Pre-Listing Home Inspection: Should Sellers Get One?

Should I get a home inspection before I sell my Arlington home?
Sometimes. A pre-listing inspection helps most when you are not sure about the roof, the heating and cooling, the plumbing or the wiring. If you know your home well, a careful walk-through with your agent may be enough to plan.

The Mike Webb Team (Mike and Claudia Webb, RE/MAX Allegiance) helps homeowners in Arlington, Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC get their homes ready to sell and sold.

It is the same kind of home inspection a buyer orders, done before your home goes on the market. You hire the inspector, you get the report, and you decide what to do with it.

In Virginia, home inspectors are licensed by the Board for Asbestos, Lead, and Home Inspectors. You can check an inspector's license on the state's License Lookup before you book.

Many buyers will still hire their own inspector, and that is their right. Your report does not replace theirs. What it does is take the surprises out of their report, because you already know what it is likely to say.

• No surprises. You learn about problems before a buyer does.
• Time to choose. You can get repair quotes, fix what matters and skip what does not, on your schedule instead of the buyer's.
• Pricing with the facts. If something will not be fixed, the price can reflect it from day one.
• Calmer negotiations. When the big items are already handled, the buyer's inspection has less to find.

• Cost. You pay for the inspection.
• What you learn, you know. If the report finds a problem, talk with your agent and a real estate attorney about what to tell buyers.
• Long reports. Most reports list many small items. It is easy to feel you must fix them all. You do not.
• The buyer may inspect anyway. You may pay for one inspection and still go through a second.

Virginia law requires a seller to give buyers a residential property disclosure statement. On it, the seller makes no representations about the home's condition, and the buyer is told to do their own checks, such as a home inspection. Source: Code of Virginia, section 55.1-703.

That form is one part of the picture. For the full explanation, read Virginia Residential Property Disclosure Explained.

• Older homes where the roof, windows or heating system may be near the end of their life.
• A home you have not lived in for a while, such as a rental or an inherited home.
• Homes with additions, finished basements or past work where you do not have the paperwork.
• Any home with signs of water: stains, a damp smell, or a basement that has taken on water before.

Sort every item into four groups: Keep, Fix, Improve or Skip. Safety items come first. Then fix the things a buyer's inspector will flag and a buyer will ask about. Skip the small items that do not change a buyer's decision.

Through The White Glove Home Sale Method, we handle repairs, painting, deep cleaning and staging at no additional cost to you.

Bigger items, such as a new roof, new flooring or a new kitchen, are a separate choice. With our Concierge Services, the work gets done now and you pay at closing, with nothing due upfront and no interest and no fees. Program terms apply.

We walk through your home with you first. We look for what buyers notice: water, an older roof, the age of the heating and cooling, electrical oddities and anything that looks unfinished. For some homes, we recommend a pre-listing inspection report. For others, the walk-through tells us what we need to know. Either way, the decision is yours.

For what happens after a buyer's inspection, read What to Ask the Seller to Fix After Inspection.

Is a pre-listing inspection required in Virginia?
No. It is your choice.

Do I have to fix everything on the report?
No. You decide with your agent what makes sense for your home, your timing and your budget.

Should I share the report with buyers?
Talk it through with your agent and a real estate attorney first. Some sellers share it, and some do not.

Call or text Claudia at 703-350-3884 or visit claudiawebb.com.

The Mike Webb Team, RE/MAX Allegiance. Arlington, Virginia. Equal Housing Opportunity.