Once you have a buyer interested in your house, you’ll need to have a home inspection. This allows them to find out about potential issues before making the purchase. Here’s some advice on how to prepare for the inspection and increase your chances of receiving a higher offer.

Do:

Clean the interior and exterior of your home.

You want to make the best first impression possible. A clean home conveys both to potential buyers and to your home inspector that you take good care of the property. Organize your items and clean up clutter. Also, make sure that all of the areas of the home are accessible, especially appliances like your water heater or furnace.

Make sure the house is fully operational.

Even if you’ve moved out of your home, you shouldn’t turn the power off. The home inspector will need to make sure that certain appliances work, like your dishwasher, air conditioner, furnace, and water heater.

If the power is off when they arrive, they won’t be able to finish their inspection and will have to come back another time. This could delay the sale of your home.

Don’t:

Stay during the home inspection.

You might feel like you need to stay in your home during the inspection to explain any problems the inspector might find. However, the buyers will probably want to be around for the inspection, and they might feel like they can’t ask questions when you’re around.

Leave your home after you let the inspector in, and give them two to three hours to complete their evaluation. You should also make sure to take pets with you, as they could get in the way.

Try to hide issues.

It may be tempting to try to obscure issues so that the home inspector won’t notice them. Remember that the inspector is a professional and will probably notice these problems anyway. You may want to have the expert perform a pre-inspection. This process identifies areas of your home that need improvement and might appear on the final report. You then have an opportunity to fix these issues before the formal inspection stage.

If you need a home inspection, contact Twin City Home Inspections Inc. They’re the best choice for both buyers and sellers, and they serve areas within a 75-mile radius of Texarkana, TX, including Arkansas. They’ll create a custom report of their findings quickly so that you can move on with the selling process. Visit their website or call (903) 276-9566 to schedule an appointment.