Home inspections before listing

A pre-listing home inspection — ordering your own inspection before going to market — is one of the most underutilized tools in the Northern New Jersey seller's toolkit. This episode makes the case for it: knowing your home's actual condition lets you price confidently, disclose accurately, and eliminate the #1 source of sale fallouts — the buyer's inspection discovering something the seller didn't expect.

Kathleen covers what a pre-listing inspection typically costs ($400–$600 in Bergen County), what it covers, and how to interpret the findings. Not every finding requires repair — some are simply disclosed, and disclosure removes the buyer's leverage to renegotiate on that item later.

The episode also covers the liability dimension: in New Jersey, material defect disclosure is legally required, and sellers who conduct a pre-listing inspection have clear documentation of what they knew and when — which protects them if a buyer later claims the seller concealed a known defect.