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Many listing agents have embraced the following tactic when it comes to Sellers and their property. When they first give them a basic "Net to Seller” breakdown of their costs, they include $1,000 for repairs due to an inspection report. They tell them up front to plan on spending about that amount for repairs that will come up in a Buyer's inspection. In this way, they have already allocated this money -- even if only in their mind. Agents are finding great success with pre-listing inspections. You will find that an investment of $250 can save the sellers money AND grief: 1. Offers are higher because buyer doesn't deduct for "What ifs?" 2. Property can be priced accordingly (or assumed to be) if defects are found. 3. Defects can be repaired ahead of time by seller's choice and not have to be negotiated. 4. Covers sellers (CYA) for any non-disclosure accusations down the road. 5. Relieves the stress of awaiting the outcome of the buyer's inspection. 6. Many times buyer does not even have an additional inspection contingency. 7. Even if they do, there are no surprises and the issues are already defects they were made aware of, so they can't out on the contingency unless they specified the defects in the offer. These are not predictions; they are actual positive results Realtors® have had by utilizing pre-listing inspections. Negotiating defects becomes rare. And while Sellers sometimes balk at first, once you consider how the investment in a pre-listing inspection can net much more money--as illustrated in the points above--it is easy to see how a pre-listing inspection can be just as important as de-cluttering and neutralizing!
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