Prepping a listing for success- inspections and pre approvals
After 19 years as a Realtor and investor - I've come to believe it's not the big things, it's often just the unknowns. Curious how others are handling this, especially in older housing stock markets.
On the listing side, I’ve started leaning more into pre listing inspections - not across the board, but when it makes sense. When I had to sell my own parents' home we used the inspection report in lieu of disclosures, and we did go ahead and address some of the functional items on the report. I
Not because you expect anything crazy to come up, but because I’d rather know upfront than have a buyer “discover” something mid-contract and turn it into a bigger issue than it is - which buyers (especially first time buyers) often do.
What I notice is when everything comes out during the buyer’s inspection, it tends to feel like a problem. When it’s already known and disclosed, it tends to feel like part of the deal. It also builds trust due to the transparency.
Also, it's better to know about some of the bigger stuff - like sewer lateral repairs (super common in the St Louis market) - instead of being blindsided after agreeing to a big credit or something. It also gives the seller more time to shop vendors and pricing. A house can show great, function fine, and then all of a sudden you’ve got a multi-thousand dollar conversation that nobody planned for.
Sometimes it's not even about the repair, it's about shaking the buyer's confidence. I've had buyers walk because 'there were so many things' when it reality it was a long honey do list, nothing major. First time buyer especially can just get overwhelmed.
The other piece I’ve been paying more attention to lately is the quality of the pre approval lender - communicating with their lender pre-acceptance can be super beneficial. They will either inspire confidence, or not. And it's best to know if financials have been reviewed. We've had loan denials from even reputable institutions over that previous year's tax return the did not bother to get in hand.
I’m finding that not all “pre-approvals” are created equal.
Some are basically:
- Quick online approvals
- Minimal documentation
- Not fully underwritten
Others are:
- Fully reviewed
- Backed by a lender who’s actually going to get the deal to the finish line
And in situations where the deal gets a little messy (inspection, appraisal, etc.), that difference really starts to show.
So I’ve been looking at offers more holistically:
- Not just price
- But how much risk is baked into the deal
- And how likely it is to actually close without getting chipped away the whole way
Curious how others are approaching this right now:
- Realtors - Are you recommending pre-listing inspections to your sellers? Flippers - are you getting them done ?
- Have you seen it help (or hurt) negotiation?
- How much weight are you putting on the lender/pre-approval when evaluating offers?
Feels like more deals are being won or lost in the “gray areas” lately, not just at the offer stage.
- Alicia Sierra
