Pre-Home Inspections: What Every Seller Should Consider !
Chris and I are Realtors so our opinion is obviously one from that perspective. But, that perspective was pierced last year when we helped my mother sell our family home of 35+ years located in Bucks County. It was a really slow market at that time and we wanted to sell the home in a few months rather than the average 6-8 months it was taking other homes to sell. So, my perspective as "just another Realtor" faded fast since this was the home I spent my formidable years growing up in and there were many memories embedded into every square foot.
Collectively we agreed that the old house was very well maintained but it certainly needed some repairs.Therefore, we thought it would be a great idea to get a pre-inspection to get a good overview of what we might be up against when a buyer got their own independent home inspection. We did not want any surprises.
We got the inspection done and decided to repair many of the small items that popped up and adjust the price of the property to compensate for some of the items we were not interested in replacing or repairing. We decided not to use our home inspection as a marketing tool in the advertising though we could easily have done so. That was not our goal in getting the pre-inspection. We did it for our own information and for disclosure purposes.
The home went pending in 3 weeks in a slow market and settled in less than 45 days at a great price. I attribute that success story to the decision we made to get the pre-inspection. It eliminated the "fear of the unknown" regarding repairs and allowed us to confidently and intelligently price and sell the property fast.
Every seller in this Real Estate Market, whether it be in Philadelphia, Bucks County Pennsylvania, or anywhere across the country should consider doing a pre-inspection prior to selling their home. In fact, every Realtor representing a seller should consider introducing that option to their seller clients.
Pre-inspections are beneficial and should be considered by every seller because:
1) Pre-Inspections remove the fear of the unknown
2) Pre-Inspections create a platform for realistic pricing from the start
3) Pre-Inspections provide a real advantage when used to increase marketing appeal
The bottom line is information helps empower one to make informed decisions. If interested in additional information regarding selling your home, please contact The Somers at thesomersteam@yahoo.com.
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