Should you get an inspection done on your home before you list it? My advice is not to, and here’s why.
Click here to use our free home evaluation tool.
Looking to buy a home? Click here to search all houses on the local MLS.
There are two schools of thought regarding whether or not you should order an inspection for your home before you put it on the market.
The first is that, yes you should spend the money to get an inspection done. This way, the inspector can provide you with a list of the home’s deficiencies and you can then either pay to fix those deficiencies or disclose them on your seller property condition report, as required by law. You can also just provide a copy of the home inspection to the buyer. The inspection will cost you $350 to $550, depending on your home’s size.
“
Even if you do provide the buyer with a copy of your home inspection report, they’ll still hire their own inspector to do the job.
”
The second school of thought (and the one that I lean toward) is to not spend money on a pre-inspection and instead just make the repairs that you know need to be done. After that, wait for the buyer to have their own home inspection done so they can request the repairs most important to them. This way, you’re not stuck with two lists of repairs that need to be made—one from your inspector, and one from their inspector.
Even if you do provide the buyer with a copy of your home inspection report, they’ll still hire their own inspector to do the job so they know they have someone who is looking out for their best interests.
After you make the repairs that you know need to be done and the buyer has their own inspection completed, you can negotiate with them over which further repairs need to be made.
For more information about buying or selling, be sure to visit my website ShannonR.com. If you have any other real estate questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.