It’s well known that a Pre-Purchase Building Inspection can provide valuable information for potential House buyers. It gives them a holistic view on the state of the house that they’re purchasing and in a lot of cases this influences their view on the value of the property. But what about the value that reports can provide to sellers and agents?
At hppi, we think there is a lot of unrecognised value for both sellers and their agents. We undertook a poll that surmised; buyers are more likely to make an offer on a home if they have seen a report (77%). A pre purchase inspection report simply eliminates the unknown. If there are no major issues uncovered, this will likely increase bidding competition, and if there are issues uncovered, these issues are simply taken into consideration when making the offer; ‘I need to set $10k aside to remove the asbestos’. We approach our report writing process with this in mind; how can hppi ensure that more buyers are making offers with confidence.
However, there’s another way of looking at pre purchase reports that few sellers consider; not many house sellers actually consider the value that a home inspection could provide them. Below are a few considerations for how a pre purchase inspection may be valuable for the seller:
A great report:
You’ve had the report completed and there are no moderate to major issues uncovered. The exterior will need a paint job in a few years, and this is to be expected for homeowners, but despite the house looking a little tired on the exterior, it’s in great shape. In this case, the agent should be shouting this from the rooftops. ‘We’ve had a report completed and it’s uncovered no major issues, we encourage you to get a report yourself!’. The result – more confident bidders making offers.
Identified issues:
The report has identified some moderate issues. For example, Asbestos has been detected. As a seller, you’re now aware of an issue that all of your buyers will be aware of when they get their report. You have two options;
- You can remedy the issue before putting the house on the market. It won’t be raised in any potential buyers pre purchase reports.
- You can proactively get a quote to provide context to potential buyers. ‘Yes, there is Asbestos in the house and here’s a quote for $5k to remedy the issue.’ Often buyers can dramatise issues found in reports, but applying a cost against the fault puts it in perspective and make the problem feel solvable.
Major issues uncovered:
Any major issues (structural, leaky home etc.) will be uncovered in any of the buyers reports as well. Uncovering them yourself will help set realistic sales objectives on the house. This can be helpful for agents in understanding why the bids aren’t as high as expected. Again, it may be worth getting a quote to remedy the issue as this may be less than expected and may actually increase bidders come auction day. You eliminated the unknown; i.e. changing, ‘who knows how much that will cost to fix!’ to, ‘That’s not as costly as I’d assumed’ or ‘I’ll factor that cost into my bid’
In Summary, it’s not only home buyers that can benefit from a pre purchase house inspection. Give hppi a call to determine if this is something that may benefit you as a house seller or agent. We have invested in a proprietary app that saves us time and enables us to charge less. We can also guarantee 24-hour turnaround from inspection time.
We have a range of report options available here: https://www.hppi.co.nz/building-reports
We also offer a free inspection service for Sellers and Agents. We complete the report free of charge, we run the seller through the report, then provide the report to potential buyers at a decreased cost. The seller can choose not to proceed if they deem the report unfavourable. Win / Win.