How to Get Your Home Ready for an Inspection

 By Jason McGuire, Guest Blogger

Are you selling your home?

All homeowners face pre-sale inspections. This is a standard part of the home selling process. In most cases, the home inspection is organized after signing the purchase agreement and before the final closing date.

As an owner, you should get everything in top shape for the inspection. When something is seriously amiss, your buyer has the right to withdraw the offer and find another home, warns rmxipm.com.

In this article, we'll go over the main tips on how to get your home successfully through the inspection. You'll understand the inspector's working procedures and know what to do before the big inspection day.

How do home inspections work?

Home inspections are carried out to make sure your home conditions meet all the standards.

Some homeowners get an inspection done before entering their property in the market. The early discovery of any issues allows them to fix these issues before showing the home to potential buyers.

However, this isn't how it usually plays out. The regular steps are:

• A buyer is looking for a home.
• After finding a suitable property, the buyer makes an offer.
• Negotiations follow to set the price and closing date.
• Once the purchase agreement is signed, the buyer contacts a home inspector and pays for this service.

There is always the risk that the inspector finds hidden issues. When the buyer learns about these problems, they have the right to back out of the deal. Home inspections act as a guarantee for buyers.

You may see home inspections as a formality. But when you consider its implications on your home sale, the inspector's arrival becomes something you should be well prepared for.

What is the focus of a home inspection?

After entering your home, the inspector has a list of high-risk areas that they will check. The areas and issues include the following: 

• Roof and attic
• Ventilation and sub-systems
• Foundation issues
• Yard
• Appliances
• Structural elements
• Electrical work
• Plumbing
• Wear and tear in the garage

Depending on the agreement, the inspector may focus on other areas as well. But it's more than likely that all the listed items will be scrutinized in any case.

How to prepare for your home inspection?

Let's take a look at some practical tips to make your home inspection as smooth as possible.

1. Prepare all the paperwork
2.  If your home has recent remodeling or renovation done, you should gather all the associated documents. Any other projects are important too, such as installing a new roof.
3.  Your home inspector is likely to only check the building department and county website information. But your buyers may want to know whether the projects are safe and sound both in reality and on paper.
4. Leave all the utilities turned on
5.  Take care to leave on your utilities before the home inspector does his job. During the inspection, the examiner needs to run appliances in your home and test the HVAC system.
6.  Most inspectors will check your receptacles for grounding and reverse polarity. All these activities are impossible when you have turned off the power. The inability to conduct these tests will result in rescheduling and a re-inspection fee.
7. Prepare the exterior
8.  Home inspections focus on a lot on the interior. But the inspector will take a good look at your home's exterior too. Make sure that everything is prepared for this part of the examination.

Here are the steps you can take to minimize any exterior issues:

• Clean your downspout drainage.
• Are some of the trees really close to the roofline? Trim these trees before the inspection.
• Any accumulated debris on the roof should be pressure washed off its surface. The exception is asphalt roofs, which you should never pressure wash.
• Check that your downspouts direct the water away from the home's foundation.
• Thoroughly clean the gutters to remove dirt and debris.
• Keep the AC compressor and its adjacent areas free of loose waste.

Allow complete access to your rooms

Ensure attic access panel
is free of obstructions

The home inspector needs access to your attic and basement. Some homeowners have boxes or other items stacked against the walls, making access difficult or impossible. Remove these physical barriers before the inspector enters your home.

You should leave keys for outbuildings, electrical boxes, and similar areas of your property. Definitely label the keys because this makes the whole inspection quicker. Should you have any remote controls, such as a garage door opener and then label these for convenience as well.

Another obstacle home inspectors often face is finding cars blocking the attic access. And sometimes there is clothing in a closet that provides the only entrance to the attic. Take care to remove these obstacles before the home inspector arrives.

In a nutshell: home inspection preparations

Home inspections serve an important need in a property transaction. The buyers want to have peace of mind that there are no major issues with their planned purchase. A qualified home inspector will find and describe serious hazards and faults in the property.

Sellers can take practical steps to make the process smoother for all parties involved:

• Gather all the relevant paperwork
• Prepare the exterior for inspection
• Leave on the utilities
• Allow complete access to the premises

Jason received his Real Estate License in 2004 where he quickly became a multi-million dollar producer within his first full year. He graduated from the Realtor Institute a few years later and then went on to achieve his Broker’s License in 2009. In 2008 he was asked to start up and lead the Property Management Department. He has served as President of the local National Association of or Residential Property Managers for numerous terms. In 2019 Jason officially took over as Managing Broker for RE/MAX Infinity and now works to provide an exceptional experience for all of the agents and clients.