Should I get a pre-listing home inspection before selling my house?
No Virginia disclosure rule requires one: the disclosure statement points the buyer, not the seller, to a home inspection as due diligence. A pre-listing report shows you what a licensed inspector sees before any buyer does, but once your listing licensee actually knows a material adverse fact from it, that licensee must disclose it to buyers in writing. Whether you must share the report is an attorney's call.
A written evaluation arrives before any buyer walks through
Begin on the day the report comes back, before the house is listed. Under Va. Code 54.1-500, a home inspection is an inspection of a residential building for compensation by a licensed home inspector, and it includes a written evaluation of the building's readily accessible components:
- Heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical systems
- Structural components and the foundation
- The roof and the masonry structure
- Exterior and interior components, and other related residential housing components
The inspection can be limited in scope by the home inspection contract, provided that contract is not inconsistent with the statute or the Board's regulations, so the contract you sign shapes what the report covers. On a building of one to four dwelling units, it is unlawful for anyone without a home inspector license from the Virginia Board for Asbestos, Lead, and Home Inspectors to perform a home inspection for compensation. That board is where to confirm who you hired.
Virginia's disclosure statement did not ask for this report. Subdivision B 1 of Va. Code 55.1-703 advises the purchaser to exercise whatever due diligence the purchaser deems necessary, including a home inspection, under the contract's terms and before settlement. A pre-listing inspection is the seller getting to the same information first.
Findings move from open questions into what the owner actually knows
Before the report, some questions about the house were open. After it, several are answered, and Virginia's disclosure rules pay close attention to what a person actually knows.
What the residential property disclosure statement asks of an owner, and how the Act treats an item of required information that is unknown or unavailable when disclosures are due, are set out in Virginia's seller disclosure statement, explained. Whether a report's findings then have to reach buyers, and in what form, is a question for a Virginia real estate attorney.
A general home inspection is not the only look a house may get before a sale. The septic system is a separate question with its own answer in whether you need a septic inspection to sell. On radon, EPA's Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide to Radon recommends testing before the house goes on the market, lowering the level if necessary and saving the results; whether radon comes up when a house sells here covers the rest.
Once your listing licensee reads the report, a written duty to buyers follows
The report changes hands again when the house is listed. A licensee engaged by a seller works under Va. Code 54.1-2131, which requires that licensee to disclose to prospective buyers all material adverse facts about the physical condition of the property that the licensee actually knows.
The section wants that disclosure in writing. It limits physical condition to the land and its improvements, leaving out neighboring properties, land use regulations and public streets. A roof, foundation or wiring finding in a pre-listing report is about physical condition, and once your licensee has read it, it is something that licensee actually knows.
Information also flows back to you: the same section has the licensee disclose to the seller material facts about the property or the transaction that the licensee actually knows. A house marketed as is still has a licensee working under that section.
When a buyer asks about condition, a licensed professional's report can answer
Later, a buyer or the buyer's agent asks about the condition of the house. The Act has a provision written for that moment.
The delivery by the owner of a report or opinion prepared by a licensed engineer, land surveyor, geologist, wood-destroying insect control expert, contractor, or home inspection expert, dealing with matters within the scope of the professional's license or expertise, shall satisfy the requirements of this chapter if the information is provided to the prospective purchaser pursuant to a request for such information, whether written or oral.
Va. Code 55.1-710 C
Two conditions sit inside that sentence. The report deals with matters within the professional's license or expertise, and it answers a request from the prospective purchaser, written or oral. A home inspector's report speaks to the components the inspector evaluated; how far it goes for anything else is a question for your attorney.
The buyer's own inspection is a separate matter. The statement advises the purchaser to do due diligence under the purchase contract, where a contingency often sets the buyer's inspection and its deadline. How an as-is contract handles repairs and inspections is covered in what selling a house as is means in Virginia.
Repairs made after the report, and changes that surface before settlement
Between the report and closing, the house can change. Some of what the inspector found may get fixed and some may be left alone.
Which findings are worth repairing depends on the house and its price, and no single rule holds for every item. That call is part of selling your home in Southwest Virginia. Leaving an item unrepaired does not remove it from what your licensee knows.
The Act also looks ahead to settlement. At or before settlement, the owner must disclose any material change in the disclosures made about the property. Whether a repair finished after delivery, or a new problem that turns up, counts as a material change is a question for your attorney.
Weighing a home inspection before your house goes on the market?
Tell Lowell about the house and what you suspect an inspector would find. He will go through how a pre-listing report fits into the listing before you order one. No cost, no obligation.
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We'll be in touch shortly with an honest read.
Questions this raises
Can a pre-listing home inspection cover only part of the house?
Yes, within limits. Virginia law lets a home inspection be limited in scope as provided in the home inspection contract, provided that contract is not inconsistent with the home inspector licensing chapter or the Board's regulations. A limited report speaks only to what it covered, which matters later if the report is offered in answer to a buyer's request.
Who is allowed to do a home inspection for pay in Virginia?
A licensed home inspector. It is unlawful for an individual without a home inspector license from the Virginia Board for Asbestos, Lead, and Home Inspectors to perform a home inspection for compensation on a residential building, which for home inspection purposes means a structure of one to four dwelling units used or intended for residential purposes.
Will a buyer still order an inspection if I already have a report?
The buyer decides that under the purchase contract, where a contingency or a due diligence period can set the buyer's inspection and its deadline. A seller's report can answer a buyer's request for information about condition, but the buyer's own inspection rights come from the contract, not from the seller's report.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Va. Code 54.1-500, definitions of home inspection and residential building Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 54.1-503, home inspector license required Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-703, residential property disclosure statement (subdivision B 1) Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-710, professional reports delivered on request Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-711, material changes and unknown information Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 54.1-2131, licensees engaged by a seller Virginia General Assembly
- Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide to Radon (EPA 402/K-24/001, March 2024 revision) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency