Inspection can help the seller

With the current large inventory of both new and used homes, selling a house has become a greater challenge than most of us can remember.

Because of the large number of choices and relatively small number of buyers, home buyers often are negotiating rock-bottom prices. As a seller, once you have negotiated your bottom price it is difficult to find out that a home inspector has found problems that may cost you even more money. Here are a few ideas for navigating the home-inspection process and hopefully minimizing those additional costs.

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Although inspectors make it a priority to be objective, sellers want the general impression to be a good one.

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1. Prepare your home for the inspection: Although home inspectors make it a priority to be objective, the general condition of a home and its accessibility for inspection can leave the inspector with a general impression. You want this impression to be positive. There are several simple things you can do toward this end.

• If your house is vacant, make sure all utilities are turned on.

• If you have a dog, remove it from the house during the inspection.

• Make sure attic accesses, electrical panel boxes, furnaces and water heaters are easily accessible.

• Leave all keys for crawl spaces and storage areas out for the inspector.

• Keep stored items out of bathtubs and showers. The inspector will need to run these fixtures.

• Leave copies of work performed out for the inspector to review.

• If the clothes washer and dryer are being sold with the house, remove all clothes from them so that the inspector can operate them.

• Leave security systems off for the inspection.

• Leave the house during the inspection. A typical inspection will last two to four hours depending upon the size of the house.

2. Inspect the Inspector: Although the current edition of the Georgia Association of Realtors, or GAR, contract does not specify it, as a seller I would want to know that the buyer’s inspector is a professional. Since the state of Georgia does not license home inspectors, determining their professionalism can be a slippery slope. A seller can ask a few questions to help determine the home inspector’s professionalism.

• Is the home inspector a member of a professional organization such as the American Society of Home Inspectors? (ASHI) These organizations require testing and minimum levels of experience for membership. Most of them also require continuing education to maintain membership. In addition, these organizations have codes of ethics and standards of practice that spell out the inspector’s responsibility.

• How long has the inspector been in business or what is his background? Typically, the longer in business the better, but this is not always true. An inspector should have a good knowledge of residential structures and systems. A background in construction or engineering can be helpful.

• Does the inspector have insurance? General liability insurance is what you, the seller, are looking for. This insurance will cover your house and belongings if the inspector inadvertently causes damage.

• Is the inspector “code”-certified? If you are selling a brand new or fairly new house you may see references to code violations in an inspection report. In order to render an opinion on the code the inspector should be code-certified. In Georgia, this certification would be issued by the International Code Council, or ICC, and be called the “Residential Combination Inspector” certification. Like the professional organizations, ICC certification requires testing and continuing education.

3. Have your home pre-inspected: There is some controversy about whether a seller should pay to have the house pre-inspected. The positives are:

• You should find out what is wrong with your house, giving you the option to fix it before the buyer’s inspection.

• Buyers may accept your inspection and save you the pain of theirs.

Some negatives are:

• There may be differences between the seller’s and buyer’s inspections resulting in the seller repairing items found in two inspections instead of those found in only one.

• Sellers may find out more than they want to know. This may require disclosure of problems that the seller did not know about before the inspection.