Package Your Home For Sale

Up Front Repairs & Inspections Have Many
Benefits for Buyers & Sellers

Regardless of the real estate market, selling a home can sometimes be a stressful experience. There are many ways to minimize the stress and even make the experience an enjoyable one - selecting an experienced Realtor®, utilizing a strong real estate company and pricing your home correctly are very important. However, this article will focus on packaging your home to sell and staying in control of the sale.

Historically, the process of selling a home has been composed of four parts, (1) evaluating the price, (2) initial “spruce up,” (3) marketing period and (4) the escrow/closing. The actual packaging of the home has consisted of phases 1 and 2, selecting the price and maybe yard clean-up, touch up paint, clutter removal, staging and an interior cleaning. The completion of sale, inspections and evaluation/negotiation of necessary repairs has traditionally not occurred until phase 4 once the property is in escrow with a buyer.

As we have entered the new millennium it has become apparent that there is a better way to navigate the sale process for both the buyer and seller. The process of completing inspections during the pricing/spruce up phases has many advantages to the seller, (1) insures more accurate pricing reflective of the true property condition, (2) smoother escrows with fewer surprises, (3) faster escrows with fewer inspections/repairs, (4) fewer sales falling through due to unknown conditions, (5) more accurate estimate of net sales proceeds, (6) better negotiation of repair costs and selection of repair providers, (7) eliminates the weakness of having to limit unknown repairs, (8) the property will show better and (9) the property will probably sell faster and conceivably for a higher price.

Buyers benefit from this process by (1) inheriting a smoother/faster escrow, (2) fewer loan problems due to unknown conditions, (3) less time wasted discovering problems that could result in time constraint/moving issues, and (4) a higher confidence/knowledge level in the property due to a more complete disclosure.

The ability to eliminate a stressful second round of negotiating in the middle of a time constrained escrow period is a very prudent course of action in today’s real estate market. Up front inspections can include obtaining of on-file permits, certified appraisal, preliminary title report, pest control inspection, corner identification, roof/home inspection, septic/well inspection and others. The costs of these inspections can easily be incorporated into the purchase price and the value of the inspections/repairs being completed prior to the sale escrow will be of great benefit to both buyer and seller.

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