection reduces the need for negotiations and 11th-hour re-negotiations.

• The report might assist in acquiring financing.

• A Pre-Listing inspection allows the buyer to sweeten the offer without increasing the offering price by waiving inspections.

 

Common Myths About Seller Inspections:

Q.  Don't Pre-Listing inspections kill deals by forcing sellers to disclose defects they otherwise wouldn't have known about?

A.  Any defect that is material enough to kill a real estate transaction is likely going to be uncovered eventually anyway.  It is best to discover the problem ahead of time, before it can kill the deal.

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Q.  A newer home in good condition doesn't need an inspection anyway.  Why should the seller have one done?

A.  Unlike real estate agents, whose job is to market properties for their sellers, inspectors produce objective reports.  If the property is truly in great shape, the inspection report becomes a pseudo-marketing piece, with the added benefit of having been generated by an impartial party. 

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