You own your house, and YOU’VE NEVER SOLD ONE before – Should you do a home inspection, PRIOR to putting it on the market? I know there’s so much to think about when selling, it’s hard to figure out what to or not to do. Now that you’ve spent time preparing your home for sale, why should you worry about a Home Inspection? I’ll tell you why.
Hi, I’m Tanja Odzak, Our East Bay Home brokered by eXp Realty, and I’ve helped sooo many sellers in the Oakland / Berkeley / East Bay Area to sell their homes and I understand that it can feel like there are a ton of moving parts.
There are 4 things that get your house sold – marketing, negotiation, condition and location! Home inspection is just as important as your contract offer, and is all about condition. Almost every buyer whose contract is accepted will do inspections, even their lender will recommend that they do them.
The home inspection is designed to evaluate the general condition of your home and all of its mechanical systems. The pest inspection is all about wood destroying organisms and wood damage (termites, dry rot, water damage, that kind of thing). The inspections can either make or break your deal, so spending a little time on some of these issues BEFORE your home goes under contract will save you time and money in the end.
Also, knowing what repairs may come up and the cost to fix them will help give you a better understanding of what your true proceeds will be.
Let’s look at the major issues that often come up on a home inspection.
- Electrical Issues – Make sure that all outlets, GFCIs, and switches work and replace any broken outlet covers. Also, replace burned out light bulbs to avoid a negative observation like “Light is inoperable” on the report that may suggest an electrical problem when it’s not.
- Water and Plumbing – make sure you don’t have any leaky faucets or signs of leaking under your cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms or on outside spigots.
- Heater and/or A/C system – Clean or replace dirty air filters. They should fit securely. AND clean all your vents.
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and replace dead batteries. Sellers are actually REQUIRED to do that as a point of sale item.
- Attend to broken or missing items like doorknobs, locks and latches; window panes, screens and locks; gutters, roof tiles, downspouts and chimney caps.
- Section 1 or Section 2 items on your pest inspection. These include Dry Rot. Dry rot often occurs around door frames on exterior doors, window trim, or on the siding of homes. This is common in older wood and/or if that wood has a lot of weather exposure BUT it can be easily addressed. Also, be sure to remove stored items, debris, cardboard boxes, and wood from underneath the home in the crawl space. These may be cited as “conducive conditions” for termites or they very well may already have termites on them. Also, be sure to trim any tree limbs within 10 ft of the house.
- Doors – make sure that all of your doors open, close and lock easily. Garage doors must also have working safety features like sensors.
- Recaulk around tubs, showers and countertops in bath rooms and countertops in kitchens.
Checking all these stuff before your home inspection is an investment in selling your property. You will thank yourself later. This is Tanja Odzak, Our East Bay Home brokered by eXp Realty, if you’re thinking about selling, feel free to reach out. I’m always here to help.
I’m a Top Producing Realtor® in the OAKLAND / BERKELEY / EAST BAY AREA. I’ve been in the San Francisco East Bay Area since I came up to do my undergrad at UC Berkeley (a long time ago!), with a short stint at UC Davis while getting my Master’s. I take my duties as a Realtor® and Fiduciary very seriously, I enjoy educating my sellers and buyers along the way. Putting People, Before Profit.
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