For many home sellers, the inspection is one of the most stressful parts of a real estate transaction. As highlighted in the video below, it’s a critical stage where selling a home can often face important challenges. However, it doesn’t have to be a source of anxiety. For a prepared seller, the inspection is a valuable opportunity to demonstrate the quality of the home and facilitate a smooth, transparent sale.
Your Top Home Inspection Questions, Answered
Why You Should Get a Home Inspection Before Listing Your House
A proactive approach can prevent multiple issues down the line. By getting a pre-listing home inspection before your property goes on the market, you gain important insight into your home’s condition. As Ralph Harvey, CEO and Lead Broker of List With Freedom, explains in the video, this allows you to understand what a buyer’s inspector is likely to find. This knowledge helps you to address necessary repairs on your own schedule and budget, or to price your home accurately with full disclosure.
An investment of a few hundred dollars, typically between $350 and $500, provides you with a detailed report and significant control over the process, helping you avoid last-minute surprises and high-pressure negotiations.
What Do Home Inspectors Look For?
It’s important to enter the process with a realistic perspective. No home is perfect. The purpose of an inspection is to provide an objective evaluation of the property’s condition. An inspector will conduct a thorough, non-invasive examination of the home’s primary systems and components.
Here is a summary of their main areas of focus:
| Category | Key Areas of Focus |
|---|---|
Structure | Foundation, framing, floors, walls, and roof structure. |
Exterior | Siding, windows, doors, decks, porches, and site drainage. |
Roofing | Roof coverings, flashing, gutters, and skylights. |
Plumbing | Supply pipes, drains, fixtures, and the water heater. |
Electrical | Service panel, visible wiring, outlets, and switches |
HVAC | The heating and cooling systems and their components. |
Interior | Walls, ceilings, floors, windows, and doors |
Insulation & Ventilation | Conditions in the attic and crawl spaces. |
In some cases, an inspector may also recommend specialized testing for environmental hazards like mold, radon, or asbestos if they observe indicators that warrant further investigation.
How to Prepare Your Home for Inspection
Proper preparation can significantly impact the tone and outcome of an inspection. It signals to the inspector (and eventually, to potential buyers) that the property has been cared for. A few key steps can ensure the process goes smoothly.
- Ensure Full Access: The inspector will need to access all areas of the home, including the attic, basement, crawl spaces, and utility areas. Clear any clutter that could obstruct their path to the furnace, water heater, or electrical panel.
- Address Minor Repairs: As Ralph points out in the video, small issues like burnt-out light bulbs, leaky faucets, or doors that don’t latch properly can create a negative impression. Addressing these minor items beforehand demonstrates good maintenance.
- Perform a Systems Check: It is wise to replace dirty HVAC filters, test all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and confirm that major appliances are in working order.
- Provide Relevant Documentation: If you have recently completed major repairs or upgrades, such as a new roof or HVAC system, leaving the receipts or warranties in a visible location can be very helpful.
The Seller’s Role on Inspection Day
A commonly asked question is whether the seller should be present during their own pre-listing inspection. While you have hired the inspector, it is still best practice to allow them the space to conduct their work without interruption. This ensures an objective and efficient evaluation. Your presence can unintentionally create a dynamic where the inspector may feel rushed or distracted, so it’s best to let them focus on the task at hand.
The best course of action is to ensure the home is accessible, all utilities are on, and then leave for the duration of the inspection, which typically takes two to three hours. You can schedule a call or meeting with the inspector afterward to review their findings in detail.
What To Do With the Home Inspection Report
Once your pre-listing inspection is complete, you will receive a detailed report. This document is your strategic guide. It outlines the home’s condition and allows you to make informed decisions before buyers enter the picture. For each finding, you must decide on a course of action. As Ralph explains, your primary options are to make the repairs proactively, or to leave the issue as-is and prepare to disclose it.
By addressing major items upfront, you can present a cleaner report and a more attractive property to potential buyers, minimizing the need for future negotiations. For items you choose not to fix, you can adjust your pricing accordingly and provide full transparency from the start. This builds trust and leads to a smoother closing.
How to Choose a Qualified Home Inspector
When hiring an inspector for your pre-listing evaluation, it is important to choose a qualified professional. Look for an inspector who holds a certification from a nationally recognized organization, such as the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) or the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI) These associations have established standards of practice and a code of ethics for their members.
Ask for a sample report to understand the quality and detail of their work. A thorough inspection is a vital tool for achieving a fair and successful sale, and with the right preparation, you can approach the process with confidence.
How List With Freedom Can Help
Navigating the home inspection process is just one part of a successful home sale. Having an experienced team on your side can make all the difference, from preparing for the inspection to negotiating the final terms of the sale. At List with Freedom, we provide expert guidance and a flat-fee MLS listing service that helps you sell your home with confidence while saving money.
If you’re ready to take the next step, learn how List With Freedom works and begin the process of listing your home!
Video Transcript:
Five deal breakers in residential real estate transactions. The one that most often causes the most problems is home inspections.
Home inspections always reveal something that’s wrong. Typically, they’re very minor things, easy to fix—light bulbs being out, simple things like that, maybe a little bit of caulking around a tub or a shower or something. Really small things. Once in a while, they get into much bigger items.
Your house isn’t perfect. I promise you that. Even if the house was just built today, there’s going to be something wrong with it. Builders and homeowners alike, we all have problems with maintaining our properties and seeing every little detail of every little element of the house.
One of the things that you can do to prevent this from happening to you is to have a home inspection done on the property before you list it. Typically, it’ll cost you between $350 to $500, depending on what area you live in. But you can get them to come out and do that, and it’s a big help. You know what’s wrong then. You know what the buyer is likely to find at that point.
And some of the minor things that you see there—light bulbs and lights, maybe doors that don’t close quite right, or whatever the case is—are simple, easy adjustments. Most people can do it themselves, or you can get a handyman to come out and take care of that for you in short order. It doesn’t usually take very long and is not very costly to get that kind of stuff done.
And then if there are any major issues, well, now you have a bigger decision to make. Obviously, you know, do you need to replace a roof? Is there a major plumbing issue, something that you didn’t notice or see or wasn’t affecting you? I mean, maybe you had a big house and you didn’t use a bathroom for a long time, and that particular bathroom has now got a problem or something. Who knows? All these sorts of things happen.
At the very least, you have to disclose the problem, right? So you have to tell any buyers or potential buyers that there’s a problem with the house. Let them decide whether or not they want to accept that, or if they want you to fix it, or whether they’re willing to take it on for a discount or whatever the case is. You have to disclose those sorts of problems.
Or, you may be of the mindset that you want top dollar for the house, you don’t want to go through the hassle, and you want to get it fixed. Go ahead and get it fixed at that point. But you definitely have to go and look at it and see what it is that needs to be done. Evaluate it. See if you want to fix it or if you want to pass it on to the buyer with full disclosure.
Buyers don’t want to incur an unknown cost of repair when buying a house. That’s unfair. That’s not right. And it’s illegal. So we have to make sure that we tell them everything that’s involved with the property before they buy it, before they’re obligated to do anything. They need to go in with their eyes wide open, as you would want to do if you were buying the property. So just apply the golden rule: do unto others as you’d want done unto yourself.
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