Why For Sale by Owner Homes Have Problematic Inspections?

In case worrying about the paperwork, listing, and touring of the listed house wasn’t enough for a For Sale by Owner (FSBO) seller, they need to worry about the upkeep and inspection report of the house, too. Selling a house is about more than just selling the actual house – deeds, paperwork, legal documentation, inspections, codes, and a variety of other demands are at play when a home is handed from one owner to the next. By opting to handle it as an FSBO, you are essentially removing the one professional from the equation who would have been able to advise you on best selling practices.

Problematic Inspections

Sellers who don’t know the rules can get stuck with some seriously expensive repairs. A FSBO can get as far as selling their home to an entirely new buyer before they learn about costs and repair projects that are coming their way after home inspections. Let’s say a seller found a buyer who was ready to pay for the new home. The inspector comes in and announces that the home needs the stairs changed from the garage to the kitchen. 

Why? Home codes are constantly changing in local markets.

But, as a FSBO, you didn’t know that. So now your buyer is aware of code violations that you never mentioned to them during the touring process. It’s not a good look for you, and could potentially open you up to legal altercations. In the meantime, the inspector has now told you that you need to make these changes before selling the house. Replacing a staircase isn’t exactly a cheap activity, which will cost you probably more than a real estate commission would have.

Inspection Ignorance

Looking even farther, without an agent, your inspector could be telling you a lie and you wouldn’t even know it. Following the example above, if the parts of the home were code when it was built, then the seller isn’t responsible for the changes. However, how would you know that once the inspector has told you to make the changes? You wouldn’t, and you’d go through with one expensive project that wasn’t even yours to shoulder.

It’s this reason alone that buyers run in the other direction when dealing with a FSBO. No one wants to worry about after-the-fact projects and delayed move-in dates. If a seller elects to do the real estate process without a real estate agent, it’s very likely that they are violating some type of inspection or code during the process. 

Inspections are hardly problematic when using a real estate agent.