Major changes are about to occur in your life and exciting times are ahead. Selling your home is a part of that process of change. Not only do you want a quick sale, but you also want to get the most money out of the transaction. Perhaps most of all, you want to avoid any negative surprises in that process.
Below are a few tips to help you maximize profits from the sale of your home.
- Presale Inspection
- Create a COMPLETE Marketing Strategy
- Three Key Benefits
- Prepare Your Home for Inspections
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National Building Inspectors, LLC
PO Box 83 Littlerock, WA 98556
(888) 795-8885
Presale Inspection
Oftentimes, sellers enter into a sales contract that meets their predetermined net proceed requirements, only to be confronted with unexpected expenses after the buyer's home and pest inspections are performed.By having your home professionally inspected before placing it on the market, you can learn ahead of time what the buyer's inspectors are going to find. With this advanced information, you and your agent can decide which items should be repaired and which items should merely be disclosed and passed on to the buyer. You will have the ability to determine which repairs will reap the highest return on investment and which repairs will make your home sell faster.
Understanding your responsibilities with regard to findings on home and pest inspection reports could conceivably save you thousands of dollars. Making repair decisions before you place your home on the market allows you far more flexibility than what is possible after a buyer is involved.
Create a COMPLETE Marketing Strategy
In order to sell your home in today's market and for the best terms possible, you simply must beat your competition...the other homes that are also for sale. Most sellers work with agents to develop a plan to make the home sellable. A market analysis is often completed by the agent to determine the value of the home. Decisions are made to help create the best curb appeal and to accentuate the positive features of the home. Finally, a marketing strategy is developed.
Unfortunately, these strategies are often incomplete, focusing on the outward appearance and neglecting hidden problems. Most homeowners are simply unaware of issues within their own home, until they are uncovered by the buyer's inspector. Then it's too late. When was the last time you inspected the attic? When was the last time you crawled in the subarea?
For many people, buying a home can be primarily, an emotional decision. You want the prospective buyer to feel that the home they are buying has been well maintained and shows "pride of ownership." Knowing the condition of your home upfront permits you and your agent to create the best marketing strategy possible and beat the competition.
Three Key Benefits
Having both home and pest "presale" inspections performed gives you three key benefits:
- Both inspections will offer you and your agent invaluable assistance in the proper completion of your "seller disclosure" statements. Information from these inspections could save you a substantial amount of money and aggravation in future litigation as a result of an oversight on your part.
- Both inspections will inform you of items that either must or should be repaired to make your home the most marketable. Beat your competition by creating a well maintained home and eliminating surprises.
- Both inspections will save you time...time to make corrections, and ultimately save money by not being overcharged for those corrective services. Inspections performed at the last minute may force repairs to be completed by contractors of the buyers choice, at TOP DOLLAR. Don't allow low cost repair items to become high priced negotiating tools.
Prepare Your Home for Inspections
Tip #1 - Make the Home Accessible
Both home and pest inspections are visual inspections. Therefore, it is important for the inspector to be able to view all areas of the home. If an area is considered inaccessible due to stored articles, etc., the inspector is required to disclaim that area and recommend a further inspection.
These disclaimers not only raise questions and concerns for the buyers and lenders, they also cost additional money to perform further inspections once the areas have been made accessible. Listed below are suggestions that will assure the most complete inspection of your property:
- Subarea: Provide clear access to the crawlspace under the home. This area is of greatest importance to the inspectors. If applicable, make sure the closet containing the access hole has been cleared for easy access.
- Attic: Typically the inspector will need to at least view the attic area from the access hole. If applicable, clear the closet area of all items that may restrict access.
- Garage: It is important for the inspector to inspect the base of all the walls in the garage. Move all stored articles to the center of the room to provide a walkway around the perimeter of the entire garage.
- Utilities: Ensure all utilities are in service. Water to the home must be on to check all fixtures for proper operation and water leaks. Electricity and gas allow the home inspector to check electrical outlets, switches, appliances, heaters, and air conditioners. Clear any obstructions from around the water heater and furnace.
- Areas Under Sinks: Clear all stored articles from under the kitchen and bath sinks to allow for a complete inspection.
- Roof: Clear all debris from the roof that would prevent the inspector from seeing the entire roof surface.
Tip #2 - Make the Buyer Comfortable
The inspection process can be extremely stressful and emotional for the buyers. This is usually the moment at which they either commit to the home or walk away. To put them more at ease, vacate your home during the inspection.
Think back to the last time you bought a car. Did you feel comfortable discussing your decision in front of the dealer? Most buyers are more comfortable when the sellers are absent at the time of the inspection. Buyers can have the freedom to ask the inspector questions and make comments without concern of offending the seller. Inspectors are more comfortable sharing findings. Buyers can more easily begin to picture the property as THEIR home.
Most inspections for a 2000 square foot home take an average of two hours. Plan on being gone at least 20 minutes before the inspection begins and 30 minutes afterwards. Leave a note to have the buyer's agent call you when the inspection is complete. Take your pets with you or to a neighbors house. Go shopping. Visit a relative. Do what you can to make the inspection process smooth and you will substantially improve your odds of closing the deal.
