You’ve made it through the biggest hurdles of the home selling process. You’ve presented the house in the best light, found a seller, and completed a good chunk of that never-ending pile of paperwork.
It’s a great time to sell a home, so you certainly don’t want to delay the process.
One of the only things that remain is the home inspection. That’s all that’s standing between you and a successful sale, and as such you don’t want to mess it up. Proper preparation and mindfulness will be key for you to move through this final step without any issues.
How can you prepare for home inspections in CA properly? Read on and we’ll walk you through everything that you need to know.
1. Make It Easy on the Inspector
You want your inspection to go smoothly, of course. For that to happen, you need to prepare your home so that there are no reasons it can’t go smoothly.
The number one tip for how to prep for a home inspection is to make the inspector’s job easier.
The easier you can make the inspector’s job, the better results you’re likely to get. If you make it difficult for the inspector to do their job properly, they can get frustrated at best, and suspicious that you’re hiding things at worst.
The best thing you can do for an inspector before their arrival is ensuring that they have easy access to the entirety of the property. If there are areas that feel difficult to get into, they won’t be able to do their job properly.
That will be a big red flag for the inspector and your potential buyers as a result.
Do anything you can: clear away clutter, make sure all doors and panels are unlocked, and ensure basements, attics, and furnace rooms are accessible and easy to explore.
This also means the exterior of your home as well! An inspector will be looking both inside and out. They will want to be able to check your window caulking, the siding, doors, and the roof. You’ll need to make sure that plant growth and stored items don’t get in the way of these tasks.
The more you can open your home to an inspector to look around, the clearer and more confident their word to your buyers will be.
2. Take a Look at the Roof
There’s a pretty good chance that even if you’ve lived in your home for many years, you haven’t spent all that much time on your roof. Why would you?
However, if you’re preparing for a home inspection, you’ll want to climb up there and get a lay of the land as soon as possible. The roof is a key part of any home inspection and you don’t want to be surprised at what an inspector might find.
First, you’ll want to get up there and do a general cleaning. Leaves, moss, branches, and other such debris can cover your roof and gutters and make it hard to determine their state. Get all of this out of the way.
Once things are clear, search for damaged or missing tiles. If you do find areas of damage, you’ll want to get these repaired before your inspection. This way, when your inspector climbs up there to take a look around, he’ll have nothing but good news to report.
3. Check Your Plumbing
How are the sinks and toilets operating around your home? Does your toilet seem to run forever after you flush it? Does it take an eternity for your sink water to get warm? These are common problems that we learn to live with in our homes.
However, it’s not a problem that’s going to go over well when a home inspector comes to visit your property. You’re going to want to do a little digging and determine what the problem is.
Often, fixing these issues can be inexpensive and require just a little DIY repair work. A simple trip to the hardware store might be all you need to get things back up and running properly. However, if the problem is more serious, you may need to call in some professional help before the inspection comes about.
4. Do a Leak Hunt
Another element that is going to be on the top of your home inspector’s mind is leaks and potential water damage. They’ll be looking around the entire home for evidence.
As with the other issues we’ve mentioned, your best bet will be beating them to the punch, and finding and resolving the issue before they ever arrive.
Do a thorough search of your home. Check under sinks and around the base of all toilets, showers, and other water-adjacent elements of your home. Look for sagging or dark stains, the typical result of a leak somewhere in the roof or piping.
As long as your search doesn’t turn up anything, you should be good to go when the inspector arrives. If you do find something, you’ll need to repair and rectify the problem as soon as you can. Depending on the extent of the damage, this can be one of the biggest repairs you’ll need to pull off before an inspection.
Prepare for Home Inspections in CA With Confidence
It can take a lot of work to sell a home. If you’re ready for an inspection, you’re nearing the finish line. Still, you’ll want to ensure you prepare properly. The above information can help you take all the steps you need to prepare for home inspections in CA.
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