Congrats! You’ve got a contract on your home for sale. Now you have to prepare for the home inspection. What is a home inspection? It’s a contingency that is written into most offers. If the buyers are not happy with the findings, they can cancel the sale in most instances without losing any earnest money. So, it is crucial you prepare your home for this very important step! Here are a few tasks to check off prior to that inspection:
- Create a file with all of your home maintenance items, insurance claims and repair paperwork. It’s best to be ready for any questions.
- Keep your home clean and provide complete access for the inspection. Make sure you unlock your gates and storage area doors. If an area is locked, the inspector will note that he/she couldn’t access it and it could make your buyers uneasy.
- Replace batteries and bulbs. This is easy! Why give the inspector something to note? The inspector will report anything that is not working properly, so just change all those batteries and bulbs.
- Change your air filters. A dirty air filter is not the impression you want to leave with the home inspector or the buyers.
- Get out your screwdriver and tighten your interior and exterior doors and any loose door knobs or latches.
- Finally, make sure all your windows raise up. The inspector will check every window.
Tackling these items BEFORE the inspection will help leave a positive impression on both the inspector and the buyers and hopefully cut down on any repair items.