THE BIGGEST MISTAKE UNIFORMED SELLERS MAKE EVERYDAY!
We don't want our sellers to make the same mistake that so many uninformed homeowners make everyday when selling their home.
It’s very common in today’s real estate for homeowners planning on selling their home, to think their home is in good condition, will sell quickly and will bring top dollar. Your home may look nice and clean,,, you’ve been comfortable living in it the way it is,,,, it may have a nice yard,,,, maybe you did some recent painting or installed new carpet,,,, remodeled a bathroom or updated the kitchen or just replaced a leaky faucet. You think it’s worth top-dollar and worth more than the other homes that have sold in your area recently. You find an agent that gives you a few suggestions like removing some clutter, keeping the house clean for showings, sticks a sign in your yard and promises to do an Open House. Eventually you receive and accept a reasonable offer, you’re already counting your money and planning your move. Then it happens!!! The buyer has inspections done.
Buyer’s inspections, more often that not, reveal unknown and surprising issues sellers had no idea existed in their home. Buyers often want some of the issues fixed or they now want to give you less for your home than you intially agreed to. What kind of issues? Here’s some very common things inspections often reveal that catch sellers off-guard.
Double tapped lugs in the breaker box.
Three pronged plugs that are ungrounded.
Reversed wiring polarity in an electrical outlet.
No GFCI outlets in kitchen, bathrooms, basement, garage or on outside of home.
The garage door does not reverse properly when met with appropriate resistance.
No safety cables in garage door springs.
The heat differential in the furnace is lower than suppose to be.
The sump pump has no backflow device or the drain pipe extension outside is too short.
Gutters loose or have a low point that don’t allow for proper draining.
Insulation on lines running from the A/C unit outside is missing or damaged.
Exposed spliced wires or open junction boxes in the basement or attic.
Mortar on ridge cap of chimney is cracked.
Loose/missing grout between bricks inside fireplace.
Broken flue tiles inside the chimney.
Broken glass in a window.
A screen is missing off a window.
Wood rot on window, soffit or fascia board
Window missing lock mechanism or painted shut.
Deck is not bolted to home properly.
A door may not shut properly or the lock may not be functioning properly.
Leaky faucets and/or slow drains.
Improper venting of furnace and/or gas hot water heaters.
Grading around foundation is not sloped properly to allow proper water flow away from home.
Foundation problems.
Evidence of rain water getting into basement.
Roof has cracked/split/worn shingles.
Flashing around roof vents and chimney has deteriorated.
These are just a few things that are often discovered in an inspection of homes the sellers thought were fine and would sell with no problem. Buyers pay certified home inspectors $300 to $400 dollars to have the home inspected. It is very common for an inspection to reveal extensive lists of issues on homes the sellers thought were in good condition. If you are the buyer, it's a good thing. If you are the seller, be pre-pared to re-negotiate and hope you can satisfy the buyer so they still want your home.
After inspections are done, the buyer has several legal options per the contract. They can accept the home AS-IS, which rarely happens. They can cancel the contract and receive their earnest money back, which does happen. They can decide to re-negotiate which usually happens. Re-negotiations can be in the form of the buyer now wanting to give you a lower price than you originally agreed to,,,, or, you now having to make small and/or major costly repairs,,,,, or both. The longer the list of issues revealed in the inspection, the lower the perceived value of your home becomes to a buyer. Don’t think it won’t happen to you!!! It happens everyday in real estate transactions. Too many uninformed sellers simply accept that this is the way real estate process works because they are told this is the way it works. Not when you list your home with us!
DON’T GIVE THE BUYER THE UPPER HAND!!!
Once your home is pre-inspected, the inspector will review his findings with you and us. We’ll then discuss with you, based on our knowledge and experience, what issues you may want to fix right away. Fixing those issues now will greatly improve the your chances for getting the most for your home. Should the pre-inspection reveal major costly issues that you choose not to correct, the final amount you actually receive for your home could most certainly be affected. But at least you’ll know what to expect.
The certified inspector that we know has agreed with us to do pre-inspections for only $150. Worth every penny!!!
If you have any questions on any of the above information, on the listing selling process or the other services we offer our sellers, call or email us right now. Our goal is to help you get your home sold quickly and for the most money. Any agent can stick a sign in your yard and do an Open House. If you are planning on interviewing agents to list and sell your home, talk with us first,,,then compare.
