Seller's Inspection Strategies

As the market changes and the "days on market" average climbs, undoubtedly sellers will start to get nervous and want to differentiate their property from the competition. The knee jerk response (assuming the property presentable) is to lower the price. As difficult as it may be this is often necessary however there are a few alternatives to try before taking drastic price reductions into consideration.

Strategy #1: Eliminate Surprises

Nobody like surprises in real estate, there is just too much at stake to be guessing when there is hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table and while discussing the very environment your clients family will literally live with for the next "x" number of years. Get the home pre-inspected and deal with real information not conjucter wrapped with a whole lot of negotiation. In today's market if the buyer is smelling blood in the water - it is going to cost you.

Strategy #2: Creative Marketing

Use creative marketing techniques to get your clients home on the top of the buyers list. One suggestion is to have the buyer preview the inspection report before making an offer. I know this is contrary to the business environment in our area but there are other areas of the country that successfully market real estate this way. If you have priced your property accordingly this information will take the negotiating wind out of the buyers sails.

Strategy #3: Home Inspector as Unbiased Consultant

When you get the property pre-inspected ask the inspector if he or she would be willing to take a phone call or two from a prospective buyers about the report. Many times, the concerns buyers have about "seller reports" are alleviated by facilitating a connection between the buyer and inspector. Most experienced inspectors will take the phone and answer questions and the really good inspectors will offer (for a small fee) to do a walk through with the prospective buyer and discuss the report first hand - both of these strategies work great.

If you are looking to partner with a locally owned one owner/operator full service home inspection firm that is powered by infrared technology please consider my company for your next referral.

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