If you are planning on selling your home, it is a good idea to think ahead to potential home inspections. While any home inspections will occur after you are under contract, if your home sells quickly, you will want to be ready. Even after you are under contract, this means keeping your home in “showing condition.” Make sure that all parts of your home are accessible to the inspector and remove any obstructions that block access to your attic, your basement, the water heater, the HVAC system, windows, doors, and any other key components.
Here are some other things you can do to get your home ready for home inspections:
- Be upfront: If there are problems with your home you know about, go ahead and disclose them. This saves time, shows you to be an honest person, and reduces the surprise factor to your buyer.
- Be proactive: If there are simple maintenance items that need to be addressed, like vegetation touching your exterior walls, rotted trim, missing roof shingles, outlets that don’t work, a drippy faucet, or a toilet that doesn’t work, go ahead and take care of these problems before listing your home or as soon as possible.
- Do a walkthrough: Walk through your home and remove any locks you may have on gates, electrical boxes or storage areas. Make sure any pilot lights are on. Check smoke alarm batteries and lightbulbs. Change your air handler return filter. Make sure all utilities are left on.
Right before the inspector is due to come, it is a good idea to empty the dishwasher so they can run it to check its function. Make sure you leave the home alarm off and be prepared to leave during home inspections. If you have pets, crate them or take them with you.
