Whenever I list a house, I like to give my sellers the option of being a part of my Smart Move Program. I developed this program in 2001 and it has been a Godsend to most of my sellers. Traditionally, an agent will put a house on the market for the price everyone agrees is good. She will start advertising it, will get a buyer to "bite", negotiate the sale with you until all parties agree, and THEN, the buyer will have his inspections done. That's when the war stories begin!!! Think about this scenario. It usually takes about 30 days to close once the contracts are signed. The first 15 days are taken up with inspections, appraisals, etc. Then another 5 days goes by til the seller is given the results of the inspections and a request for repairs. That means that a seller has 10 days to secure bids, get someone to do the work, complete the work and allow enough time for a reinspection. It gets REAL stressful at that point, and it can be costly for the seller as well! 

I'll give you a good example: I listed a house in Braunville Estates for $215,000, expecting to get around $210,000. That seller chose to be part of my Smart Move Program. He had a pre-sale home inspection done and found $8000 of structural damage caused by excess moisture. Because he found this out before he found a buyer and the sales price had been settled, he was able to take his time, get the best price to repair, get the work completed before a buyer even knew there was a problem, and he was able to recoup most of his expense. If he had settled the negotiating at $210,000 and THEN found out about the $8000, he would have had no chance to recoup without voiding the contract and starting all over again looking for a new buyer. 

Another seller I had lived in an almost new subdivision off Miller Road. Her house was 1 1/2 years old.  When her pre-sale inspections were completed, she was told that she had termites - $800 worth of termites - and that has definitely got to be treated prior to closing. No bank in the land will lend on a house with active termites.  Because she knew this upfront, she was able to negotiate a sales price that allowed her to make the repair and not come up shorter than she needed. If she had not found out before the contract was secured, she would have had to have brought money to the closing table just to complete the sale. HORROR! 

So, with my Smart Move houses, the seller authorizes me to have a termite inspection completed ($65) and a whole house inspection completed (around $275) as soon as possible after the listing period is begun. Both the whole house inspector and the termite inspector accept Master Card and Visa should the seller want that option. Having these inspections gives the seller a real "peace" about the $$ negotiated, gives the buyer a sense that the seller is hiding nothing, and in many cases the buyer will not even have his own inspections done. Even if he does have his own inspection, chances are very slim that anything major should crop up at the last minute. My Smart Move sellers also agree to provide a 1 year home warranty at the time of closing. 

This warranty does several things for the seller and buyer. The seller is covered during the listing period, so if something mechanically should go wrong (electrical, plumbing, etc), he is covered. The exception to this is the sellers heating and air conditioning systems that can be optionally covered. The coverage for the buyer starts on the day of closing, and if something mechanically goes wrong for 1 year after the sale, he calls an 800# and a repairman is dispatched. When a seller’s competition is new construction (and NC requires the builder to warrant his construction for 1 year), it makes sense to offer this. The cost is $375 ($425 for seller HVAC option) and is payable out of the proceeds of the closing, not upfront.