You know, sometimes as a real estate agent, I dread home inspections. I've seen a few too many deals fall apart because the home inspector uncovered a problem that made the buyer walk. It's why I always urge my sellers to have a presale home inspection. That way you can repair any identified defects or price the home to reflect its condition.

When you're selling your home, negotiating the final price with the buyer can be a stressful time. Especially these days when there's an over supply of homes and they're taking much longer to sell. Nobody wants to go through the challenge of finally reaching a price agreeable to both parties, only to be back at the negotiating table three days later because the home inspector found a problem. Or worse yet, the buyer walks and your home is back on the market.

If you find problems before putting your home on the market you are in a much better position to carry out cost effective repairs.You have time to shop around for the best prices, ask friends to recommend qualified tradesmen, maybe even fix it yourself. When a deal hangs in the balance you don't have that luxury. Repairs have to be made quickly and that often translates into higher costs.

If you do choose to have your home inspected prior to putting it on the market make sure to use a qualified and certified home inspector. You don't want to go through the process only to have the seller use a home inspector who finds problems the first inspection missed. This is not a service where it pays to pinch pennies. I'll go out on a limb here and say that I highly recommend Mike Guihan, Guardsmen Inspections. If there's a problem you can be sure he'll spot it.