about to sell house - inspection (The Woodlands, Atascocita: for sale, real estate, credit)

[Houston_2010]

I have moved to a new house and my inspector offered to do a free pre-inspection on my old house prior to putting it on the market for sale. Are there any good/bad things to consider if we do this? My spouse seems to think that if he happens to find something "wrong" we have to put in disclosure and will drive potential buyers away. The way he thinks is to have the buyer's inpector do the inspection and make their recommendations - and then at that time we will make the necessary corrections (if any). This means that regardless we are willing to make any corrections, but perhaps the 2nd option will at least get the potential buyer in the door and look at the plusses of the house.
Overall this house is in good shape, it's old but with tons of upgrades. I don't anticipate any issues related to inspection, but just curious to see if you would recommend I do it now with free pre-inspection or just wait for the buyer's inspection report.

Thanks for any comments you can share

[cheryjohns]

There are two schools of thought on that.

Doing the inspection prior:
The con is that, yes, you will have to disclose issues. The pro is you can then take care of the big ones and add the invoices to the seller's disclosure to a potential buyer. Rather than put the disclosure online with the listing, your agent could just send it to a buyer interested (who will have already seen your house and is interested to the point of having their agent ask for it).

The biggest advantage is you will not be surprised down the road on a repair. Another is it makes you look like a responsible seller.

The route of not doing the inspection is the common one. About 99% of the sellers go this way, so it won't look bad if you do. If you know the home is well-maintained, I wouldn't worry about it.

[davidtk]

Personally, I don't see any harm in doing a free, quick VERBAL inspection. I would only have your inspector look for major, obvious issues. That way you can address them now, if you want to, and not be surprised by the buyer's inspection.

Also, be prepared for A LOT of issues to be listed in a buyer's inspection report, whether you agree with them or not. When we sold our prior house, we had an inspector who basically tanked a deal by saying the house was "structurally deficient" and "crumbling." He also identified "code violations" that were proper code when our house was built.

We had an AC inspector tank another deal by saying the AC needed to be replaced, and of course he was pushing to do the work as well. I had a good friend in the A/C business check our system out, and, without going into the details, he said that the inspector hadn't even inspected the unit.

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by davidtk

Personally, I don't see any harm in doing a free, quick VERBAL inspection. I would only have your inspector look for major, obvious issues. That way you can address them now, if you want to, and not be surprised by the buyer's inspection.

Also, be prepared for A LOT of issues to be listed in a buyer's inspection report, whether you agree with them or not. When we sold our prior house, we had an inspector who basically tanked a deal by saying the house was "structurally deficient" and "crumbling." He also identified "code violations" that were proper code when our house was built.

We had an AC inspector tank another deal by saying the AC needed to be replaced, and of course he was pushing to do the work as well. I had a good friend in the A/C business check our system out, and, without going into the details, he said that the inspector hadn't even inspected the unit.

When the Inspector stated the home was "structurally deficient" and "crumbling" were those the words used to characterize the homes overall condition? Or were they used as part of different sentences and issues? Was the Inspector also a licensed Professional Engineer? If you would like to PM me the answers OK.

As for the code issues a home inspection is not necessarily intended to be a building code inspection. However you do have to keep in mind that a home can be built in say 1950 and still be reported as having violations of more modern building codes. This generally occurs when permitted work is performed on the home and part of the permit requirements is to bring the affected system up to the current codes. For example if your electrical panel requires replacement your local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ, the building department) most likely require you to install it to the standards of the building code currently in affect at that time. If the AHJ also requires it they might also require you to upgrade other portions of the electrical system as well. In this case the Inspector might find a manufacturers date sticker in the new electrical panel dated in 2009 and know that your local AHJ had certain requirements in place in 2009 and beyond.

As for having the "Pre-Listing Inspection" it is a very good idea whether you have to disclose items found or not. Many times as we live in a home over the years we just don't think about what is happening to our home over time. Having the inspection can help you see what you just passed over all those years. As stated above it can help you identify many issues you can either repair or be ready to give concessions on. You would also be surprised how many seemingly small issues that are found which could be signs of potential larger issues. If you handle them now you don't have to worry about bargaining with a buyer later. Also the more items you can reasonable repair before a buyer's Inspector comes through the lighter the buyer's inspection report will be. I think one of the biggest advantages of having the pre-listing inspection is CYA. If your Inspector can not find a big issue that is present, and if the buyer's Inspector can't, then how could a buyer reasonably assume you knew about it and did not disclose it?

You're Inspector is offering you a free inspection so go for it!

[crone]

We have lived in towns that required the plumbing and electric and HVAC to be brought up to current code every time it changed owners. That house that was built in 1916 and the one built in 1954 were in better shape than many a new house in unincorporated Texas.

[Txgal33]

I would say just let the buyer do one but like it has already been said be prepared for a lengthy report from the buyers inspector. Again you may NOT agree with all the points but you only have to agree to fix any major issues if even that. All depends on how bad you want to sell your home. Our first time around the buyer was a tad bit shady. He came in with one Realtor and then the second time came back and was with a new Realtor from The Woodlands and we lived in Atascocita. Thought it was a tad strange but was like okay. Well his inspector was a good friend and basically an idiot!! They listed that we needed a new hot water heater because the water was not getting hot fast enough. Our home was only 5 years old and in no way in need of a new one. I went up in the attic and what do ya know they had turned it all the way down! URGH!! As soon as I adjusted it all was fine. They still argued with it and even sent a relative in to test the water who still said it was not hot enough. In the end we just gave them a credit for $500 cause we wanted the house sold quickly. It had only been on the market 8 days and we were relocating out of state. Moral of the story yes the inspectors job is to find each and every little thing they can wrong and if you do have it done first then yes you MUST disclose it. If not then you risk being sued. Now also keep in mind once a potential buyer has an inspection done then whatever is found also has to be disclosed if the deal falls thru. Congrats on your new home!

[ethanw]

Yeah, that's a classic story for what we have to deal with when selling a house. When I sold my house one of the potential buyers inspector issued a lengthy report including things like the AC unit fins were bent which requires replacement. Basically they were trying to drive the price down and I pretty much told them before they even finalize an offer to take their business somewhere else. My house had 21 showings and sold in two weeks, and no it didn't sale to those respective folks.

Originally Posted by Txgal33

I would say just let the buyer do one but like it has already been said be prepared for a lengthy report from the buyers inspector. Again you may NOT agree with all the points but you only have to agree to fix any major issues if even that. All depends on how bad you want to sell your home. Our first time around the buyer was a tad bit shady. He came in with one Realtor and then the second time came back and was with a new Realtor from The Woodlands and we lived in Atascocita. Thought it was a tad strange but was like okay. Well his inspector was a good friend and basically an idiot!! They listed that we needed a new hot water heater because the water was not getting hot fast enough. Our home was only 5 years old and in no way in need of a new one. I went up in the attic and what do ya know they had turned it all the way down! URGH!! As soon as I adjusted it all was fine. They still argued with it and even sent a relative in to test the water who still said it was not hot enough. In the end we just gave them a credit for $500 cause we wanted the house sold quickly. It had only been on the market 8 days and we were relocating out of state. Moral of the story yes the inspectors job is to find each and every little thing they can wrong and if you do have it done first then yes you MUST disclose it. If not then you risk being sued. Now also keep in mind once a potential buyer has an inspection done then whatever is found also has to be disclosed if the deal falls thru. Congrats on your new home!

[skyking128]

I went through the same crap selling a house, the buyers inspector just about killed the deal. He claimed my A/C was not working correctly. After refusing to pay for an independent A/C inspector the Realtor paid. Guess what, nothing was wrong!! Did I mention, I did heat and air work for a living?
I always list AS IS when selling now. I refuse to see any inspectors report but consider any concerns a buyer has. List your house AS IS and save the hassle with the bottom feeders. Don't get me wrong, they have a place when buying a house for some people, just don't want them when I am selling. Every house I have ever bought, I never used a inspector, I did my own.

[sidipooh]

From a realtor point of view I would suggest that you do not have your inspector do a "pre" inspection. Disclosure is a big part of Texas real estate law, and anything the inspector tells you, you must disclose to the future buyers. All homes as sold on a trec 1-4 family contract are sold as is and buyers can buy an option period to have the home inspected. Inspections are not required. Inspectors are 99% of the time not also licensed to inspect HVACs or Roofs or foundations. They can only "suggest" a separate inspection of these items based on visual anomalies

[houstonfan]

I would not do the inspection. Why open a new can of worm? If the inspector offered you a free inspection, i'd take a rain check for later so if the buyer comes with a long list their inspector found, you can get your inspector to do a 2nd opinion for free.