5 Things to Do Before you Sell

1. Get estimates from a reliable repairperson on items that need to be replaced soon, a roof or worn carpeting, for example. In this way, buyers will have a better sense of how much these needed repairs will affect their costs.

2. Have a termite inspection to prove to buyers that the property is not infested.

3. Get a pre-sale home inspection so you’ll be able to make repairs before buyers become concerned and cancel a contract.

4. Gather together warranties and guarantees on the furnace, appliances, and other items that will remain with the house.

5. Fill out a disclosure form provided by your sales associate. Take the time to be sure that you don’t forget problems, however minor, that might create liability for you after the sale.
 
seller home inspections

“If you do an inspection and make the necessary repairs before listing a home, the house basically has a clean bill of health,” says Schoon, who has regularly recommended prelisting inspections to her clients during the four years she’s worked as a real estate salesperson. “It’s an opportunity to take care of things that could go wrong so that they won’t come back and bite you.”

Prelisting inspections — examinations paid for by the seller before a house is put on the market —are becoming an increasingly popular way for practitioners to not only reduce the possibility of last-minute surprises but also give their cli­ents’ homes a marketing edge.