Find it before their inspector does.
A buyer is going to hire someone to go through your house. The only question is whether you find out what they'll find on your schedule or on theirs, two weeks into escrow with your leverage gone.
Why sellers do this
Almost every buyer inspects. When their inspector finds something you didn't know about, three things happen at once: the finding is a surprise, you're under contract, and the estimate comes from their contractor rather than yours. That's the worst position to negotiate from.
Doing it first inverts all of it. You choose what to fix and what to disclose. You get your own estimates. Nothing becomes a stumbling block halfway through escrow, because nothing is a surprise.
It also helps you price realistically before you list, rather than discovering the roof during the buyer's contingency period and taking the hit off the agreed number.
Once it's done you get the sign for the yard and the badge for your listing, both of which tell buyers and their agents the property has already been through this.
What it gets you
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Control of the repairs
You decide what gets fixed, who fixes it and what it costs. Repairs negotiated mid-escrow are always priced by somebody else's contractor.
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Your own estimates
Time to get two or three quotes rather than accepting the figure attached to a buyer's repair request.
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Fewer renegotiations
Defects disclosed up front stop being leverage. They're priced into the offer instead of reopening it later.
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Stronger disclosures
A professional report attached to your disclosure statement is documentation, and documentation reduces your liability after closing.
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Safety before the open house
Agents and strangers will be walking your property. Loose railings, a bad step, a failed GFCI near water — better found before the first tour.
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It may reduce contingency friction
Some buyers, seeing a recent inspection up front, move faster or negotiate a shorter contingency. No guarantee, but it happens.
A pre-listing inspection doesn't replace the buyer's inspection and it isn't meant to. Buyers hire their own inspector and should. What it does is make sure you already know what that person is going to say.
Same inspection, earlier
Scope is identical to a buyer's inspection — the whole property, thermal imaging and the drone survey included, same-day report. The only difference is the timing and who the report belongs to.
Other inspections
Listing soon?
The useful window is before the photographer, not after the first offer. Tell me your target list date and I'll work back from it.

