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Before You List

A defect the buyer finds is worth more to them than the same defect you disclosed. That is the whole argument for looking first.

The one-paragraph answer

A finding a buyer discovers costs more than the same finding a seller disclosed, because it arrives during negotiation rather than before it. What is worth establishing before listing is whatever the standards exclude, since that is what a buyer’s inspector will not cover.

PresalePipe is a referral service, not a contractor or a home inspector. We connect homeowners and buyers with independent contractors. Contractors are required to hold whatever credential their state or municipality demands. Every state page sets out who licenses plumbers there and where to check, so you can confirm before work begins. We carry out no inspections and no work, we do not set prices, and we never charge homeowners anything — the contractors in our network pay us when we route them a call.

Why the order matters

A finding that arrives in the buyer’s report arrives with leverage attached, usually late, and usually without a quote. The same finding established in advance is a decision you make calmly, with time to get a second opinion.

What a buyer’s inspection will and will not reach

It will run every fixture, flush every toilet, check drainage and look at the water heater and its relief valve. It will not establish water quality, pressure, or anything below grade, and it is not required to inspect a well, a septic system or polybutylene pipe.

So the surprises come from two directions: what the inspection finds, and what it flags as beyond its scope. The second sort is what leads to a second visit and a longer delay.

Source: InterNACHI Home Inspection Standards of Practice; ASHI Standard of Practice.

The things worth establishing in advance

Where the main shut-off is and whether it operates. Whether anything is weeping at a connection that has been dry long enough to leave a mark. Whether the water heater’s relief valve has ever discharged. And on an older property, what the line under the garden looks like.

And what not to do

Do not cosmetically address something you know is a real fault. A fresh seal over a stain reads as a repair to a buyer and as a concealment to their solicitor, and disclosure obligations differ by state.

Fixing it properly and saying so is worth more than either.

Inspection report in front of you?Read us the plumbing lines and nothing else — we do not want the document. We will route you to a contractor covering your area who can quote the items on it, and you are never charged by us. Inspections are the theme here; calls of every kind are routed.

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