The home selling process can be a very stressful time. In most cases your are trying to keep your home immaculate, constantly rearranging schedules to accommodate showings, and probably also out looking for your new home. The last thing any seller wants to happen is to run into issues after their home has been inspected. Here are a few tips to hopefully help the process go smoothly!
1- Pre-Inspect your home! Hire a local home inspector to go through and check out your home before you list! This is a great idea because then you can preemptively address any large issues and hopefully catch any possible deal breakers on the front end! You can also knock out some of the smaller items yourself if you have time!
2- Disclose any issues. If there are any issues make sure you disclose them in the disclosure form, in most cases if the buyer hires a competent home inspector he will find these issues anyway and honesty is always the best policy! Remember, there are no perfect homes out there… however if it appears you are attempting to hide issues it can and most likely will affect buyers view of the home.
3- Give the buyers and Inspectors space and time. If at all possible find something to do for a few hours while the inspection is being done. It is in your favor that the buyers are present during the inspection. For a buyer reading a 40 page report is normally a lot scarier than doing a walk through on site with the inspector and going over the issues and any questions in person. If you are home during inspections the buyer may not feel comfortable staying, they may leave early and/or they probably wont ask questions freely. This can leave them confused, worried or anxious.
4- Make sure that your attics, electrical panels and mechanicals can be easily accessed. This means moving clothes from the closet, not storing items around the furnace or water heater, making sure the electrical panel isn’t hidden behind a picture frame or a shelf, and moving any thing in the garage that may be below an attic hatch. The last thing anybody wants is for the inspector not to be able to inspect one of these items. Usually when an inspector cant inspect an item it will end up delaying the process and having to schedule another inspection for that item.
5- Clean homes go faster. If your home is clean it will make the inspection go a lot faster! Also remember the buyers are usually present and if the house is a mess it can affect how they feel about the home after inspections.
6- If possible take your pets with you or have them in a crate during the inspection. There are usually a lot of people going in and out, opening and closing doors and windows, so if a pet is left out there is a good chance they can sneak out if they want to. The last thing we want is for this to happen!
7- Don’t take it personally! This is probably the hardest one. As inspectors our job is to look for all the negatives in your home. This doesn’t mean we think your home is horrible, even brand new homes have issues! So if you do read through the report just remember that the inspector is only documenting the issues and if the inspector went through his own home the list would probably look very similar!
Hopefully you find these tips helpful during your home sale! If you need help with a pre-inspection on your existing home or a full inspection on your new home give me a call and I can help!
Danny Geurink, Certified Master Inspector
Your Grand Rapids Home Inspector
