When buying a home, requesting a home inspection makes sense, even if it isn’t always feasible. What about when you are thinking about listing your home? In that case, you might feel that ordering a home inspection would open up a can of worms you’d rather not deal with.
In your mind, you see the worst-case scenario play out where a problem is discovered that makes potential buyers run for the hills.
It may seem counterintuitive to put your home under the microscope, where you may shed light on hidden pitfalls that could make selling more complicated.
However, with the right strategy, having a pre-listing inspection can be an excellent sales tool and give you a competitive edge in a challenging market. In this post, we’ll consider the benefits and implications of ordering an inspection before listing your home on the market.
Analyze the Market
In a fast-moving seller’s market, getting a pre-listing inspection may not be necessary. When buyers are competing over few available listings, you are unlikely to receive many conditional offers. Your home is likely to sell quickly, with or without an inspection.
However, everything changes when the market slows down and buyers have multiple listings to choose from. In this case, having a home inspection ahead of time can give you a distinct advantage over anyone else selling in or near your neighbourhood.
Some homeowners forgo this step, and instead leave it up to the buyer. Anyone has the right to order an inspection before placing an offer to ensure there are no unpleasant surprises once they’ve committed to the purchase.
They do so at their own expense, and it does slow down the process considerably. The buyer’s decision to request an inspection also comes down to the market. If competition is high, they won’t likely want to risk being out of pocket with no guarantee of getting the property. As the seller, this could still hurt you. Even in a fast-paced market, potential buyers will favour homes with a pre-listing inspection.
A successful sale involves a lot of moving parts. The resources below will help you create a solid strategy:
- Refining Your Offer Strategy When Selling First House
- Tough Questions to Ask Your Realtor® When Selling Your House
- 5 Quick Updates That Add Resale Value
Inspire Buyer Confidence
Conducting a home inspection takes time. And, of course, there is a cost associated with it. In Ontario, the average price ranges from $300 to $500. Why would anyone go to all this trouble and potentially expose issues that could be a dealbreaker to potential buyers?
Keep in mind that many issues that could spook buyers are minor. However, nothing is more frightening than the unknown, which means getting an inspection ahead of time can instill buyers with a greater sense of confidence.
There is a reason that the condition of home inspection is one of the most common contingencies in an offer. No one wants to end up with a house with unforeseen problems, especially with these high prices. And yet, even the most beautiful home could be hiding any number of flaws to the untrained eye.
When all things are equal, a buyer will lean towards a seller who has taken the initiative to assure them that the home is sound. When everything checks out, they will be more confident in placing an offer, and may even drop the condition of home inspection. All of this means your sale will likely proceed faster, with less chance of your home going back onto the market because a condition fell through.
Legal Protection
By law, you must disclose any known latent defects that could affect the safety or enjoyment of your home. You can’t hide electrical problems or structural damage and hope the buyer doesn’t notice until after the transaction finalizes. If you do, you could find yourself facing a bitter legal battle afterward.
The caveat is that while you must disclose known issues, you can’t be held responsible for something you were unaware of. As always, it comes down to proof, and having a pre-listing inspection allows you clearly demonstrate what you knew about the home at the time of the sale.
The real estate market can change on a dime. The articles below will help you stay up to speed:
- Can You Buy or Sell a Home Using an App?
- From Buyers to Sellers: The Intricate Dance of Inflation, Interest Rates, and Real Estate
- How to Ignore Bad Real Estate Advice Without Losing Friends
Reveal Areas of Opportunity
The strongest case against getting a pre-listing inspection is the fear of what it might uncover. What if it reveals big problems with your home that turn buyers away? That is always a possibility but look at it another way. It also reveals areas of opportunity, usually minor fixes that will help you earn more money after your sale closes.
As we mentioned earlier, nothing is more intimidating than not knowing. Even if there’s an issue that you can’t or don’t want to fix, being aware of it allows you to confront it directly.
- For example, your house has UFFI? How terrifying! Except if you know ahead of time, you can conduct the research that shows that this isn’t actually a problem most of the time.
- Your house is in a termite zone? That should have buyers running away screaming, correct? Unless you know that living in a termite zone is actually the safest place to be because of how stringently the City of Guelph monitors the situation.
Our long experience shows that homeowners who obtain a pre-listing inspection have an easier time selling for top dollar. It’s a simple and inexpensive way to make your listing stand out even during the most competitive and challenging selling situations.
Do you need more advice to create a successful home selling strategy in this environment? We are here to help, backed with the latest facts and data. Reach out to 519-826-7109 or email info@gowylde.cafor more information or to get started.
