Thinking about selling your home before the weather and the market cool off? If so, you have probably looked to see what your home is worth, how much you owe on it, the amount of commissions and fees that you will have to pay your Realtor all to determine how much money you can walk away with. The majority of all homes sold undergo some type of inspection. The most common is the whole home inspection and there are several others that buyers can add on including sewer lateral, termite and other insects, asbestos, lead based paint, radon, gas appliance and fuel run, structural, and mold.
Buyer’s Inspections
After you have your home under contract the buyer will typically have 10 days to perform any and all inspections they want to – don’t worry, this is done at their own expense. After their inspections the buyer has 3 options:
#1. State they are satisfied with the inspections and are moving forward with the purchase of your home. This very rarely happens.
#2. State that they are terminating the purchase of your home. If they elect to do this, there is nothing you can do to stop it. The buyer will get their earnest money back and you are back where you started, but only after missing a week or more of showings costing you more time and money. Also, whatever they found during the course of their inspections you are now legally required to disclose. Maybe you need a new roof, HVAC, new electric service, new plumbing, mold or other environmental clean-up. Whatever it is that caused the buyer to walk away, you now have to disclose. This could be thousands in repairs that you will now have to inform anyone that comes through your home of. This could result in your home sitting on market for months because buyers don’t want the hassle, or worse yet, if you do happen to get an offer it is tens of thousands below what you want for your home.
#3. The buyer can request a lower purchase price, a closing cost credit, ask you to make repairs to the home or any combination of the 3. In this scenario you will have 10 days to reach an agreement. If you and the buyer do not come to an agreement in that time period the contract could be voided and you are facing situation #2.
Appraisal/Lender Inspections
If the buyer of your home is getting a loan, the lender will be sending out an appraiser to find out the value of your property. (Sometimes, even under a cash sale a buyer will elect to purchase an appraisal too.) Depending on the loan program the buyer is using, the appraiser could require you to make repairs as well. Because the appraisal will typically take place after the buyer’s inspection items are agreed to, you could face additional repairs after negotiating with the buyer and agreeing to pay for thousands out of pocket to satisfy the buyer’s demands. If you don’t make the repairs, the buyer won’t get the loan. What happens next? You guessed it, your home is back on the market and you are back to square one. At this point your home would have been off market for at least 3 weeks. Any interested buyers are likely to steer clear of your home because they are going to think there is something wrong with it.
Municipal Inspections
Most cities and St. Louis County require a municipal inspection before the buyer of your home moves in. Generally these are basic safety inspections that look for things like functioning smoke alarms, handrails on staircases and decks, etc. You are required to pay for this, the typical cost is around $75 but depending on where you live you could pay close to $200. But some cities and inspectors are notorious for finding several thousands of dollars in costly repairs. If you order your inspection early enough you can notify the buyer that you will not be making any of the required repairs, but by shifting the responsibility to the buyer they will most likely want to give you a low ball offer on your home or they may lose interest altogether. If you don’t sell your home but have had an inspection, you are still going to have to make those repairs. The municipality will work with you and give you some time to make the repairs, but after a few months if you are not in compliance they will take you to court to force you to make the repairs and you will also be responsible for courts costs.
Is there an alternative?
Yes, you can quickly sell your home to Saint Louis Home Buyers for cash. Because we buy all properties AS-IS we don’t to any inspections, and won’t be required to make repairs by the appraiser. Also, we will work with the city to get the proper repairs made to the home. You won’t have any out of pocket expense, won’t have people in and out of your home and won’t have to deal with unreliable contractors to do the work.
If you want to avoid inspections, repairs, the stress and hassle and want to save thousands when selling your home, contact us today for a no obligation, all cash offer for your home.