As with most things whether you need an inspection or not depends.
INSPECTIONS when selling a home
In our market, Minneapolis and St. Paul both have Truth-in-Sale-of-Housing (TISH) inspection requirements when selling a home, as do some first-ring suburbs. A number of cities no longer have inspections requirements which they had in the past. Here is a link to current cities requiring inspections when selling a home… INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS
The same rules apply whether you are listing it in the MLS and are represented by a Realtor or are selling yourself. Here are some examples of requirements.
- City inspections/TISH – cities set their own rules with varying requirements, such as…
- No city inspection required
- Property inspection required, conducted by the city
- Property inspection required, conducted by an approved private inspector
- Inspection has requirements that certain items be repaired
- Inspection requires disclosure, but there are no repair requirements
- Required inspection of sewer line from house to street only conducted by city, with repairs required as indicated
- If city repairs are required most sellers have the repairs made prior to the sale, but it can also be written into the sale agreement that the buyer will assume the repairs, sometimes with escrow funds held at the city to ensure completion
Sometimes sellers choose to have a complete private home inspection completed prior to listing so they can make repairs prior to listing and avoid big surprises from a buyer’s inspection. This is purely voluntary, and not required. Most buyers will not accept such an inspection in lieu of their own professional buyer inspection.
These inspections are all paid for by the seller.
BUYER’S INSPECTIONS
Most buyers in today’s market choose to have a complete home inspection after an offer to purchase is accepted, often including a test for radon, a scope of the sewer line from the house to the street, and a fireplace inspection if one is present. None of these inspections are required, but they give peace of mind to a buyer and can also help protect the seller by setting a baseline if something comes up after closing.
After the inspection, buyers have three options…
- Accept everything as it is and proceed with the sale
- Ask the seller to make some repairs based on the inspection report or make some monetary concessions in price or contribution to closing costs to contribute to the cost of repairs.
- Cancel the purchase agreement and have earnest money fully refunded.
These inspections are all paid for by the buyer.
Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results – shensrud@homesmsp.com