In the video attached to this blog, I show a recent home inspection report done on one of our properties, a completely remodeled property. And with that being said, the title of this video is “Should you as a homeowner be scared or nervous about inspections?” And the realistic answer to that question is, maybe. It depends on the inspector because it is so very subjective to their opinion. Sometimes they bring up issues that might not be a big concern, but their job is to find every single flaw possible in a property.
As we look into the home inspection report in front of me, there is always a Report Summary that says Defects, safety Issues & items to monitor with the property. In total, the home inspection report is 69 pages long. The home inspector goes through every nook & cranny of the house & labels everything that could or would be wrong with the house. What this does is cause doubt in the buyer’s mind if they are making the right decision.
Now, let’s dive into this information a little bit deeper. A defect is an issue with the house that most homeowners will have to repair. In our case, we had to grant a $5,500 seller credit and then we made additional repairs to the home to satisfy the inspection. On the subject property I am referring to, the home inspection report cost us an additional $8,500 & it took 1 more month to close the property waiting on the repairs to be completed.
The home inspector stated the driveway near the garage has shown heavy settlement. The driveway sunk over time in front of the garage, & now we were liable (per the home inspector) to give the buyer a credit for this cost.
Yet, in Wisconsin, we all know that the ground freezes & thaws & concrete shifts. Because this shift or sinking was more than normal, it cost us $5,500. Some additional repairs we were responsible for making were mis-wired outlets where the wires were on the incorrect sides of the outlet causing reverse polarity. The home inspector also opened up the electrical panel & there were several issues inside the panel that our electrician never looked at originally.
The examples I gave are some of the items on the home inspector’s report for our remodeled property. There was an additional 66 pages worth of material that a potential home buyer could sift through & request additional repairs.
That is their duty to their client. That is what buyers pay them for. But as a homeowner, you most likely bought your property with some issues & you’re planning on selling it with some issues. You don’t want to stick unnecessary funds into new concrete for your sidewalk or driveway. You don’t want to pay a $2,000 electrician bill to fix some miswired outlets or electrical panel.
Now, if your house needs major repair, then a home inspector will likely find more issues with your property. We invested over $80,000 into the property that I referenced in the video/blog & we still had an additional $8,500 we were required to stick into it. If you can, I would highly recommend avoiding any sort of inspections or testing at your property, & try selling the property as-is. You can either do this through a company like our own, or you can try to list it on the market “as-is”.
If you are curious as to what an offer would be for your house or an as-is listing price, you can get an automated online estimate at wihomesale.com. We will ask you some questions about the condition of the property & then email or text over an online automated estimate based on your answers.
If it’s something of further interest, of course, feel free to reach out to us. Let us know if we can help you here at CB Home Solutions, and we can provide you with an as-is sale for your property.