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Five Tips To Sell Your Home

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In Tampa, the real estate market claims it’s a “sellers market”. If that’s true, then now is the time to sell your home! Here are five tips to give you the edge and close the deal.

New paint goes a long way

Not everyone loves bright colors. In fact, if you’re selling your home, go ahead and paint the walls a neutral color. Whether you like it or not is not important. Buyer’s can envision themselves in your home more easily when the paint color is neutral. Neutral colors also make your home look bigger. So don’t worry about whether you like the colors or not, go ahead and throw on a fresh coat.

Create curb appeal

Stand out from the competition with great curb appeal. You don’t have to spend a lot of money in landscaping. Sometimes just getting a good lawn cut, weed the edges, and plating a few flowers is all you need. Don’t forget about your front door. Does that need a coat of paint too?

Be flexible about your timing

Buyers who purchase in the fall intend to spend the holidays in their new home. Don’t insist on staying for one last Christmas with the family. If you’re buyers want to move in, be as flexible as you can be, within reason. Expect the buyer to want you out sooner than later and plan for it.

Offer incentives to buyers

Getting a pre-listing home inspection can be a huge incentive for buyers. A pre-listing home inspection can save a buyer hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket money. Buyers will also appreciate your transparency. Be sure you hire a credible home inspector who will create a thorough inspection report.

Don’t overprice your home

The second a seller hears it’s a “sellers market” they think it’s an opportunity to hike up the price of their home. The fall real estate season is only 10 to 12 weeks. If you hike up the price of your home and are unable to sell, you will have to wait until after the holidays before you see much traction again.

If you’re interested in getting a pre-listing inspection you can count on Divinity Inspection Service. We are a credible and reliable home inspection company. We create thorough home inspection reports that can be transferred to your buyer and we keep the report on record for a year. Schedule your home inspection now.

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Get Your Home Hurricane Ready: Prepare Before You Have To

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We are in the peak of hurricane season again and it sure is an active one. Every year we write a blog about getting hurricane ready and yet last year our shelves ran out of stock when a hurricane came our way. Few people truly keep their household prepared for a hurricane, which means most of us end up with the rest – racing to the store desperately trying to get ready. We know most hurricanes don’t come our way but either way, don’t wait until you have to be prepared to get prepared.

Start with the un-perishables

Start your preparations by stocking up on items that won’t perish. Canned goods, water, batteries, flashlights, candles, and matches. You can also stock up on detergent you can use without a washing machine, bars of soap and medical supplies. You will need an emergency medical kit on hand with your basic medical materials.

Get your house ready

The next item on the list is your home. If you have hurricane shutters, make sure they function the way they are supposed to. clean out your gutters, patch any exterior flaws around the home and make sure the road drains are working. If you are in a flood zone you should have an evacuation plan in place, even if it is to get out of your neighborhood. While you can protect your home from flooding, you won’t want to be there and become an emergency situation.

Make a list of everything in your home

A picture is as good as a receipt for an insurance company. Make a list of all your belongings and take pictures of every room. Keep these pictures and your list with all your important documents. And speaking of documents, you will want to put anything important into a water-proof location. You can buy a small house safe which is easy to find and not too expensive.

If you are really worried about your home you can also have an appraisal done. A current appraisal will ensure you get the most out of your insurance if you need to call on them to make repairs or rebuild. A pre-listing inspection is another way to document issues in your home that can be identified before the storm and prove issues that happened as a result of the storm. You can easily schedule any property inspection directly online with Divinity Inspection Services.

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Does Your Property Inspector Know What You Need?

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Do you feel confident your property inspector knows what you need even if you don’t? I have a great story about a client who had to pay twice for his property inspection. Thankfully this story has a good ending. In fact, it also had a good beginning, but the middle part got a little rough.

This gentleman chose his property inspector based on the price of the inspection. He was in a rush to have the space inspected in order to meet his deadlines. And while this inspector was good, he didn’t concern himself with what the client needed. Only with what he was asked to do.

A few days later I receive a call from the gentleman in a bit of a panic. He needs another inspection and he needs it as soon as possible. As it turns out, while the other property inspector costed him less, he did not do a four point inspection or a wind mitigation inspection. It is possible that might be why his prices were lower. The client was in such a rush to have the inspection done that he didn’t confirm exactly what was getting done.

Divinity inspection does more than home and property inspections. We do it all and we can do it all in one inspection. This includes wind mitigation, four point inspection, pool leak inspection and new construction inspections. Our prices may not be the lowest, but they are fair and they are reasonable.

More importantly, we make sure all of your needs are being met. All of our inspectors are trained and certified. And because we have so much experience, we know exactly what kind of inspection you need. Even if you don’t. And we’ll make sure you have all the information you need so you don’t end up paying for a property inspection twice. We want to make the process as easy and as comfortable as possible. We want you to feel informed, confident, and most of all comfortable.

You can find two very important things on our website that speak to both our credibility and standards. As you search for and interview property inspectors, feel free to use these as standards. First, our certifications. Here on our website you can see a list of all of our certificates and you can see that we find education and proper training very important. Second, you will find our Standards of Practice. These are company standards that we’ve created for ourselves and abide by. We expect all of our inspectors to follow the same standards of practice to ensure excellent service across the board.

You can schedule an inspection directly through our website but we also love phone calls. Please feel free to call us with any questions you have. We try to accommodate our clients by being accessible for inspections needed as soon as possible. We even work on the weekends.

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Why Home Inspections on Flip Homes Are So Important

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A new build has to go through many inspections before the home is deemed livable. The same goes for a flip home (a house that has been completely remodeled and put up for sale). So why get a home inspection if everything is new anyways?

The hidden price of a flip is becoming more common

According to KomoNews.com, local real estate experts are finding homeowners are having to invest tens of thousands of dollars after purchasing a flip. While many flips are well done, many others cover up, ignore, or overlook defects. A good home inspector should be able to identify any issues or concerns, including covered up defects.

Even if you have to move fast, don’t skip the necessary steps

Buying a home in a seller’s market sometimes requires you to move quickly. When you might be competing with others for the same home, you might also be taking a gamble on the remodel work. This is why it is so important not to skip the important steps. Do a thorough walk-through of the home, get an inspection done before closing the deal, and utilize guidance from your real estate agent.

Home inspectors are working for the buyers

We want to educate home buyers about their home. We understand that sometimes the information might, or could, “kill” a deal. But would you rather buy a home and later find out you have to spend thousands of dollars on pre-existing damage? Of course not! So just remember, the home inspector has your best interest in mind.

If you need a home inspection in Tampa Bay, call the only property inspector with a five star rating on Google! We will work with you, and your real estate inspector, and the seller.

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What Is Your Home Inspection Worth?

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Despite the convincing argument of not skipping your home inspection, what is your home inspection report actually worth? We dive into the value of a home inspection and identify the difference between a good report and a soft report.

The difference between $100 and $100 value

I recently purchased a few different dollar bills. Once of which is a $100 bill. However, this bill is valued 4x face value because it has a reverse water mark. It may seem like a simple, almost unnoticeable difference. But that difference changes the value of the bill. In fact, if I hadn’t told you there was a difference you may never have noticed!

A good report vs. a soft report

A good home inspection report vs. a soft home inspection report may be hard to spot if you don’t know what to look for. A soft home inspection report can have 20 pictures on it and only 5 comments. It’s like a fake $100 bill. It looks full, but in reality, it’s pretty empty.

A good home inspection report is like the $100 bill with the reverse watermark. It may look only like a $100 bill, but it’s worth far more. Your inspection report should educate you about your home. A home inspection is to find any issues or concerns with your home, but it’s also more than that. Do you want to know the life left in your roof so you can be prepared to replace it when the time comes? Do you want to know the condition or your A/C or plumbing? These are all things you’ll learn about during your home inspection.

 

The value of your home inspection report is far more than its face-value. What is your home inspector providing you? What is your home inspection report providing for you. At Divinity Inspection Service, we make sure all of our reports are thorough, detailed, and answers all of your questions. Give us a call to schedule your home inspection now.