Yes, a pre-listing inspection means you have to disclose. Get one anyway.

Raise pre-listing inspections with a room full of real estate agents and the objection arrives inside of 90 seconds. If the inspection finds something, I have to disclose it. I’ve handed the buyer a list of reasons to come after my price. Better not to know.

I understand the concern. Before leading a home inspection company, I spent years in brokerage leadership, working with agents and brokerages. I now see the same transaction from the inspection side. Having spent time on both sides, I think the risk of disclosure tends to get more attention than the risk of discovering a problem late in the transaction.

Disclosure is a real consideration. So is timing. A problem discovered before a home goes to market gives the seller time and options. The same problem discovered during a buyer’s inspection can become a negotiation with a deadline attached to it.

Same house, two schedules

The roof does not get newer because nobody looked. Whatever condition that roof is in today will still be its condition once an offer is on the table.

With a pre-listing inspection, the seller may have several weeks to deal with a finding. They can get a second opinion, obtain quotes, make a repair or replacement, account for the issue in their pricing, or disclose it and sell the property as it is. The right decision will depend on the house, the market and the seller, but there is time to make it.

When the buyer’s inspection uncovers the issue, the circumstances are different. There may be 48 hours left on an inspection condition. A contractor may have provided a number the seller thinks is unreasonable. The seller is processing new information while also being asked to make a financial decision about an offer already on the table.

The physical condition of the house hasn’t changed. The circumstances surrounding the negotiation have.

Most findings are manageable

I also think people sometimes imagine the worst when they think about what an inspection might uncover. Many findings are much more ordinary. A roof may be approaching the end of its expected service life. A furnace may be older but still operating. A water heater may be due for replacement in the coming years.

Furnaces are a useful example because age is often treated as shorthand for condition. A conventional or mid-efficiency furnace can have an expected service life of 18 to 25 years, while a high-efficiency unit may be closer to 15 to 20. Design, installation quality and maintenance all affect those ranges. An older furnace can still be doing exactly what it is supposed to do.

The value of the inspection is that these issues can be identified and put into context. Cost estimates can also give the seller a starting point for deciding how significant a finding really is. A vague concern about an aging component is difficult to evaluate. A description of its condition, expected service life and approximate replacement cost gives everyone something more concrete to work with.

What the report can document

Consider a house built in 1925. An inspector may find no active knob and tube wiring in the accessible areas of the home. On a house of that age, however, our reports can include a comment that knob and tube may still be uncovered during future renovations.

That information is useful even though the inspector cannot see behind finished walls. It gives the seller and agent a record of what was observed, along with the limitations of what could be observed. If wiring is uncovered during a renovation later, there is documentation showing what was known about the property at the time of the inspection.

There are many areas of a home where an agent should not be expected to make that assessment. Electrical systems are an obvious example. Determining whether aluminum wiring presents a concern, evaluating an electrical panel or assessing the condition of a roof requires knowledge that sits outside the agent’s role. Bringing in an inspector gives the seller access to that expertise before the property goes to market.

What if the buyer gets their own inspection?

They might, and in many transactions they will.

A pre-listing inspection still means the seller has already had an opportunity to understand the house. If the buyer’s inspector identifies the same issue, the seller has already considered it. If the two inspectors disagree, there is an earlier assessment available to help the seller and their agent evaluate the new information.

That can make a meaningful difference during negotiations. Hearing for the first time that a roof may need replacement is one experience. Hearing it after you have already reviewed an inspection, obtained a quote and decided how you intend to handle the issue is another.

There is also value for the listing agent

This is an area I probably appreciate differently because of my years on the brokerage side. When a transaction becomes difficult, sellers sometimes look back at everything that happened before the property was listed.

You told me we could get this price. You spent three weeks getting my house ready. How did we not know about this? You should have known.

Those conversations are difficult because the seller is dealing with a problem at the same time as they are dealing with a potentially changing transaction. A pre-listing inspection provides a third-party assessment of the property’s condition before an offer is involved. It creates a record of what was observed and gives the agent and seller an opportunity to discuss the findings in advance.

An inspection doesn’t eliminate disputes or replace an agent’s responsibilities. It does provide better information at a point in the process when that information can still be used to prepare the seller and the property for market.

Give the seller time to make a decision

One lesson I have carried from the brokerage side into the inspection business is the importance of giving options. As Suze Cumming has put it, have the courage to be honest and give people choices.

A seller who learns about a roof problem several weeks before listing has choices. They may not like any of them, and the conversation may be uncomfortable, but they have time to understand the issue and decide how they want to proceed.

That is why I would encourage agents to try a pre-listing inspection on an upcoming listing. Book it early enough that the information can actually be used. Read the report and the cost estimates, and go through the relevant findings with the seller before the property reaches the market.

There is always some uncertainty involved in selling a home. An inspection cannot remove all of it. What it can do is identify more of that uncertainty early, when the seller and their agent have more time to deal with it.

That is usually a better time to find out.

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