Do home sellers need a pre-listing inspection! What's the deal?

So today we are going to chat a little bit about should you get a PRE-LISTING INSPECTION. 

What are the benefits of a pre-listing inspection? What are the Cons? Let's chat about it!

So first and foremost it is completely optional and up to you. You do not have to get one and many home sellers choose NOT to get one! However, it could be beneficial for you to have one!

When you are preparing to sell your home, one of the things a buyer is likely to ask for is an option period and during this option period, they will likely get their own inspection (even if you have a pre-listing inspection they may choose to get their own). 

The inspection is going to show any and all defects of the house. Small and large. It has happened before that the homeowner believes their home to be in great condition, but an inspection reveals major defects that the owner had no idea about. For example foundation issues, a leaking roof, plumbing issues, and so on… 

So now all these plans you had to sell your home, the timeline you were on, all get thrown out the window… 

Well, having a pre-listing inspection could have avoided that! You could have already known about any issue that was present and either fixed the issues and had receipts for it OR disclosed those issues to the buyers upfront, priced the house accordingly with those defects noted, and let the buyers know it is AS-IS with those defects. A pre-listing inspection just eliminates some of the uncertainty that may come up after the house is already under contract. 

Another great reason to get a pre-listing inspection is to lessen your liability. So when you get a pre-listing inspection you are doing ALL that you can do to disclose known issues on the house, so that the buyer cannot come back later down the road and say you failed to disclose an issue, because you are doing everything you can do to disclose what is known and possibly unknown upfront, and of course giving the buyer the option to have their own inspection even on top of your inspection will help as well! 

HOWEVER, the caveat to this is, if you get a pre-listing inspection YOU MUST disclose every item listed “deficient” on the sellers disclosure notice and I would even take it a step further and attach the full report with the seller's property disclosure, so that is the “con” to the pre-listing inspection, is that there is an added step of work to you as the seller. 

To close out, a pre-listing inspection will help eliminate nonserious buyers by showing upfront what may be majorly wrong with the home or even just minor items or cosmetic details that are in need of repairs. Then you can say this is an AS-IS sale upfront and make the entire process much smoother while under contract as well as potentially eliminate some liability on your part when it comes to disclosing material defects! 

Personally, I do recommend homeowners get a pre-listing inspection, but it is completely optional! 

Are you looking to buy or sell in Central Texas? 

Give me a call at 214-210-9684