Pre-Listing Home Inspections for Sellers

Are you thinking of selling in 2025? It might be a good idea to have your home inspected before listing. Here are some reasons why more sellers are doing pre-listing home inspections. A pre-listing home inspection can help sellers identify and address potential issues with their home before listing it for sale. This can save time and money during negotiations and help the sellers in marketing their homes more effectively. 

Benefits of a pre-listing inspection: 
  • Save money: A seller with a pre-listing home inspection can save money in the long run because they can account for repair costs in the asking price or even be able to fix the issues before listing the home. 
  • Avoid surprises: Knowing what is on the inspection report can help your sellers anticipate what buyers might ask for in repairs. Allowing for no surprises and the ability to get those items fixed before a buyer can ask for money off the purchase price or to have them repaired for potentially a higher price.  
  • Sell faster: Homes with pre-inspections can potentially sell more quickly and have fewer inspection-related issues. 
  • Build trust: Disclosing the pre-listing home inspection to prospective buyers can provide potential buyers with transparency and ultimately shows they openness and trust amongst all parties. 
  • Stand out: Having the pre-listing inspection can also highlight your home’s value to potential buyers. 
How to get a pre-listing inspection:

  • Decide on the scope of the inspection – Do you want just the home inspected? Or do you want the septic system, well, look for termites, etc?
  • Hire Quality Home Consultants of course! We are licenses and certified home inspectors in WNC!
  • Get a detailed written report – All our inspections come with a written detailed report. 
  • Include the report in your listing 
Cost: 
You can expect to pay around $400–800 for a pre-listing inspection. The cost depends on the size of your home and if you decide to have other inspections added (ie. septic inspection, well, termite, etc).  
Ultimately having a pre-listing inspection helps to foster an atmosphere of openness and trust, allowing prospective buyers see the big picture from the very beginning, building their confidence in the home seller and listing agent. This is especially useful in a seller’s market where homes are selling with no contingencies.

Water Woes: Tackling Basement, Crawlspace and Foundation Concerns

It’s no doubt that Asheville and WNC sees A LOT of rain each year, we are part of a temperate rain forest system after all. With all that rain comes the potential of having water that can intrude into your homes basement or crawlspace causing lots of different issues. Below is a list of some key actions that we recommend you take to avoid these sometimes costly water woes.

Key actions to take:
  • Exterior drainage: Make sure that the soil around your house is graded down and away from the foundation in order to direct water away. 
  • Clean gutters and downspouts: Regularly remove debris from gutters to ensure that water flows properly away from the home.
  • Extend downspouts: Ensure downspouts direct water far away from the foundation by extending them with additional piping.
  • Check for cracks and seals: Inspect your basement walls and foundation for cracks, and seal them with appropriate materials.  
  • Install a sump pump: Place a sump pump at the lowest point in your basement to collect and pump out excess water.  
  • Interior waterproofing: Apply sealant to basement walls and floors to prevent water seepage. 
  • Monitor humidity: Use a dehumidifier to control moisture levels in the basement. With elevated moisture, mold can take over and wreck havoc on a home.
  • Install window well covers: Protect basement windows from rain and debris with covers. 
Not sure what to look for? That’s okay! Give QHC a call and we can inspect your gutters, look for foundation cracks, check your crawlspace vapor barrier, check humidity levels, and more!
Schedule today: https://www.qualityhomeconsultants.com/

Home Inspection Tips for Buyers in 2025

Are you planning to buy a home in 2025? Here are some tips that can help you through the home inspection process as a new home buyer.

1.HIRE A PROFESSIONAL : You should make sure to hire a professional home inspector to examine each part of the home. If you understand what the inspector is looking for, you can ask informed questions that help you better understand the extent of any damage. QHC home inspector’s have a comprehensive checklist of items they are looking for when performing the inspection and when filling out the home inspection report.

Item’s our home inspectors will look at during the inspection include:

  • Roofing, chimney structure, and attic
  • Exterior of the home including siding, deck structures, windows and doors, and more.
  • All kitchen components including kitchen appliances, plumbing, outlets, etc.
  • Interior components including the walls, ceilings, floors, windows and doors.
  • Bathrooms and all their components including plumbing and electricity.
  • Structural components to include foundation, basement or crawlspace.
  • Plumbing systems inside the home to include the hot water tank, main water shut off and more.
  • The home’s electrical system including the main electrical panel, GFCI outlets/regular outlets, smoke detectors, etc.
  • All Heating and HVAC system components.

2.  ATTEND: We recommend attending the home inspection with your real estate agent so that the home inspector can walk you through their findings. You will still receive a written report that goes over the property’s major features and outlines any issues. The report will likely list many issues, but you don’t need to be concerned about every item on the list. An inspector can help you separate the trivial matters from the hazardous ones.

3. PREPARE QUESTIONS:  Prepare a list of any general questions you would like to ask concerning the homes condition or future maintenance, and make sure to tell the inspector about            anything you are especially concerned about, so he can address those items during the inspection.

4. CONSIDER ADDITONAL INSPECTIONS: Here at Quality Home Consultants, we offer a slew of other inspection services including Termite/Wood Destroying Insect inspections, Well    Testing, Water Testing, Radon Gas Testing, and even Septic Tank Inspections.  You may want to consider adding any of these services in conjunction with the home inspection depending if the home has these associated functions.

When buying a house, the last thing you want is surprise expenses. Hiring a qualified home inspector can help you avoid major repairs and give you the information you need to make the right decision. We hope you take these tips into account when hiring for your next home inspection!

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January is National Radon Action Month: Are You At Risk?

January is National Radon Action Month! Have you had your home tested for radon gas? The Environmental Protection Agency has designated January as National Radon Action Month. This might be the perfect time to think about testing your home for this potentially harmful gas. What is Radon you ask? Radon, is a naturally occurring radioactive […]

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QHC Septic Maintenance Program

It is recommended that you have your septic tank pumped every 3-5 years to keep your septic system running efficiently!

Another important recommendation for your septic system is monthly additives!

Here at Quality Home Consultants, we supply you with a 12 month supply of septic tank additives as part of our septic maintenance program!

Each level of the program comes with additional benefits including pumping of the tank, discounts on septic repairs, the monthly additives, and more!

See the chart below and call us today to enroll.

Radon, Radon, Radon and more Radon!

What is radon?

Radon is a radioactive gas that forms naturally when radioactive metals break down in rocks, soil and even in groundwater. People can be exposed to radon primarily from breathing radon in air that comes through cracks and gaps in homes. Because radon comes naturally from the earth, people are always exposed to it.

Radon is estimated to cause between 3 – 14% of all lung cancers and is one of the leading causes of lung cancer. We suggest testing your home for radon gas levels every 2 years! If your home comes back with higher radon level readings of 4.0 pCi or above, then mitigation is recommended.

Quality Home Consultants uses a small passive radon detector to measure the radon levels inside a home over the course of 48 hours. Call us today to schedule a radon test for your home! We can also perform water radon tests as well!