It is pretty safe to assume that a buyer who contracts to buy your house will want to have a professional whole house inspection conducted. Most sale contracts are written with a "contingent upon an acceptable whole house inspection" clause. So why not wait until you have a buyer who wants and will pay for an inspection? While many sellers do wait for just this situation, there are a few compelling reasons for you, the seller, to invest in a professional whole house inspection before listing your house.

1. If you were planning to do any cosmetic repairs or remodeling before listing your house, an inspection may reveal additional defects that your cosmetic repairs could have masked. A pre-listing inspection gives you the opportunity to fix possible underlying problems right the first time. This saves you the time, trouble, and money of fixing a seemingly small repair, then finding out there is a larger problem, forcing you to destroy your work, fix the underlying problem, and then do the cosmetic repair all over again.
2. You will know, in advance, of defects. You will have an opportunity to repair them before the first potential buyer ever sees your house. Experience has shown that when a buyer, through their own home inspection, finds a defect, they tend to look for more.
3. A completed whole house inspection signals to buyers that you are a conscientious seller. If a buyer is torn between two houses--your house and another that has not been pre-inspected--it is very possible they may feel more comfortable with yours.
4. It removes an "unknown" from your selling process. There are plenty of "unknowns" when you sell a house--when will it sell? How much will it sell for? Will the buyer's financing be approved? By discovering (and repairing) any defects up front, you remove at least one uncertainty from the selling process. 

What to look for in a professional inspector and inspection.
NOTE: Doing a pre-listing whole house inspection does not guarantee that a buyer will not opt to have another done at the time of the contract. Nor does it guarantee that the second inspector will not find items that first did not discover (or think important enough to note). What it does guarantee, though, is evidence that you have spent the time (and the money) to make sure that the house is without defect. In addition, if you get into a contract squabble over repairs at contract time, you will have evidence backing up your position.

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