What does selling your house include?
Deciding to sell your house is the first step of the process. What’s harder is to prepare it for sale. Another big part when you sell your property is preparing it for inspection. Home inspection serves as a make-or-break situation for the contract. The inspection report plays a huge factor in getting your sale to go through. It is why many sellers complete a pre-inspection process before their potential buyers walk through the door.
A pre-inspection gives you a heads-up on what the buyer will discover and offers you a head start on identifying what to fix and update. Want to know how to prepare your property before the Fort Myers home inspection? Here’s how to do it.
1. Clean and Declutter the Access Points
First things first! It is essential to clean and declutter the inspection access points before the process takes place. You can start with cleaning the furnace filter, stove and oven. Empty the storage from the attic and vacuum it thoroughly.
Furthermore, look at the closet and organize it in your attic or crawl space. It is also advisable to clear 4-6 inches of space around the perimeter of your home’s exterior.
2. Check the Functionality of the Items
There are many items in your home that the Fort Myers home inspection team will check and add to the report. Thus, it is essential to test the functionality of those items.
For instance, you can open and close the windows of each room to test their locks and seals. Flush all the toilets and run the faucets to check if the bathroom fixtures and fittings are in good shape. Run ceiling and bathroom fans and try all light switches. Confirm if the weather stripping on the doors is intact or not.
The home inspection report works in your favor when you take care of the above-listed elements.
3. Take Basic Safety and Security Precautions into Consideration
Besides checking the above-listed elements, we urge you to take basic safety and security precautions while preparing your property for a home inspection.
It includes replacing batteries in smoke detectors and other things. Test carbon monoxide detector and have a fire extinguisher available. Exterminate rodents or bugs.
4. Make All the Necessary Repairs
Once you check each nook and cranny of your home and find the defects, it’s time to make necessary repairs to them.
Replace all the old and damaged light bulbs with new ones and re-caulk around sinks and bathtubs. Repair the water damage in the bathroom and remove drain clogs, if any. Update any dingy grouts in the places like kitchens and bathrooms and replace the missing roofing. If the insulation system in the attic and crawl space is damaged, replace it. You can cover the crawl space with a 6mm plastic sheeting and do the needful.
5. Take Care of Exterior Home Improvements
A home inspection is not just about taking care of the interiors but improving exteriors too. Thus, do not turn a blind eye to the exterior and complete all the exterior home improvements.
Some of them include sweeping debris off the roof, trimming trees near or hanging over the roof line, cleaning out the gutters, clearing debris from around the air conditioner compressor, foundation vents, and downspout damage, and sloping soil away from the home for water runoff.
6. Do Not Hide Issues
Last but not least, do not ever try to hide issues with the home inspector or buyer of the property. It is because issues or damages with your property are easy to find. If the inspector doesn’t find it, the home buyer will come across them.
When you fill the seller property disclosure, disclose all the known issues. When you sign the documents, disclosing them becomes your liability. Do the right thing and save yourself from further issues.
Takeaway
If you are not experienced in preparing your property before the home inspection, fret not! You can seek help from a professional such as your trusted real estate broker to assess its true condition. Start now.
Read more: How Long Does a Home Inspection Take
Also read: 9 Best Places to Buy Curtains To Give Your Home a New Look
