Pros & Cons of Getting a Pre-Inspection Before Listing Your Home

Video Transcript:

Should you do a home inspection if you are selling your home prior to putting it on the market? What are the pros and what are the cons of a pre-listing home and sewer inspection? Spoiler alert! In our opinion, there are no cons. Hi, everybody, I’m Sandra Brenner with Steve Hill of the Brenner|Hill Team at Windermere. And please stay tuned to the end of the video for tips on how to pass your home inspection.

As you can tell, we are huge advocates of having your home fully inspected, including a sewer scope, before you go on the market. I know that some sellers worry about having to disclose everything that comes up during an inspection and scaring off potential buyers. But let me ask you a question, when do you want a buyer to get scared away from buying your home, before you go under contract or after? It’s before you go under contract. If a buyer is going to get cold feet after they learn the true condition of your home, you don’t want to lose precious market time because of them. And just because one buyer gets scared away, that doesn’t mean that another buyer will.

We believe there are numerous advantages of having a pre-listing inspection regardless of the market conditions. However, if you are in a seller’s market, having a full inspection report available to buyers will most likely encourage more offers with waived inspection contingencies. In a seller’s market, this will also helps alleviate stress on the buyer’s side. They don’t have to scramble and try and perform their own inspection in order to be competitive with other buyers. It’s a win-win for both the buyer and the seller.

If a serious issue does come up during the inspection, then we have time to deal with it versus this same issue coming up during the middle of a transaction. Unforeseen inspection issues can quickly kill a sale. However, if you do an inspection early, then you have time to get bids and decide how and who will perform the work, or you may decide just to disclose the issue to potential buyers.

Having a full inspection, including a sewer scope, will save the seller a ton of stress and anxiety, and probably a fair amount of money. This is just one way we make the process of selling a home as stress-free as possible for our sellers. Please download our PDF, “How to Pass Your Home Inspection”. Curious how we could help you? Please give us a call and remember there’s never any obligation in meeting with us. We are Steve and Sandra, your Greater Seattle Real Estate experts. Elevated service. Elevated results.