Getting your home ready for market includes For Sale By Owner pre-inspection repairs. We talk a lot about getting your home ready for market and how important it is to make a good first impression. It’s also a good idea to take care of any underlying problems that are not readily visible.

What that means are the things that may come up in a home inspection. In most states real estate contracts are contingent on a successful home inspection. What does that mean to you? A buyer has the right to have a professional go over the property. The inspection makes sure the house is in good condition and nothing was missed at the initial viewing. Whatever comes up on that inspection the buyer has a right to ask to have it fixed. That doesn’t mean you have to do it but it gives the buyer an out if you can’t agree. It’s another negotiation.

In Kansas there is a clause protecting against unreasonable and sometimes silly repair requests. It States; Buyer agrees that the purchase price was negotiated after consideration of all defects in the property of which Buyer was aware or reasonably should have been aware.  You will want to check the contract you use. Sometimes those little items can become points of friction and that’s never fun. It’s best to avoid that friction whenever possible and we can do that by insuring all of the little things that may come up in an inspection are already taken care of. Those little things can be found by doing a pre-inspection. Hiring a home inspector before you ever go to market.

Experience has shown that if you know what needs to be fixed and fix it before the buyer asks you will save a lot of money. Some items you may be able to fix yourself, others may require a contractor but whatever happens you will be in control. Buyers often ask for licenced contractors on all repairs and that can get expensive. And who knows, maybe there will be nothing to repair. It’s still good to know.