4 Things a Seller Should Check-off Before a Buyer's Home Inspection

Depending on the market, selling a house can be a daunting task. After countless home viewings, sifting through offers and more than likely, finding your own new home, finally accepting what a buyer is proposing can be a huge relief. However, there’s still a road from accepting an offer to finally inking the paperwork on your home sale. On that road is the home inspection.

 During a typical home inspection, an inspector will be hired to take a look at your home, point out any repairs that need to be made, and leave it up to the seller to decide which of those repairs will be dependencies for them to actually sign on the dotted line.

With that in mind, as a seller, what things should you do to make the inspection go as easy as it can? Check out our checklist below to help you make the process as easy and straightforward as possible.

1. Clean Your Home:
   When an inspector comes to take a look around your house, they’re going to want to deep-dive into a variety of different places— namely, to see things like your water heater, a closer look at your A/C unit, your faucets/drains, etc. As such, make it a point to tidy up and make sure an inspector can reach what they’re needing. With that in mind, make sure there are no dishes in the sink, pick up scattered toys, ensure there are no yard tools blocking the A/C unit, etc.

   Utility aside, cleaning up is always a good idea so that you can ensure you’re making the best impression possible with your buyers (they’re often along for the inspection). This is especially important because a buyer can always back out of a home purchase at this point should the inspection not go as planned, or produce results that work for them.

2. Ensure Access:

   If there are areas in your home that need keys to access, or need to be turned on, ensure that they are taken care of before the inspector arrives. For example, the easiest way to access your A/C unit may be through your backyard’s locked gate, with a key. You may even need to ensure electricity and water are turned on if you’re no longer residing in the house. In short, make an effort to ensure the inspector can get all of the information they need as quickly and easily as possible.

3. Consider a Seller Home Inspection:

   While the buyer typically pays for the home inspection needed before inking a sales contract, sellers can always pay for a separate inspection, before the buyer’s, in an effort to get ahead of any issues. This is always something worth considering, especially if you anticipate any major issues. Even if you just want to get an idea of what will be flagged in a buyer’s inspection report, purchasing an inspection of your own can be helpful when it comes to ballparking what you’re willing fix, what you won’t, and the price you’re ok with paying for fixes (or taking off of the contract price) in the end.

4. Fix What You Can Pre-Buyer Inspection:

   Especially if you already have a good idea of what needs to be fixed from an inspection report on your end, it’s always in your best interest as a seller to make the fixes that you can, especially if they’re small. When a buyer is looking at an inspection report, if there are too many issues listed, the next thought can often be “if these things are wrong, what else is wrong that we’re missing?” or “Maybe this home wasn’t kept up as well as I thought.” In short, you don’t want to do anything that will discourage a buyer from going through with the purchase, and often, if a buyer sees a well maintained home, they’re willing to be less stringent when it comes to the things that do need to be fixed.

When home inspections happen, there’s typically a long list of things that need to be looked at before a home purchase is actually completed. As a seller, you can get ahead of that list and make this process as easy as possible. Remember, the quicker you can get through the inspection process successfully, the quicker your home will be officially sold.