Rick Dulai

Real Estate Broker, Investor & Entrepreneur

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(586) 997-9900

What to Expect During a Home Inspection

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As a seller, you might be wondering what to expect during a home inspection. It can be a little stressful and nerve racking to think about someone poking around your house trying to find things wrong with it. Also knowing that these things can be used to negotiate against you is just a stressful situation all around.

However, if you take my advice about a pre-listing home inspection (read that article here) you will have very little to worry about. If you didn’t do a pre-listing home inspection, don’t worry. I’m going to walk you through exactly what to expect.

  1. Some inspectors will get there early and begin on the outside, including the roof. Although some inspectors will actually get a ladder and inspect the roof, many have started using drones to film the roof and inspect it in more detail once they are back at their computer.
  2. Once the buyer(s) and their agent show up, they will make their way inside. Sometimes the buyers are there with the inspectors, sometimes they are not. I always recommend attending the home inspection for the buyers, but I think it is better for the sellers to leave (go shopping, watch a movie, get something to eat, etc).
  3. On the inside, the inspector will check the electrical, plumbing and mechanical (heating & cooling) system. They will also check all the windows for leaks and whether they open and close properly. Appliances will be tested, by running the dishwasher and turning on the stove. They will note every minor issue they discover.
  4. In the attic, they will look for leaks in the roof. They will check for any discoloration and potential mold. They will also check the insulation and determine if it is up to code and note what type of insulation material is being used.
  5. In the basement the inspector is looking for any evidence of water and potential foundation problems. An unfinished basement is ideal for inspection since everything is exposed and can be expected with the naked eye. This makes it easy to see what type of electrical work and plumbing has been done in the home.
  6. Inspections can take 2-4 hours depending on the size of the home. The home inspector is documenting everything digitally and taking notes. Afterwards the inspector will spend time generating a detailed report and deliver it to the buyer(s). The buyers will review it and then make a decision on whether or not to move forward with their purchase as-is or not.

Based on the results of the home inspection, the buyer(s) then decides to one of the following: a) move forward as-is, b) ask for repairs/credit or c) kill the deal. If the buyer asks for any repairs or credits, they are literally opening up the transaction to re-negotiation. This is where the help of a professional is the most beneficial!

Hopefully knowing what to expect will ease your anxiety about the whole inspection process. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

How to Negotiate When Selling Your Home

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There is a lot of advice out there for buyers on how to negotiate purchasing a home. I don’t know why anybody would want to do that on their own (unless they are a professional negotiator) but I wondered why there isn’t much advice for selling your home!

So I am going to give you some pointers here on how to negotiate offers on your home. Even though the first offer may be the best offer, I like to know exactly what my seller’s needs/wants are and then I draw a line in the sand. If you have a great home and follow my suggestions when we listed it, I am confident that we can generate the offer that meets everything that you want and need.

  1. Read the Entire Offer: Although it is tempting to react to the purchase price alone, read the entire offer. It can help to write down the key items. A lot of language in purchase agreements is standard or similar. However, you need to pay attention to the offer amount, the earnest money deposit, the closing date, occupancy, due diligence periods, any addendum and timelines.
  2. Offer Price: How much are they offering and what type of financing are they using? Are they borrowing money from a bank to buy your home? If so, how much are they putting down? The more money they are putting down, the stronger the buyer. Are they paying cash? That’s great! That means no appraisal (only lenders require an appraisal to justify their loan to the buyer). This could accelerate the closing timeline or it makes closing much easier (one less player without the lender now).
  3. Earnest Money Deposit (EMD): As a general rule of thumb, the more earnest money the buyer attaches to their offer, the better. I typically like to collect 3% of the offer price as the EMD. This helps to keep the buyer committed to the deal. Buyers can put up $0 if they want. As a seller you don’t want that. If the buyer ever decides to walk after contingencies are removed, there is no cost for them to do so.
  4. Home Inspection Period: The more time you give to the buyer to make a decision based on the home inspection, the more damaging it is to your marketing if they back out. When a buyer backs out due to a home inspection, they get the EMD back. The most common is 7 day inspection period. Anything between 5-10 days is pretty common.
  5. Occupancy: This is where the seller closes and the buyer is the new homeowner but the seller will continue to live in the home for an additional agreed upon time period. This is common if the seller is purchasing a home but needs to sell their current home to fund their new purchase. The amount of time and the daily rate are negotiable. Buyers will typically want the seller to pay based on the buyer’s new payment.
  6. Home Inspection Repairs: Everything is negotiable. The buyer might want you to pay for the whole new roof that needs to be tore off and replaced. However, you can say no (leave it all on the buyer if they still want the place). You can also pay for partial (seller gives a credit for half the cost of a new roof). A third option is to just pay for it all. Do this if you don’t want to lose this buyer and there is plenty of equity to cover the cost.

These are just some of the things that can be negotiated between a buyer and a seller. Having a professional who has years of experience dealing with these type of negotiations can really help guide you to making the best decision possible for you and your needs, when selling your home.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel for more tips and advice on selling your home.

What’s a Pre-listing Home Inspection?

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Getting a pre-listing home inspection is probably my #1 tip for homeowners looking to sell their homes (whether with a professional or on their own). Hire a home inspector to perform a full home inspection just like the buyer will do. Why? Well there are several reasons:

  1. You can identify repairs and maintenance issues. This will give you an opportunity to take care of these items before you go on the market. This can help improve showings too as buyers are smart and savvy and look at everything. When buyers see that a homeowner is proactively addressing issues, they are much more confident in their purchase.
  2. You can eliminate a buyer’s negotiating power. Now keep in mind that no two home inspectors are alike. Also, the same inspector may find different issues on the same property during different inspections. However, I would guess that 99% of the issues that would come up during a buyer’s inspection would have been found and taken care of with a pre-listing inspection. This is very helpful when negotiating because buyer’s will exaggerate the cost of a repair. For example, if you found a leak in the roof due to bad flashing around the chimney, you might get it fixed for a few hundred dollars. The buyer might try to get a new roof out of you!
  3. You can have peace of mind. Knowing what issues may or may not exist in your home will give you peace of mind. If you find something problematic, you now have an opportunity to fix it. Knowing your house is taken care of and you and your family are safe is worth a few hundred bucks for the inspection. If you find that there are no major problems, you can be comfortable and confident in showing your home to potential buyers.

I am certain that a pre-listing home inspection will help you get top dollar for your home. Spending about $400 upfront can easily help you net much more than that with an accepted offer.

Don’t forget to visit my YouTube Channel for or Tips and information about buying or selling your next home!

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