Selling your home can bring about many surprises - don’t let the home inspection be one of them!
When you go to sell your home, a home inspection will occur to provide you (and the potential buyer) with an unbiased evaluation of your home’s current condition. Adequately preparing for this inspection can help you avoid potential stress-inducing problems.
To ensure you avoid some basic problems that might otherwise affect the overall results of a clean and clear inspection report, follow these quick tips:
8 Tips for Preparing for Your Home Inspection
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Fix any damage and seal any cracks in the driveway, walkway, steps, and/or porch area.
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Replace any missing or damaged roof shingles, check flashing, and re-caulk around the exterior doors and windows.
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Schedule to have your furnace and central air conditioning unit serviced and address any issues.
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Look to ensure that none of your windows are broken, cracked, or foggy (a sign of moisture damage or lost insulation). If so, arrange to have them fixed. If any windows have been accidentally painted shut, ensure that they are loosened.
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Arrange to have the fireplace and chimney swept and/or cleaned by a professional service provider.
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Repair any leaky faucets and fixtures along with the grout around tubs and sinks.
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Hire an electrician to inspect light switches and receptacles. If needed repairs are noted, have them fixed.
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Inspect and test your home smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Unless you’ve recently replaced the batteries, do so to ensure they are in operable order at the time of the inspection.
4 Tips for the Day of the Home Inspection
TIME - On average a professional home inspection takes 2 ½ to 3 hours (or longer for larger homes). It is common courtesy to be off premises during the inspection process, so that the buyers can discuss any issues with their home inspector and real estate agent.
ACCESSIBILITY - You will need to provide keys for the inspector to access any locked areas (attics, basements, crawlspaces, garages, attached sheds, etc.). In addition, be sure your inspector can access major components such as the main water shutoff, electrical panel, and gas meter. If there are objects around the central air conditioning unit, water heater, and/or furnace be sure to move them so your inspector can easily access and evaluate those units.
PETS - As a general rule of thumb, pets should be removed from the home or well contained in an enclosed pen or crate. Doing so can protect both the safety of both your pet and the home inspector.
VALUABLES & MEDICATIONS - For all party’s peace of mind, we recommend storing small valuables and/or medications in secure locations. Many of our clients just opt to take such items with them when they leave the property for the inspection.
We hope this list of quick tips will help you prepare for your home inspection (and yield a clean inspection report!). If you have any questions regarding items not addressed above, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We will work beside you every step of the way to ensure that your experience and outcome is the best possible, resulting in a sold home for the most amount of money with your desired terms!
