The Key to a Successful Wilmington Home Sale

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It's hard enough to get a house on the market, get it marketed properly, and make sure everything is perfect. The selling process is even more stressful when you have a buyer under contract -- you agree on a price, the financing, and the terms -- but then repairs come up. Depending on how well the listing agent did with the seller, the whole deal could fall apart! Rarely do you see a house, even new houses, that doesn’t need something repaired before selling.

We recommend setting aside a bit of money in anticipation of the home inspection. Know when preparing your home for the market and putting a price on it that you’re going to have to spend some money. There is no set amount you will have to spend in order to sell -- it depends on the age and condition of the home! It’s best to save a few thousand dollars just in case the inspection report comes back and you need to make a few big repairs!

It’s all about setting expectations up front. Planning for problems before you have a buyer under contract will help you to prevent the deal from falling through altogether. Once a defect is found, you will have the money available to fix it quickly and keep the deal going smoothly! 

When you list with us, we’ll sit down and figure out an amount you want to get at the end of the day for selling your house. Then, we’ll look into whether it’s possible to make it happen. With a focus on timing and pricing, we’ll tell you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear. We’ll be up front about what you can reasonably expect from the sale of your home! 

We have the experience necessary to set realistic expectations for our clients. We tell our selling clients what they need to fix and repair before listing their home. This makes the process go smoothly once a buyer comes along! It saves time and, ultimately, it saves you money! 

If you have questions about how to make the most of the selling process, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!

When a Pre-Listing Home Inspection Backfires

Selling your Greater Wilmington home? Get a free home value report

Buying a Greater Wilmington home? Search all homes for sale

Over the year’s we’ve been advising most of our clients to get a pre-listing home inspection. However, we wanted to share a story with you today about a problem we recently had with this method. It will help to demonstrate that this inspection could be a double-edged sword based on your situation.

 

We had a family a few weeks ago who was preparing to sell. When we recommended they get a pre-listing inspection, they agreed and got it scheduled so that we could be proactive. Well, we ran into an issue. The problem was that they didn’t tell me they didn’t have the funds to fix some of the things that might come up.

Here’s what happened next. The home inspector came in and found a significant amount of structural damage that needs to be dealt with. It wasn’t anything earth-shattering, but it was enough that the sellers couldn’t get the funds to make the repairs.

When this happens, everything on the pre-inspection becomes a disclosure item, which we have to tell the buyers about up-front. We’ve gone from a proactive situation to putting the sellers behind the 8 ball.

If we would have not had the pre-inspection in this case, the items would have still come up on the buyer’s inspection. However, we could have negotiated those things out through accredited price or credited closing costs. The problems became a scar on the property because the seller didn’t have the money to fix it, so the home became an “as-is” property, and was sold at a discount.

When you’re thinking about a pre-listing inspection, remember that in most cases it’s a great idea, unless you don’t have the funds to fix potential repairs. You can save money with a pre-listing inspection, but only if you have some to spend in the first place.

If you have any questions for us, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!