When preparing your offer it’s imperative to have an idea about the condition of the property as property condition does affect offer price. Now granted as a buyer you’re not going to want to incur fees every time you want to write an offer by hiring a home inspector to do a full inspection but you do want to see the property and walk around it to make sure that visibly it’s in sound condition. Writing an offer on a property you haven’t seen could potentially cost you thousands in repairs and unnecessary time in court depending on how the contracts written. Traditionally buyer will have an inspection period of 17 days once the contract is accepted to do their due diligence inspections.
It’s just not feasible to hire a home inspector every time you want to make an offer on a home. It’s not cost-effective and depending on the market, as a buyer you may be wasting valuable time in submitting an offer that you might not have. Additionally, sellers aren’t going to want someone going through their home for no reason, lets face it you haven’t even wrote an offer yet so there’s really no reason to do a full inspection as your offer may not even be accepted. What you are going to want to do when you’re interested in the property is carefully walk around the interior and exterior and do a visual inspection. You’re not going to see everything but at least you you’ll be able to know if the property is in major disrepair. When you get the offer accepted is when you’ll want to do a more in-depth analysis and take advantage of your inspection time to do your full inspections.
The Property Condition Does Affect Offer Price
Hiring a home inspector is something that all agents would and should recommend to their clients buying a home. To read more about home inspections, check out our article Inspections Before Purchasing a Home and Proper Home Inspection. A home inspector will inspect the home from top to bottom and provide a detailed report to the buyers and their agent of all the items in the home that are both in good condition and items that need repair and/or further inspection. Home inspections vary in cost by the size of the home and what inspected but typically range from $300 to $500 for a normal sized home.
There are many inspectors out there and some are really good, others maybe not so good so rely on a recommendation from your Realtor to get you aligned with a reputable inspector. Some home inspectors actually have general contracting licenses which is a huge benefit because they will know how things should be constructed and can point out more accurate costs to remedy any issues that are found. Upon receiving the home inspection report, evaluate the findings with your agent and determine a game plan. If you’re getting a great deal on the property maybe asking for a ton of repairs is not the best idea however if you’re paying asking price then you might have some room with the seller to have some items repaired.
Remember property condition does affect offer price so one negotiation tactic would be to request the seller to further discount the price of the home instead of completing repairs. Sellers tend to like this option better because they don’t have to deal with the cost of repairs now and if the house doesn’t sell their left with still paying for those items to be completed. A property price discount only applies when the property actually closes so it can be a win-win for both parties.
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