Pre-Listing Home Inspection: It’s Always Better to Know
We’ve all heard that home is where the heart is, and where our story begins. Home means pretty things to the makers of inspirational signs, bumper stickers, and fuzzy blankets. But hire a licensed home inspector to survey the property before listing it for sale and you’ll realize there’s plenty going on beneath the surface of your picture-perfect home sweet home. Brian Ross and the team at Vancouver’s Details Home Inspections offer pre-listing inspections to keep costly surprises at bay and bring in those top dollar offers.
Bankrate explains that during a pre-listing inspection “a professional home inspector examines your property to identify any potential problems or repairs that need to be made. Think of it as an opportunity to know what the buyer might request before an offer is made or a purchase agreement is signed.”
At Details Home Inspection, interior examinations include heating, plumbing, electrical, visible piping, faucets and fixtures, attic/crawl/basement areas, kitchen, walls, floors, ceilings, and windows. Outside they’ll look over your roof, chimney, flashing, valleys, siding, trim, windows and storm windows, driveways, patios, decks, porches, and any exterior air conditioning units or heat pumps.
While a pre-listing inspection isn’t always required, it’s always a good idea. Potential buyers will use even the smallest issues to drive down price or wrangle adjustments to closing costs and fees. Inspecting things beforehand streamlines the process and in today’s red-hot market, that can be the difference between getting top dollar and scrambling to make repairs before the contract expires.
Pre-listing inspections can also expedite closing schedules. Having that inspection in hand lets the buyer know what to expect and shows that the seller has nothing to hide when it comes to their listing. In real estate, time is always money.
“Let’s say your pre-listing inspection turns up some issues with the home’s plumbing,” say Bankrate’s industry experts. “If a buyer finds those same issues and asks for a $3,000 credit or concession, you’d ultimately be making less on the sale. With a pre-listing inspection, you can fix it yourself and potentially build those repair costs into your list price.”
With Details Home Inspections, pricing is based on square footage and the age of the home. You can also choose to add on or arrange for stand-alone services like radon testing, sewer scoping, water quality testing, and energy score rating. They provide quality home inspections across Southwest Washington, the greater Portland Oregon area, and surrounding cities.
In some ways real estate has its own language. When buying or selling, it may seem like home inspection and home appraisal are interchangeable terms. But, says Bankrate, “It’s important to note that neither type of inspection [pre-listing versus standard home inspection] is a substitute for an appraisal. An appraisal is an assessment of the fair market value of your home, which includes external factors such as the neighborhood and local real estate market. In most cases, a mortgage lender will require one in order for the buyer to obtain a mortgage.”
When you’re ready to take the next step, contact Brian Ross and his team or schedule an appointment online for current availability and pricing. They’re happy to answer questions, explain common terminology, or provide a sample report to look over in advance. Still unsure? Read through the many positive reviews and recommendations from families like yours then book your home inspection today.
You’ve decided to sell, that’s the hardest part. Now let Details Home Inspections do the dirty work so you can move on to your next—or forever—home. Big or small, vintage or new construction, condo or manufactured home, they’ll tackle it all.
Pre-Listing Inspections
Pre-Listing Inspections
Details Home Inspections offers pre-listing inspections. In this market this will separate you from others. Want to win more listings? Want to make your listing stand out to more buyers? Want to have more control over repairs and price? Schedule now with current availability.
Board Meetings
We get together each month to have a board meeting to discuss ideas on how to improve the inspection process. We discuss quarterly goals, new services, building relationships, networking events, continuing education, and much more. Here’s a few photos from meetings we have done.
Continuing education at the internachi house of horrors in Boulder, Co. We learned a lot, and it was great to get everyone together and discuss ideas.
We got together and had lunch to set yearly goals. Then went indoor skydiving to build team relationships.
Met up with the team to build dream boards, to set goals for the future.
Breakfast to go over our report writing and layout. We’re always taking feedback from clients, and making improvements. Then off to some team bowling.
Lunch to discuss new services and growth opportunities in the inspection process.
Manufactured Home Foundation Certifications
If you are a Realtor, Lender, Buyer or Seller in need of a HUD Foundation Certification or Addition Certification we can help.
We pair with MFD Home Certifications in the process. We will go on-site and gather required data, and submit it to the engineers at MFD. They will do a full report on what’s required based on HUD guidelines. We offer this service with a full home inspection or as a standalone service. Schedule Now
What are HUD Guidelines?
The current HUD Permanent Foundation Guide for Manufactured housing is dated September of 1996. The guidelines specify many things in regards to the construction of Manufactured Homes. Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards mandate federal standards for design, construction, and installation of manufactured homes to assure the quality, durability, safety, and affordability of manufactured homes.
Nature of Program: HUD issues and enforces appropriate standards for the construction, design, performance, and installation of manufactured homes to assure their quality, durability, affordability, and safety. The construction and safety standards preempt state and local laws that are not identical to the federal standards; they apply to all manufactured homes produced after June 15, 1976. HUD may enforce these standards directly or by various states that have established state administrative agencies in order to participate in the program. HUD may inspect factories and retailer lots and review records to enforce such standards. If a manufactured home does not conform to federal standards, the manufacturer must take certain actions, including possibly notifying the consumer and correcting the problem.
The statute generally prohibits selling, leasing, or offering for sale or lease, homes that do not meet the standards. Civil and criminal penalties may be sought for violations of the statute.
HUD also administers programs regulating the installation of the homes, reviewing the installation standard programs that 35 states have, and administering a federal installation program in the other 15 states. HUD also reviews the administration of state dispute resolution programs in 35 states and administers a HUD dispute resolution program in the other 15 states.
What is A HUD Permanent Foundation Inspection?
A HUD engineering foundation inspection is:
To conduct a structural inspection for determining:
If the manufactured home is permanently tied down, and
That the home would not float off the piers or foundation,
That the drainage of the house will not flood the crawlspace or basement.
What about Engineering Inspections of Additions?
Decks, porches and room additions are regulated by the construction codes for each state and/or local housing authority. If the property has an addition attached after the home was sited, the attachment is not regulated by HUD Standards or Regulations. If an addition has been added to a manufactured home, it may take the home out of conformance with the Standards.
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Attic Inspection Issues
On this new build you can see there’s a number of loose lateral braces. Recommend home inspections on new builds. If you went to sell this a few years later and the buyer had a home inspection done, and called these out. Now it’s on your plate to fix versus the builder.
This is the main air intake for a new build furnace in the attic. You can see that it’s not installed in a great location. The intake is so close to this flex duct that it’s sucking in the plastic. This would make the furnace not very efficient. Recommend licensed HVAC contractor evaluate/repair as needed.
This plumbing vent was missing the actual vent. Basically it was a hole in the roof while it was raining. I highly recommend inspections on new builds. Supervisor didn’t even know about it.
Recently flipped house. Bathroom exhaust vent, venting to the attic. This can bring hot air to the attic and cause condensation issues. Recommend routing vents to the exterior.
