A family lists their home for sale, accepts an offer and starts packing. Then, the buyer’s inspection arrives, and the “done deal” becomes an expensive renegotiation.
I’ve sold real estate on Delmarva for over a decade, and I’ve had to deliver this bad news too many times. The American Society of Home Inspectors estimates that 87% of sellers are caught off guard by what the buyer’s inspector finds.
The person selling their largest asset shouldn’t be the last to learn its true condition. Buyers receive this critical information when they have the most leverage; sellers receive it when they are most exposed.
You cannot price a home accurately without knowing its real condition. A list price set blindly isn’t a true price; it is optimism with a number attached. When inspections inevitably reveal aging roofs or failing HVACs, buyers correct that price at the negotiating table.
The cost is devastating. The average post-inspection concession is $23,400 — money pulled straight from a family’s equity and future plans.
To avoid this, sellers need more than a raw list of defects delivered weeks before moving. They need their home’s condition translated into a financial strategy before listing, so they know exactly what to fix and what to price in.
This isn’t the fault of buyers or agents; it’s an outdated process. Buyers deserve transparency, but there is no justification for sellers to remain uninformed this late into their own transaction.
Transparency cannot be something that arrives halfway through the deal. It has to begin at the start.
Dustin Parker
Co-founder, The Parker Group
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
