Selling Your Home Soon? Here's Why You Should Get It Inspected First

It boggles my mind that anyone would buy a home without having it inspected first. And yet many people do just that (even though waiving the inspection is a truly terrible idea).

If you're on the selling side of the transaction, you might assume that a home inspection isn't something you should shell out money for, either -- after all, you're moving out of your house, and whatever problems it may have aren't going to be yours anymore. Besides, according to HomeAdvisor, a home inspection could cost you between $281 and $402.

But not so fast! Here's why it might be worth taking the time and spending the dough to have a professional home inspector give your home a look from stem to stern.

You can address problems before buyers look at your home

Remember, knowledge is power, and if you're getting ready to sell a home, it's in your best interest to learn absolutely everything you can about your home before strangers arrive and attempt to do the same. If an inspector turns up problems with your home, you'll have the chance to get them resolved before listing it.

And you'll be fixing the problems on your own timeline, rather than in a time crunch because a buyer is eagerly awaiting closing. An emergency repair is likely to cost you significantly more than arranging for the work to happen in a few weeks' time. This also gives you time to shop around and get a few estimates for people to do the repairs, and perhaps save yourself some money in the process.

You can price the home more realistically

If your home inspection has turned up a problem and you decide to take the plunge and have it fixed, you could then figure the improvement into your home's listing price. This is not to say that you can expect a 1:1 return on money put into a home, however. There are only a handful of home projects that can generate that kind of return on investment, and they don't really fall under the umbrella of repairs and fixes you'd make thanks to a home inspection report.

Alternatively, if it turns out that your home has a big problem and you don't want to address it yourself, you might consider lowering your listing price by the amount it will cost to fix (get some estimates to arrive at this ballpark) to account for the fact that a buyer will need to pay for it.

Your home sale could close faster

While it's true that a buyer's home inspector could turn up different issues from the one you hire, having your home inspected ahead of listing it for sale could lead to a shorter closing time.

If you've been able to uncover and address certain problems, it's less likely that a different home inspector will find a huge problem that will be time-consuming (and expensive) to fix. As a result, your buyer's mortgage loan could close faster, freeing you up to move on with your life after selling a home even sooner.

A caveat

I should mention one particularly sticky problem you could encounter if you have your home inspected before listing it for sale. In many states, you are required to disclose known problems with your home in the process of selling it -- you provide this information to buyers in the form of a Seller's Disclosure. If your state requires this, it will have a form that you'll fill out, detailing possible hazards including the presence of lead paint, radon gas, or a pest infestation, among other potential problems with the home.

If your pre-sale home inspector turns up serious issues, even if you have them addressed, you'll have to put them in this form. That could make it more difficult to sell your home. But the risk of not disclosing problems can be dire -- a sale could be canceled or a buyer could even take legal action against you.

Taking the time and spending the money to have your home inspected before selling it is a worthwhile pursuit, especially if you're a proactive sort of person. It has the potential to make the selling process a lot smoother for you.