Sometimes, the seller will schedule their own pre-inspection and provide it to any prospective buyers who request it, but what is a pre-offer inspection and how can realtors use it as a selling point?
Pre-Offer Inspections
The process is similar to a regular inspection, except everything happens before you make the offer, and it helps you decide upfront on if the home is a good fit for your clients or not. Normally, most prospecting homeowners will settle for a post-offer inspection, but that could have direct financial consequences. The perks of a pre-offer inspection is to have peace of mind before making a decision to put in an offer. Wise realtors will do well to check the reports before even viewing if they think a home is a good prospect for their clients. Ruling out homes that don’t offer pre-offer inspections or fail to have them listed may not be worth your time from the beginning. The downside of a pre-offer inspection is that you have no guarantee that the seller will accept an offer and could result at best in spending several hundred dollars without reason. In recent real estate climates, homes often are snapped up quickly and you also may not have time to schedule a pre-offer inspection, even with the most dependable go-to inspectors.
Are Pre-Offer Inspections Worth It?
The answer to this question largely depends on the type of your clients. If your hopefully soon to be homeowners like to cover their basis, it might be worth it to speak to the sellers about the inspection. You don’t want to go through the hassle of putting an offer on a home that could turn out to be problematic, especially if your clients are looking into purchasing a home ‘as is’ could prove to be more trouble than it’s worth. If the interior walls and ceilings have visible water damage, or there are uneven floors, cracks, or other signs of potential structural or foundation issues, it could warrant getting those issues checked out upfront. You’ll also likely be able to negotiate a better offer on behalf of your clients.
At Grand Home Inspections, we know the stresses that realtors have to endure on the job. Let us make your inspection process easy by being your dependable home inspection company with everything from pre-offer inspections and commercial inspections to radon and pool inspections.
