Smart Ways You Can Inspect Your House Before You Sell It

Selling a house isn’t as easy as simply posting an ad and waiting for buyers to show up. You have to make sure that the house you’re selling is up to snuff. 

While there are homebuyers who will gladly take a fixer-upper, most will want a property that will bring them zero major investments in the foreseeable future. To ensure that there are no surprises, you’ll want to perform a brief house inspection before posting it for sale. It often helps to familiarise yourself with the market, particularly in the area you live, so for instance you can search Estate Agents in South Kensington or your local area for up-to-date house prices. 

Look for Obvious Signs of Trouble

The first step in this pre-sale inspection is to look for obvious signs of trouble. We’re talking about things that stand out on their own and are easily noticed by anyone. Start from the bottom, i.e. the foundation, and work your way up. 

You’re looking for cracks, obvious signs of water damage, mold, uneven gaps in doors/windows, and anything that is broken. In some cases, spotting such issues means that you could potentially be dealing with more serious damage that isn’t as visible. Consult a professional Roofing and Siding Contractors.

Hire a Home Inspector 

Sometimes the easiest thing to do is to hire a home inspector. This is especially true if you haven’t found any obvious issues, but you want to be sure. Or, if you have found problems with your house, and you want to explore them further. 

With that said, not all home inspectors are the same. You’ll want to find someone with a proven track record, who is known to be thorough in finding problems that may not be obvious to a layperson. Some parts of your home such as your roof could be hard to assess for problems, but experts like Mighty Dog Roofing in Little Rock can inspect it, ensuring it’s damage-free and suggesting improvements if needed

Do the Inspection Yourself 

In case you feel that hiring a home inspector is a bit too much, or if you know that your potential buyers will hire one, you can always perform the inspection yourself. To get started, you’ll need a home inspection checklist and this is a simple checklist that will guide you through all the areas that need to be inspected. 

During your inspection, you’ll want to take a look at the following: 

• Foundation 
• Roof 
• Plumbing 
• Electrical 
• HVAC 

Foundation 

Foundation is the most important part of any structure. If there are problems with the foundation, anything above it is compromised as well. To spot any issues with the foundation, you’ll need to look for signs of trouble all over the house. Start by looking for cracks in the walls and foundation itself. 

Get inside the crawl space and look for signs of cracking around the outside perimeter, but also near the center of the structure. On the inside, look for movement in floors as that can indicate that a certain part of the house is sinking. 

Roof 

As far as the roof goes, you’ll want to inspect it from the outside as well as inside. On the outside, you’re looking for missing roof tiles, damaged shingles, and damaged gutters. On the inside, you’ll want to spot signs of water damage. 

Any leaks will show as mold in the insulation material as well as the superstructure of the roof. Of course, any such issues need to be addressed before your buyers bring their own house inspector. The importance of roof and gutter cleaning treatments cannot be overstated. Not only does it help improve the appearance of your home, but it also prevents potential damage to your roof and gutters. Regular cleaning can significantly prolong the lifespan of these structures, saving you thousands in repairs or replacements.

Plumbing

Leaky or blocked plumbing can become a real problem for you, but also the next homeowners who buy the house from you. Leaky faucets, leaky pipe joints, and fractured pipes can be a nightmare to deal with, especially if they freeze over during the winter. 

While it’s not easy to inspect the plumbing inside the walls, you can go around and check your faucets for any signs of leaks. 

Electrical Wiring 

Faulty electrical wiring is far more than just a potential annoyance — it is a fire hazard. Go around the house and inspect every light switch, every wall outlet, and every light fixture. You’re looking for flickering lights, buzzing switches, or outlets that heat up when used. If using power in any part of your house trips your breakers, you have a problem. Don’t let this one slide, no matter what!

HVAC 

Modern HVAC systems are both essential and complex. Keeping an HVAC going means performing regular maintenance, and that’s not something many people do these days. 

Check the HVAC for any blocked vents, clean the outside unit, make sure that the filter is clean, and push the system through all of its cycles. If the potential buyers spot any HVAC issues, they could become discouraged, or insist on a large price correction. 

Performing a pre-sale inspection is the least you can do to make the whole process go without a bump. Besides, it’s much easier to negotiate a price if you’re aware of all the potential issues your home has.