The most common issue that will arise after a home inspection is the age of your furnace and air conditioner. You will often hear the buyer’s agent say “It’s 20 years old and it is bound to go soon” OR “My clients don’t want to spend another $6,000 if something happens”. As a seller, you might get worried and agree to a price reduction but I’m going to show you how you can avoid that altogether.
The best way to mitigate potential issues after a home inspection is to address them prior to listing your house through a pre-listing inspection. When it comes to inspecting your furnace and air conditioner you want to retain the help of a licensed HVAC professional who knows and understands these units better than anyone else.
The benefits of bringing in a licensed HVAC professional are:
- They are able to service your items (if needed) and make sure that they are in good working order.
- Their evaluation as a licensed professional holds much more weight than a home inspector who really has no formal training in HVAC and their opinion is just that… an opinion.
- You will be much more able to defend your pricing and not be subject to losing in a negotiation when you have done your own due diligence.
The agreement of purchase and sale states that your chattels and fixtures will be in GOOD WORKING ORDER. It doesn’t say they have to be brand new, or 3 years old, or have a lifetime warranty. There is no reason you should agree to a price reduction after a home inspection IF your items are in good working order and the best way to ensure that is by hiring a licensed HVAC professional to do a pre listing inspection.
A home inspector, while knowledgeable, is not licensed and their opinion does not hold as much weight as someone who is a licensed HVAC technician. It will cost you anywhere from $100-$200 to get your unit serviced and I can guarantee it is one of the best investments you can make prior to listing your home for sale.
Green Energy Audits says:
Thanks for the great share! I also like the idea of Home Inspections. The best part I like is this: The reliability and availability of modern energy sources cause people to tend to assume that it will always be accessible. And as for the case of non-renewable energy sources, most people do not know or maybe even refuse to accept that it will eventually run out.