Why You Shouldn't Skip Home Inspections When Selling Your Home

Everyone knows how difficult of a process selling property is. All that bureaucracy, all the minor details, the paperwork, the different specialists and contractors you have to speak with. It’s just too much. You simply want to sell your home and move on. Unfortunately, it’s never that easy and it’s completely understandable that you may get tired of the process.

You may end up cutting corners in a few areas and might even be willing to budge by lowering the price or letting the buyer have their say. But if there is one thing you should never skimp on is home inspections. These are certain nuances and details in your home that you cannot notice on your own. If not for the fact that you may not be experienced enough in DIY and construction, then because you are used to living in your home and may have not consciously noticed certain defects.

This is why you should call in a home inspector to give your home a thorough look-see. After the diagnostic report, you should have a clear list of everything that is wrong in your home and needs fixing before you put up the FOR SALE sign in your front yard. 

Not Levelled Flooring

How Buyers Can Notice the Smallest Flooring Details

Even the most inexperienced buyers will be able to notice certain details about your home. One of the most noticeable flaws is an uneven floor. If there is one thing that pretty much anyone can tell is when they are standing on something that is leveled or not. Be it through shoddy craftsmanship, the expanding or warping of the wood panels, or even the shifting foundation, your floor is not as a plane or leveled as you might think. There are likely going to be little hills and slopes forming in various areas which you haven’t noticed as you’re used to walking around on your floor. Your mind’s not going to pick up on it.

But someone who has never set foot in your home before will notice the unlevelled flooring and it’s going to stick out like a sore thumb. So if any area of your home has uneven flooring, call in a flooring specialist to take care of it before you invite any buyers into your home. It costs anywhere from $500 to $700 to level out a single room, so it’s not particularly expensive, but it will increase your home value and give you a better chance of making the sale. 

You Might Have Pests

Make Sure You Don’t Have Any Critters Running Around With the Buyers

We wish to emphasize the “might” as we really hope that you don’t have any unwanted guests running around in your home. However, you never know. There are so many pests out there and so many ways for them to break into your home, that you can never be 100% certain who you’re sharing your home with.

A thorough home inspection is going to give you a better idea of who’s living in your basement, attic, or inside your walls that has more than 4 appendages or ones with whiskers that like to gorge on cheese. Look, the last thing you want is to be giving potential buyers a tour only to find rat droppings in your basement and never get a call back from them ever again. Get a home inspector to check for any sort of infestation and if you find anything, call in pest control to take care of every little problem that is hiding away in your home. This is not only about getting the sale, but also a serious matter of safety.

Foundation Problems

How Bad Foundation Can Ruin Your Sale

Inexperienced buyers are not gullible — they will bring in their own specialists who will look through every square inch of your home. If your foundation has any problems, the buyers are going to find out about it and unfortunately, they’re not going to be very pleased. The problem with defects in the foundation is that they really tend to overcomplicate matters. Sure, uneven flooring is not pleasant, but it is still somewhat easy to fix compared to foundation problems, which require you to bring in a major workforce to dig up, repair, and then refill certain areas around your home.

As a buyer, you don’t want to handle these kinds of matters after you’ve made a purchase. Most buyers want to purchase their home and simply move in. Anything more complicated than that is going to put them off quite a bit. The easiest step to ensuring that you make your sale happen is by getting your foundation inspected. Over the years, as the ground beneath your home shifts, the foundation is not going to be in the same state as it was originally. The support beams are going to sink into the ground will no longer hold up the structure, making it unstable. There are also going to be some cracks and other defects in the basement walls. So altogether, a lot of work for your buyers. Instead, they will simply move on to a different house that does not come with these issues as it’s an easier purchase for them. So, do yourself a favor and get your foundation fixed up and presentable by the time the buyers come over.

Roofing Defects

Why You Shouldn’t Skip Roofing Inspections

A major area of concern for buyers and their inspectors is roofing. As a seller, you have likely already noticed how buyers take roofing very seriously and will have a thorough inspection done to ensure that there are no gaps that can potentially cause leaks or structural instability. Unfortunately, because the roof’s surface is a complicated matter, it’s not something you can handle by yourself. You will need an experienced pair of eyes to tell you if there are any risks of leaking or further damage.

Sure, you’ll have no problems seeing a few shingles missing, but when it comes to the underlayment, decking, and rafters, you most likely won’t have a keen eye for detail unless you yourself are a roofing contractor. And don’t even think about calling in your buyers on a rainy day if you haven’t checked the roof. A drop of rainwater on their heads is enough to tell them what state your house is in and will play a huge role in their decision to purchase your home. 

Mind the Electrical System

The Subtle Nuances of the Electrical System

Electricity is very unpredictable. Even if you have everything in its place, all the wires have been freshened up, and you’ve checked each and every outlet in your house, something is bound to go wrong when the clients come in to check out the house. A lightbulb burning out, an outlet suddenly not working, or even a bit of extra wire sticking out from behind a counter. All of these seemingly small issues can congregate into a much bigger problem and a very negative outlook on your property.

A home inspection will give you a thorough diagnostic report on all the electrics in your home, as well as the general condition of the electrical system. A home inspector will test every tidbit of your electrical system and give you a rundown of any issues you may have. If you’ve had regular maintenance done on your electrical system, you may not have any issues yet. Emphasis on the “yet” because not every part of the electrical system is laid out in front of you. There are a lot of details that are very subtle and will require a specialist to determine whether or not everything is working properly.