Home Sellers: How to Prepare for a Home Inspection

It happens every day, sellers who don’t take the time to ensure a smooth home inspection and sometimes pay for it in the long run. A little preparation can ensure sellers have great home inspections.

Home inspectors usually arrive early to the home inspection appointment so that they are set up and ready to go when the buyers arrive.

On inspection day, the house should be empty of the owners and their presence. In fact, everything should be just like it was on the initial viewing day. Be ready for inspection day by getting up and out of the house an hour before the appointment. The home should also be clean and pets should be removed or crated.

If something isn’t working properly, don’t try to hide it. Inspectors will find it. Buyers get very suspicious when sellers deliberately try to conceal defects. They immediately see them as dishonest and wonder what else they’re hiding. It’s not worth losing their confidence over a trivial defect. Just leave a note: “We know about it and we’re getting it fixed.”

In addition, make sure the location of attic and crawlspace hatches are identified and are easily accessible, as home inspectors hate moving your stuff.

If the hatch is in a closet, remove any clothing that is hanging directly under the hatch as well as anything on the floor. The home inspector doesn’t want to move your smelly sneakers.

It’s also important to check every area of the house for blown light bulbs. This includes the crawlspace, attic, garage and furnace room. We don’t want to waste time determining if a fixture is inoperable or simply has a blown bulb.

Do you have a septic system or a well buried in your yard? If so, make sure you leave a sketch of the locations. There’s nothing worse than a group of contractors, home inspector, buyers and their representative wandering around a yard needlessly, searching for something you know the exact location of.

Lastly sellers don’t leave your dirty laundry in the washing machine or dryer. Inspectors have to test these appliances and we don’t want to pull your dirty underwear out of the washer in front of everybody. Also, make sure the oven and stovetop are clear and clean so that we can easily test them without setting off the smoke alarm. Some of these items may seem rather simple, but a successful home inspection, requires everyone to pay attention to these details.