The Power Of The Home Inspection

By Joel Persinger
YourRealEstateDude.com

Some years ago home buyers and their agents discovered the value of having a professional home inspector take a critical look at a house before escrow closed. The idea was a good one because it helped protect the buyer against undisclosed defects in the property while providing an opportunity for the buyer to request repairs before the sale was done. Consequently, professional home inspections became a staple of buyer representation in real estate. What continues to surprise me is that very few sellers take advantage of the same type of inspection.

Let’s take a look at the process that follows a home inspection during an escrow. The buyer and seller settle on price and terms and the property enters escrow. Once the property is in escrow the buyer hires a professional inspector to look over the property and provide a written report detailing his findings. The buyer’s agent takes that report and uses it as a basis for writing a “request for repairs”. This is a document used to ask the seller to make repairs to the property prior to close of escrow. If the seller refuses to make the requested repairs, it’s a sure bet that the buyer will ask the seller for money. Either way, the seller generally ends up paying.

For years I have been advising my clients to have a professional home inspection done at their expense prior to putting their homes on the market. Beyond the obvious fact that it helps you cover your rump from a disclosure point of view, there are two reasons why you should consider doing this when selling your home. First, with the home inspection completed in advance you will already be aware of what the buyer’s inspector is going to find before you negotiate the purchase price. You may even want to make some repairs before placing the home on the market. Second, should the buyer’s inspector claim needed repairs that are not reasonable, your agent can use your inspector’s report as a tool to negotiate a deal.

Just such a situation occurred with one of my clients last year. The home had been remodeled and a room addition added. Following my advice, my client hired a professional inspector to take a look at the house prior to placing it on the market. Once in escrow, the buyer’s agent brought an inspector to inspect the property. The buyer’s inspector wrote a scathing report about the property including his opinion that the roof needed repairs worth $5,000 and the electrical breaker box was wired incorrectly. The buyer submitted a “request for repairs” in which he asked for $7,000 from the seller to address these issues. I called my inspector who was happy to come back to the home for a follow up. He compared the report generated by the buyer’s inspector with his own and re-inspected the items in question. In his opinion, the roof showed some wear in one section but was serviceable and the breaker box was fine.

Armed with this information and the fact that my inspector has 30 year experience, I contacted the buyer’s agent and got the buyer to back off. The buyer agreed to have the seller select an electrician and roofer of the seller’s choice to take a look at the property. The electrician gave the breaker box a clean bill of health and the roofer quoted a cost of $1,200 to make the needed repairs to the roof. The bottom line is that my client spent $450 to have an inspection done in advance and saved $5,800 when it came time to negotiate the request for repairs. So, if you’re thinking of selling your home and you have the urge to pinch every penny along the way, my advice is to pry open your wallet and pay for a home inspection in advance. It just might be the best money you ever spend.