Fixed monthly costs
Selling your house quickly can save you money. While your house is on the market, you are still paying the mortgage, insurance, taxes, and utilities. Getting the best price for your home is important, but a seller’s home inspection will usually cost you less than a single month’s overhead.
Contingencies and hung deals.
Most purchase/sale agreements are contingent upon the buyer’s response to a home inspection. If the inspection exposes any major defects, this can lead to a new round of negotiations, or hold up closing while defects are repaired. You and the buyer may both want to get estimates for the repairs. This all takes time, during which you continue to pay the fixed monthly costs. In some cases it can even cause the deal to fall through, sending the house back on the market.
Preemptive options
When you purchase a seller’s home inspection, you know in advance what the defects are. This gives you two good options.
- You may opt to order the repairs yourself, adding value to the deal and preventing last-minute delays to closing.
- Or, you can get estimates for the repairs and present these in full disclosure to the buyer stating that the home price reflects the fact that these repairs need to be done.
Appropriate pricing
Either of these choices gives the buyer an added sense of security and a way to feel confident that the house is being priced appropriately. Also, in both cases, the buyer has the option to purchase a much less expensive reinspection report which confirms the repairs have been done correctly.
Clear benefit
Taking either route, you are likely to sell your house more quickly, saving headaches and money.
Read more:
- When good deals go bad: Tips to keep your real estate transaction on track, Kari Richardson (March 16, 2012), The Chicago Tribune
- Pending HomeSales Gone Bad: Why Pending Home Sales Blow Up, Elizabeth Weintraub (Retrieved on: 11/10/2013), About.comm