Advice for Home Sellers

[Bruce A. King]

Want to pay two times for those needed repairs? This is what occurs when you fail to understand the true condition of your home. The buyer has already offered you less and then will want you to lower the price even more or repair things after his inspector writes the report. Don't put something up for sale that has an unknown condition, its just not the way to do it anymore, buyers have gotten way smarter. A pre-listing inspection is a must and you can typically negotiate a lower cost inspection if you just want the major items inspected. These are called limited inspections and are legal as long as the scope is agreed upon in writing before the inspecton begins. Limited inspections typically omit things like windows, interior doors, outlets, general paint, caulk, maintenance and low cost issues. Now there is no reason to blame anyone but yourself for that buyer that walks away after learning the true condition of that house you are selling.

[gfitzgerald]

The agent I was with yesterday says she recommends get ready for sale inspections. She also said 95% say no my house is ready. When you live in a house for some time I think they ignore or forget about the problems and just prey they wont be found. She said she estimates after the buyer inspection the average cost to repair is $10K in her market.