With
the spring home buying season rapidly approaching, home inspections are a must —
for the seller. If you have maintained your home while living there it will be a
smoother [buyer’s] inspection
It’s not a bad idea to do a home inspection before even listing your home. It
may sound like a hassle but it could save you a lot of money and stress early
on. It will pinpoint danger areas or red flags that could be a potential
problem
Remember, you’re not buying a dump and you want the best $ you can get so
don’t sell a dump either.
Having your home already inspected ultimately also gives the prospective
buyers the comfort and confidence that the seller actually cared about their
home in the first place. Just be sure to Inform the buyer and show proof of the
home inspection you so kindly took care of. Doing so avoids any unnecessary and
costly redundancies and hiccups during the transaction.
Below is a pre-listing home inspection checklist to keep things significantly
less nerve-racking and not terribly costly before the buyer’s home inspector
comes through. Get pricing on issues you have identified this will ease the negotiation process and prevent either side thinking the other side is trying to cloud the issue and adjust the purchase price unfairly
1. Clean your gutters out. This is a commonly overlooked
detail that just ends up being a hassle later on. Don’t get docked for such a
simple yard work chore.
2. If your furnace is over 15 years old, spend the $150 it typically
costs to have it serviced and cleaned. Make a copy and put it in a
ziplock bag and tape it to the furnace,
3. Check for positive drainage of
the landscape around the house. You
don’t want to flood the basement, so get some dirt and toss it into the
wheelbarrow and level out the slopes.
4. Reinstall any handrails. Many people remove the handrails
along their stairs, but when you move out you want to put them back. The home
inspector will insist on it.
5. If it’s safe, check out the condition of your roof. You
want things looking normal, or, otherwise you’ll have to get some maintenance
help.
6. Check the auto reverse on the garage door opener. Make
sure there’s a safety release. and that the over reverse and close functions
stop when over stressed
7. Sounds funny, but check that all toilets are flushed
properly. “You’d be surprised how many people forget about flushing the
toilet in the other or, guest room,” “You don’t want things to pop up.”
8. Check your sink and bathtub drains. You need a functional
drain, not a slow drain. The home inspector will fill up your tub and watch for
what happens. Get any hair out and add Drano when necessary.
9. Take care of any leaks if you
can. Check under your sinks and vanities for leakage and tighten what
you can on your own.
10. Check your windows. Open and close each hung window —
especially the ones that go up and down so as to make sure the springs are in
place and the windows won’t slam down.
11. Fix up any deteriorated
paint jobs.
12. Test out the dishwasher and washing machine along with any other
appliances that will be staying behind. You want everything functioning
properly, so there are no surprises.
And as for the don’ts, Don't leave “any stuff out that you wouldn’t want your
mother to see — if you catch my drift.” And on a more serious and less
embarrassing note: “Don’t ever take off the electric panel. That’s one thing to
leave to the inspector!”
