How To Prepare For A Home Inspection When Selling Your House

If you are selling your home, you should be prepared to have a home inspector come to your home to inspect it after a person makes an offer on the house. This is a standard part of selling a house, and it is an important part too. As the buyer, there are things you should do to prepare for the inspection, and these steps are designed to ensure that the inspector can examine everything he or she needs to, and they are also designed to ensure that the home passes the inspection. Here are some of the things you will need to do to prepare for this.

Make Sure the Inspector Can Access the Mechanicals in the House

The first thing to understand is that a home inspection requires examining all the mechanicals in your home. This includes your furnace, hot water heater, sump pump, and anything else that is mechanical. In addition, the inspector will need to see your electrical fuse panel box. Because of this, you must make sure you clear the space so he or she can easily get to these items to fully inspect them.

The inspector will also need to get inside any attic space you have, so you should make sure that area can easily be accessed too.

Open Outdoor Buildings

If you have any outdoor buildings on your property, leave the doors open or leave a key inside the house for the inspector to use. He or she will need to examine any types of buildings you have outside, even if they are very small.  

Fix Any Repairs

Inspectors look at a lot of things during an inspection, but they primarily focus on major parts of a home, such as the foundation, electrical system, and plumbing system. If you know of any repairs that are needed for these things, you may want to fix them before the inspection. For example, if you know that your basement leaks, the inspector will figure this out during the inspection. This means you may want to go ahead and have it sealed beforehand.

Leave Out Receipts or Warranties for Recent Repairs

If you make any repairs, or if you have in recent times, you should leave the receipts or warranty information out on your counter for the inspector. These types of receipts can prove that you completed certain tasks around your house, and this is something that will be beneficial for you. For example, if you decide to have your basement waterproofed, leave the invoice out so the inspector can see when this was done, who did it, and the warranty it comes with.  

Clean Your Home

Finally, make sure your home is clean. A clean home offers the impression that the home is well cared for and taken care of. While the inspector will not base the report on the cleanliness of your home, having a clean home can make a difference. Therefore, make sure you fully clean everything before he or she comes.

You may also want to spend some extra time cleaning around your mechanicals. For example, if your hot water heater and furnace are in your basement, you may want to clean up any cobwebs or debris that is located near this area. This will help your home look more cared for, and this certainly will not hurt the inspection.

You should plan on leaving your home during the inspection, simply because it is better if the seller is not home during it; however, the buyer of the house can be present during the inspection if desired. If you would like to learn more about home inspections, contact your real estate agent today.

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