I did an open house at a property this weekend that received seven offers. Of these seven offers, five buyers did pre-inspections. When setting up a strategy to ‘win’ in a multiple offer situation, agents often recommend pre-inspecting the home. The reason being is that it makes the offer more attractive to the seller. A home inspection is a contingency in an offer- meaning it is a ‘way out’ for the buyer – the buyer can walk away from the deal at any time during the inspection period, for any reason. The seller can not consider it a solid deal until the inspection period is over.
With a pre-inspection, the buyer is able to waive the inspection contingency because the buyer is already aware of the home’s issues and can make an offer based on the findings. The seller can feel relieved that the offer is ‘as is,’ the buyer will not, and can not, make any demands for items to be fixed or price to be reduced post the offer acceptance. This makes the offer stronger.
For example. A seller may take an offer for $400,000 with a waived inspection as opposed to a $405,000 offer with an inspection. This is because the seller has no ability to predict that the $405K offer person will demand after the home inspection. If the deal falls though because of inability to come to a meeting-of-the-minds on the inspection, then the seller has lost valuable market time and potentially the other person(s) who was interested in the property.
Then again, money talks! Some sellers are willing to gamble on the inspection (especially if they think their home is in perfect condition) and will take the offer that brings in the highest sales price.