By Kathy Henne

As a seller, you’d prefer a nice clean, unconditional offer at or above full price, right? One way to encourage such confidence among potential buyers is to have whole house, termite, well and septic inspection reports available during the showings, as well as any receipts for the repairs that you’ve made. Why order an inspection when the buyers will probably do so anyway? Because when you take the initiative and perform repairs at the beginning of your listing, you are basically presenting a clean bill of health for your home.

Prelisting inspections are becoming a popular way to give sellers an edge in today’s market. Taking such action also provides a great opportunity for you to take care of problems that otherwise might come back to bite you. Buyers today are armed with more knowledge than in the past, and they recognize the security offered when the seller is forthright and demonstrating that there is nothing to hide.

When you’ve completed the inspections and required repairs, you’ll be more likely to receive offers that do not require any additional inspections. This will save time and allow for quicker closings. If the buyer does decide to have more inspections performed, you can have a greater sense of confidence knowing that there won’t be any big, unhappy surprises waiting for you.

If you have any doubts about whether a prelisting inspection will improve your chances for a quicker closing, discuss it with your real estate professional, who will also undoubtedly have many other suggestions for successfully marketing your home. Having the inspections performed in the beginning will save you time, stress and money.