There is nothing worse for a seller than to get his/her property all the way into escrow only to get a big surprise when the property inspection is done.

I have been an advocate for a very long time of sellers getting a good, thorough property inspection before putting their property on the market. There are many reasons for this. One of the main reasons is so the seller doesn’t get ambushed at closing by big surprises that will cost them a ton of money when they aren’t expecting it and aren’t in a position to pay for it.

In the state of California there are some generally agreed upon standards for property inspections. One such standard is from the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM). This is considered the yardstick in the industry for commercial and industrial real estate inspections.

We currently do these inspections for some banks and other investors on properties they have taken over so they know what they are up against when a buyer comes along. There are some forward thinking agents and sellers who have us do inspections so they know what to expect during negotiations. Removing the big surprise factor can often be the difference between a completed sale and broken negotiations.

Getting a good, unbiased general visual inspection will let the seller know:

1. What shape each system is in; namely the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, roofing and structure.
2. What immediate repairs or maintenance is needed for each.

When an owner wants to sell their property they need to know what is going to happen when it goes on the market and a professional comes out and does a real estate inspection. You can do a “preemptive strike” so to speak and have your own inspection done so that there won’t be any big surprises. This will also allow you to act ahead of time if you want to make the property more attractive to a prospective buyer.

When a seller or buyer gets a RISK Assessment® they will also know the expected useful life left for each system and what expenses other than routine maintenance will be needed over the next five years for each system.

Everyone wants to eliminate the “hidden pitfalls”, meaning those things they can’t see or don’t know about that might have a large negative effect on them. Doing one of these inspections will help minimize these to a very large degree for both sides. The “As Is” sale done in conjunction with one of these inspections gives both sides a clearer view of what they are dealing with.

Getting a good general inspection along with specific photos will allow you or your buyer to fully understand the current condition of the site. That way, you can determine what immediate repairs/maintenance will be needed and therefore what to expect financially. With this information you can be much better prepared to handle the negotiations and not be hit with an unknown bombshell. In any negotiation it’s best to “know before you go”, so to speak.

I hope this helps.

Author Bio: Bob Pace has been a California Real Estate Inspection Association Certified Inspector since 1994 and a licensed contractor with nearly 40 years experience in the construction trades. He was the past president of the Los Angeles Mid Valley Chapter of CREIA and the education chairman for many years.

Category: Real Estate
Keywords: los angeles real estate inspector, los angeles building inspector, building inspections