Pre-Listing Inspections
in Jacksonville, FL

If you are considering selling your home, through a qualified listing agent or even for sale by owner, your top consideration is probably getting the highest price paid, with the least amount of problems incurred and sold in the shortest period of time. Selling a home in the State of Florida can be a very easy proposition or a difficult one depending on a number of factors including the asking price based on relative recent home sales in your area, appraisal value of the property and of course the condition of the home. An experienced real estate agent can easily advise you on the first two issues; asking price and anticipated appraised value, but unless there is noticeable damage to the structure, there is no way of knowing the third and usually most important factor in almost all home sales, the condition of the home. When someone is considering making that kind of sizeable investment in a property, residential or commercial, the buyer usually believes the asking price is based on the home being in excellent condition unless otherwise disclosed. Nothing can be more unsettling to a buyer than for an offer to be made and then an inspection completed, only to find out that there are additional costs involved in bringing the home up to excellent condition. Many a deal has fallen through because of inspections disclosing previously unknown or undisclosed problems. Almost every real estate sales contract includes an inspection provision that the contract is contingent upon the completion of a satisfactory home inspection. If the property fails the inspection or additional factors of the homes condition are brought to bear, the buyer will then have the right to either cancel the contract, have the seller pay for the repairs and/or upgrades that need to be performed or lower the sales price. These types of avoidable issues usually complicate the deal and often times delay a closing or even discourage a potential buyer from completing the deal. As deals fall through, the owner is then forced to put the home back on the market and unless the appropriate repairs or upgrades are made, the whole process will start all over again.

All of this can be avoided by the seller wanting to find out about any hidden problems before the house goes on the market. Having a completely clear picture of the condition of the home not only thwarts off problems, but make it possible for the seller and agent to agree on the correct asking price. Buyers are going to insist on a professional home inspection performed by an inspector they will hire anyway. If the buyer’s inspector finds problems with the homes condition, it might cause the buyer to get cold feet and the deal oftentimes fall through. Even at best, poor inspection results cost time, money and usually a lower than expected selling price. This is where Gray Home Inspections comes in, identifying all of the features of a home that are in satisfactory condition, utilities that are up to certain codes and repairs if any that are needed to be completed. For home owners this means being able to complete the repairs or upgrades on their own timeframes, negotiate the price with a contractor or get separate bids to complete the work. Maybe it was premature to put a home on the market to begin with before identifying what repairs need to be made. Maybe having the ability to disclose what needs to be done and setting an asking price based on the inspection report, allows the seller to sell with confidence and not have to incur the costs of repairs upfront. For these reasons it is usually better to pay for your own home inspection before putting your house on the market. Having a pre-listing inspection done by an expert home inspector will make the whole sales process easier. Finding out about any potential hidden problems and getting them corrected in advance can be reflected in the purchase price. Otherwise, you can count on the buyer’s home inspection service finding any problems that exist, and usually at the worst possible time, causing delays, and costing you more money. At Gray Home Inspections, we always recommend to the sellers and their listing agents, that they perform a complete home inspection and make the report available to any potential buyers. That way the buyer is not incurring the expense of hiring their own home inspector and knows exactly what they are purchasing and why the asking price has been set as it is. This can even allow the homeowner to offer a limited-home warranty on the property, a very attractive selling feature.