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Maybe this belongs in another forum, but I'll post it here and the mods can move it if necessary.
I want to sell my house within the next year or two and have a lot of improvements to make for things that are visible. But I would like an inspector to look at the entire house and alert me to any other things I may not be thinking of or seeing.
If I have an inspection company pre-inspect my house, could that be held against me in any way in the future when I put the house on the market? I would rather focus on significant improvements (some of which may not be apparent to me) rather than get surprised as I approach sale date. And I would be interested in an inspector's opinion of priorities...
Many agents recommend getting a pre-inspection as feedback for getting the house ready for sale. You can then use it as a marketing tool to show buyers that you proactively took care of the home. However, it may have less use after a year or two, you may need to get another inspection to be effective.
You are not obligated to share the report. However, you would be obligated to disclose any material defects highlighted by the inspection that were not fixed.
Maybe this belongs in another forum, but I'll post it here and the mods can move it if necessary.
I want to sell my house within the next year or two and have a lot of improvements to make for things that are visible. But I would like an inspector to look at the entire house and alert me to any other things I may not be thinking of or seeing.
If I have an inspection company pre-inspect my house, could that be held against me in any way in the future when I put the house on the market? I would rather focus on significant improvements (some of which may not be apparent to me) rather than get surprised as I approach sale date. And I would be interested in an inspector's opinion of priorities...
I agree with rjrcm that a pre-sales inspection is a really good idea. The info from such an inspection can help a seller decide how to price their home and what sorts of maintenance they should do to help reassure buyers.
I have to disagree that there is an obligation to disclose anything from the results of such an inspection. If one chooses to sell their home "as is" the buyer ought to "beware" and price their offer low enough to cover any needed work / write sufficient inspection clauses that would provide for sufficient inspections.
There may be some regional differences but in Illinois the standard items on the disclosure form currently list 22 items, some about things that a building-centric home inspector would be likely to find in his report and some about things that so rare as to be laughable (mines?, meth houses?) . The actual language, which I am sure was hammered about by packs of lawyers that were paid for by the lobbyists that work off the dues from MLS tries to strike a balance between knowing that things might not be 100% perfect and thinking that the place is a death trap / money pit. I suspect every State has similar "outs"...
I mean if an inspector says "your old fuse panel is really really outdated" that is very different from saying that "all the wiring is dangerously overloaded, the utility box is currently improperly grounded, active arching is taking place and the potential for death / fire is off the charts". One is probably NOT inconsistent with the age of the house and would not significantly "impair the health or safety of future occupants" while the other sounds like the inspector himself nearly got electrocuted. Anyone that DID not fix such a "substantial adverse effect" ought to have their head examined while LOTS of places do sell with ancient fuse boxes...
The same sort of "test" probably exists for most everything that would show up on any inspection report, and even for things that are pretty "black and white" (Pretty hard to beat around this bush: "I am aware of leaks or material defects in the roof, ceiling or chimney." for example...) one COULD ask that the inspector deliver the report itself to a third party and then avoid asking the third party about anything you have no intention of addressing, such as roofing that the calendar says is past its expected lifespan. This sort of "proxy" is widely used for firms that want to avoid their development team from infringing upon the IP of a competitor. I suspect the legal hassle is not really worth it (just fix the silly roof) but from a theoretical position such an "isolation chamber" may make sense for the especially paranoid...
...I have to disagree that there is an obligation to disclose anything from the results of such an inspection. If one chooses to sell their home "as is" the buyer ought to "beware" and price their offer low enough to cover any needed work / write sufficient inspection clauses that would provide for sufficient inspections....
Sounds like a difference in local disclosure requirements. If a home is sold "as is" here (AZ), the seller is still obligated to disclose known material defects such as may be documented in a pre-inspection report. The OP should review their local requirements.
I do agree that in your example, an outdated fuse box may not be considered a material defect requiring disclosure unless it posed some form of hazard. However, it is good info for the buyer and should be highlighted by their inspector.
Mike, can you please elaborate? I am planning on getting gutters asap. Why should I be careful about them? I don't understand the need for caution?
Thanks!
didee,
You posted in the Raleigh forum about installing covered gutters.
They are quite expensive, and I think you will not recoup the cost.
They may be a selling feature to help some folks to decide to buy, but that is pretty tenuous cause to make the investment.
And, if you do sell next year, that also is not enough time for you to reap enough benefit of not having to clean them to justify the cost.
I do presale inspections. Our disclosure form asks if an inspection has been done in the past three years or not on the house. I have the inspector come back out after the seller fixes items to certify they were done and notes that on the report.
You really don't need to hire somebody. You know your house inside out. GOOGLE house inspection and you will get a complete list of the things that they will look at from several sources. Just make sure that you look at all those things.
My house was inspected today for the sale that is coming in the end of October. The inspector guy was very nice. He made it clear that he wasn't there to screw up the sale. Of course, I renovated my house top to bottom, and it was hard for him not to show being impressed with it. I have a big magnet cover that is in front of the ciruit breaker box. He joked with me while the buyers were there that it would have been easier for him if I'd added a push button motor to have it lift off. He was telling the buyers in front of me how rare it was to find a house with a 10 gallon per minute water flow from the well, and how nice it was to have a wood stove that also burned coal. These people are not your adversaries, and if you have a pretty nice house, they can be your ally in telling the potential buyer what a great house it is.
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