TOPIC: Move In Certified

I agree with Drew, if you do your job you should not have any problems except selling Realtors on it. In my area most agents give a home warranty policy at the close of escrow so that will help you sleep at night.

I have to confess that many times this year I have inspected houses where the seller meets me at the door saying they already had an inspection and repaired everything.  The house was perfect!  It wasn't the Move In Certified thing, but an inspection on a different contract.  When they offer me a copy to see everything I decline, saying that I don't want to be influenced in any direction but do my own thing.

Then I come up with a dozen things, and I am no alarmist, that were vividly present - you name the system - and I call them out.  On one there was no FRT on the NEW roof yet the previous guy identified it as present.  Another time a gas furnace had a visible crack in the heat exchanger and it was a rusty mess and the previous guy said there was a new heat pump.  So in those instances I was the "sphincter" that I worry about in post 11.  However, my sphinctericity, my word, was just basic home inspecting! 

I had one YESTERDAY where the oven only got to 324 (I put it at 350).  Secondly, it took over 1/2 hour to get to 324 and stayed there!  Thirdly, the broiler had two settings, high and low, but they both had the same flames, WAY too high!!  I could see where the burners were shot.  The sellers, and their agents, typically are very POed with me when I find stuff like that, like I have done something extraordinary.  Now I have to think the sellers KNOW that oven didn't work, but I am sure the agent didn't.  However, some home inspector "certified" it as functioning correctly!  I saw his very attractive, and modern, check in the box!!

I guess what I'm saying is that if this program is going to "certify" a house, you better do your job as best as possible.  Make sure the seller makes walls and such available to see, moves storage in the attic, tells you what isn't up to snuff, check all windows, etc.  I can see where this program can work, it's just that in my area I have tried the pre-listing marketing many ways and no takers. 

Now if you have any marketing ideas (and I LOVE Drew's power point presentation idea describing the program) we might start one of those threads.  Since I am not in on this program it might not be best if I start it.  Drew?

I posted this blog on Active Rain today.

Move In Certified

We have all heard of seller’s inspections. It is often difficult to get the seller to agree to these ahead of time due to the expense they would have to incur prior to the sale.

But what about the home that has been sitting…being listed forever without any offers?

There is a marketing program out there Called “Move In Certified” This is a program that is promoted by Internachi and has taken off in some areas of the country already. My home inspection company, Homespect LLC, is the first company to promote these inspections in southern NJ. I base my information on the fact that the agents that I speak to are unfamiliar with the program.
Here is how it works,

Like any pre-listing inspection, an inspector would come in and inspect the property with the seller present. A complete home inspection report is generated showing any defects that were found. The report is slightly different, with it being a combination narrative and checklist style report. There is a check box for corrections included in the report (I will get back to this).
After receiving the report, the client has a specified amount of time, usually a week to 30 days to correct the defects. The seller has agreed to do this ahead of time. The Move In Certified inspector comes back, free of charge and inspects the corrections marking them off in the added report check box.

Now, we have a home pre-inspected with a clean report. The inspector then puts a Move In Certified yard sign in the front yard right next to the agents sign. The sign states that the home is pre-inspected and seller certified. That is the basis of this whole program, to get the seller to certify their home. Copies of the report are then left on the kitchen table for perspective buyers to look at or even take with them. I even load the report on a disc for the buyer to have, and leave a hard copy or two for review purposes. This is helpful if you would like to save paper and ink.
Not included in the Move In Certified program, but something that my company offers, is a 100 day limited warranty on the systems of the home as part of the inspection. We include these with buyer inspections also.

Do you have a listing that is sitting and isn’t receiving traffic? Maybe a Move In Certified seller’s inspection will help. For more information in Southern New Jersey please call me at 609-668-7588 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
If this program is appealing to you, I can give a short presentation at your Tuesday meeting if you like.

Advantages of listing a home that has been Move In Certified:

• Agents can recommend certified inspectors to inspect the home properly before the buyer's inspector arrives.
• Sellers can schedule the inspections at seller's convenience with little effort on the part of agents.
• Sellers can assist inspectors during the inspections, something normally not done during buyer's inspections.
• Sellers can have inspectors correct any misstatements in the reports before they are generated.
• Reports help sellers see their homes through the eyes of a critical, third-party, thus making sellers more realistic about asking price.
• Agents are alerted to any immediate safety issues found, before other agents and potential buyers tour the home.
• Repairs made ahead of time might make homes show better.
• Move In Certified yard signs attract potential buyers. .
• The reports provide third party, unbiased opinions to offer to potential buyers.
• Move In Certified reports can be used as marketing tools to help sell the homes.
• Reports might relieve prospective buyer's unfounded suspicions, before they walk away.
• Seller inspections eliminate buyer's remorse that sometimes occurs just after an inspection.
• Seller inspections reduce some of the negotiations and 11th-hour renegotiations.
• Seller inspections relieve the agent of having to hurriedly procure repair estimates or schedule repairs.
• The reports might encourage buyers to waive their inspection contingencies.
• Deals are less likely to fall apart the way they often do when buyer's inspections unexpectedly reveal problems, last minute. 
• Reports provide full-disclosure protection from future legal claims.