What about a home inspection?

For the buyer, having a home inspection might be the single most important aspect of purchasing your home and it is commonly written into a purchase offer as a buying contingency. As a seller, you have legal responsibilties to either disclose all known defects to potential buyers or provide a disclaimer that they are selling "as is". The latter is a notice of buyer beware and is the usual notice that sellers make. Even in the "as is" notice, sellers and their agents have a legal obligation to disclose any known material defects.

Based on the age of the home and its condition, we often recommend sellers have a "pre-list" home inspection for the peace of mind of knowing what it might reveal. If we know of conditions that need to be addressed, getting these done before hand will make your home more desirable and reduce the chances that a buyer will walk away from a purchase contract because of defects.

In a purchase contract, the inspection contingency gives the buyer many alternatives based on the inspection report:

• void the contract (you don't want this to happen!),
• request that you make necessary repairs,
• re-negotiate the price, or
• accept the property as-is.

The contract will stipulate time limits for having the inspection done and a specific amount of time after the inspection for the buyer to give you notice of action. If there are issues, we usually recommend that you re-negotiate the price, giving credit for the cost of any repairs or equipment replacements if they can be reasonably fixed. This way, the buyer can make the corrections and remove any future disputes as to whether they were done properly or to the buyers expectation.

Take the Virtual Home Inspection Tour now to learn what a home inspector looks for and the standards they use.