If you are in the process of selling your home, the new buyer will almost always have your home inspected before the final sale.
This can be a nervous experience for both the buyer and seller since the home inspection can make the sale fall through or the sale price reduced if the home is not in as good of shape as it appears.
Keep in mind that the potential buyer often accompanies the inspector during the home inspection, so your home needs to look its best!
Before your home is inspected, make sure to do the following.
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Repairs
Repair anything that is broken and remove any signs of previous repairs.
If you had a water leak under your sink that has been fixed, make sure the bottom of the cabinet does not have water stains.
If you repaired something behind a wall, make sure the wall patch blends in perfectly to the existing wall.
If you repaired something under the grass in your back yard, make sure the grass has been replaced so there are no signs of any repairs.
If you do a repair to your home, make sure to do a quality permanent repair, not just a temporary fix that might cause concern with the home inspector.
Pests
Make sure there are no bugs or insects in or around your home.
Treat for ants and other bugs several days or weeks before the home inspection. Do not treat for pests only a day or 2 before the inspection because there will likely be dead bugs that appear around your home shortly after treatment that you must clean up.
Make sure there are no ant beds, spider webs, or any other signs of current or previous bug issues in your home.
Other pests to be concerned about include rodents, snakes, squirrels, racoons, and any other unwanted guests.
Accessible
Make your entire home accessible to the home inspector.
Do not leave a pet in a certain room and ask for the home inspector to not enter the room.
If the home inspector can't access an area, he/she can't do a proper home inspection.
The inspector and potential buyer may be concerned that you are trying to hide something.
Cleaning
Clean your home well before the home inspection.
An unclean home is not a well maintained home, which will cause concern for the potential buyer.
Make sure to clean inside your closets, inside your appliances (especially the microwave), your baseboards, your window blinds, your light fixtures (including ceiling fans), inside all cabinets, and everywhere else that may not get cleaned every week.
Clean on top of things, behind things, and underneath things. You will probably need to move furniture and appliances to access every surface.
Deep clean your carpets. You can purchase a carpet deep cleaner #ad and do it yourself, or you can hire a company to do it for you.
Always install fresh air filters in your return air vents before the home inspector arrives.
Do not use strong fragrances inside your home because it may seem that you are trying to disguise a foul odor.
Also clean the exterior of your home by pressure washing, including your sidewalk and driveway. You can purchase a pressure washer #ad to do it yourself, or you can hire someone to do it for you.
Make sure that your grass is freshly mowed and your flower beds are free of weeds to show off your pride of ownership, which the buyer will appreciate and give them a good feeling about the home sale.
Don't Hide
Do not try and conceal or disguise anything from the home inspector because this is unethical.
Your home inspector will know and your buyer might not trust you and the home sale might not go through.
