Top Issues to Fix Before the Home Inspection

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Congratulations! You have an offer on your home! Most likely the next step moving forward will be the home inspection. Every home inspection will find something ‘wrong’ with your home. The key is to differentiate what issues are deal breakers and which ones are more cosmetic, or easy enough for the buyer to fix. This should be a conversation between you and your Shorewest, REALTOR® on what they advise in their expert opinion, are the best projects to tackle.

Olive Hill, KY, June 2, 2010 -- FEMA Mitigation specialist Kathi Merritt and Admin specialist Sandra Draper inspect a water line at a mobile home park here. Flooding devastated many areas in Kentucky in early May. Photo by Liz Roll/FEMA

The following issues will 99% of the time come back to you as the seller to fix after a home inspection. Buyers will not want to take these projects on. Plus if you take care of these before the home inspection, it can save time and money by not having to haggle back and forth.

Damp basement. The most common problem that home inspectors find is basement seepage, which could in turn lead to full-fledged flooding. Water seeps into the small cracks or over a foundation wall and can create a lot of damage. Have your own inspector come over to assess current conditions and give you a bid on repairing any minor problems.

Shoddy wiring.  The next most common issue is electrical, and can be anything from an outlet that doesn’t work to live wires in the walls that are not grounded. Any electrical issues require immediate attention since it could lead to a fire!

Amateur workmanship.  Unless you are a carpenter/electrical engineer/construction work by day, you should think twice about doing your own work on your house. If you have done renovations by yourself, it is time to get it checked out by a professional to make sure it will pass the home inspection test.

Leaky roof. Roofs should be replaced every 20-50 years, and you should have them inspected a few times during the course of their existence. Keeping a roof in tip-top shape will ensure that you will not have the heavy expensive burden of replacing it before its lifetime is up.

Poor maintenance. Instead of letting the cracked dry wall hang out in your living room for 10 years, do something about it! The easiest way to keep up your home is to take on those little projects each at their own time and keep up with it! Everything in your home will require maintenance at some point, so make sure not to skimp out.cracked wallLet’s not forget about re-inspections. If the buyer comes back with a list of things for you to fix, they should be able to expect that those things will get done! Don’t agree to projects that you will not do. If a re-inspection happens and nothing has changed, you have lost your buyer’s trust and probably the sale as well.

While the home inspection may be the most stress inducing part of selling your home, it doesn’t have to be! If you present a clean and organized home, hiring professionals for bigger projects and general upkeep of your home; there should be no reason your home won’t pass the inspection! With the help of your Shorewest, REALTOR®, the home inspection should be a breeze!

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Categories: Home Selling, How to

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