Step 20 To Selling a Home: The Home Inspection and Negotiating Repairs

The home inspection(s) occur during the due diligence period, which is the first 10 days or so that your home is under contract.

The buyer will schedule the inspection and then their REALTOR® will confirm the day/time work for us. Most inspectors do not work evenings and only a few work weekends, so usually the inspection takes place on a weekday. It’s important that the home inspection occur as quickly as possible, so we recommend making the home available at whatever time the buyers request for the inspection, whenever possible. It may takes the inspector a day or two to write the report after the inspection, and then we will need time to negotiate repairs (or compensation in lieu of repairs) in order to keep the contract moving forward.  

The home inspector will test all of the major systems in the home, including the air conditioning and furnace, the water heater, electrical outlets, major kitchen appliances, and more. They will also look at the roof and in the crawlspace or basement (if applicable). Some buyers may also opt to have more specialized inspections done, such as radon, termite/pest, and pool or septic (if applicable).

The inspection will last a couple of hours (1.5 to 2.5 hours for a condo or townhouse; 2 to 3 hours for a single-family home, perhaps even longer depending on the size of the home). We encourage sellers to not be home during the inspection, in order to give the inspector time to do his work and freely answer the questions the buyer and buyer's REALTOR® have. In other words, we encourage you to treat the inspection like a showing and not be present. We also advise that the home should look just like it did for the showings, with beds made, dishes put away, pets out of the home, etc.

Following the inspection, the buyer and the buyer's REALTOR® will review the inspector's report(s), compile a list of repairs that they would like you to address, and that list, along with a copy of the inspection report, will be sent to us to review. This will be another opportunity for negotiation, and we will have a chance at that time get quotes for any work that the buyer is asking for and to negotiate our way through the repairs. If we agree to complete repairs on the home, we will write up and sign an amendment to the contract that includes a detailed list of any repairs we agree to, as well as the timeframe for those repairs to be completed. Typically, the buyer will expect any repairs to be done no later than 3 to 5 days prior to closing, so that they can review receipts and check those repairs at their final walk-through. Ideally, we will negotiate compensation (either money off the price or toward the buyer's closing costs in lieu of repairs. Click here to read more about the pros and cons of negotiating repairs versus compensation instead of repairs.

Upon successful completion of this negotiation, the buyer's due diligence period will be over and we will move forward toward closing. The end of the due diligence period is the first major milestone we will clear in your contract!