Home Selling Tips

Inspection Procedures

After you have received, negotiated and accepted an offer, your home will be "under contract" or "in escrow" (meaning there is money from the buyer being held in an escrow account as sort of a deposit or sign that the buyer is serious about the purchase).

One of the first major items that will be addressed is the buyers inspection. By a predetermined deadline stated in the contract, the buyer has the right to hire an independent inspector to evaluate a home the buyer is about to purchase. The buyer has this right but might not always take advantage of it. The buyer may hire anyone to act as the inspector too, or even do the inspection himself.

The inspection typically takes 2-3 hours and you do not need to be present at the inspection. The buyer will receive from the inspector an inspection report and based on the report, the buyer and buyer's agent may prepare an inspection notice to present to the seller / seller's agent.

The inspection is suppose to uncover existing or potential safety hazards as well as point out to the buyer routine maintenance and maybe cosmetic issues and concerns of the home. If they buyer says, "I won't continue with the purchase of this property unless...", then that's when an inspection notice is completed and negotiated.

As the seller, you will be able to agree to some or all of the requests in the inspection notice, reject all or some of them, or offer alternate resolutions. It helps to have an experienced Realtor assist you with the inspection notice, but just like the purchase offer, the ultimate decision will be yours to make.

Step 7: The Closing...