Real Estate News Radio with Rowena Patton
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Ready to navigate the complexities of real estate with ease and confidence? Tune into our podcast, hosted by Rowena Patton, best selling author of "Find Your Unique Value Proposition" and the insightful "CashCPO." Rowena, a seasoned expert with a history on the live radio show since 2011 'Real Estate News Radio', brings clarity and simplicity to the often overwhelming world of real estate.
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Real Estate News Radio with Rowena Patton
Inspection Nightmares: Top 10 Issues That Kill Home Sales
Imagine finding your dream home, making an offer, and then watching the deal collapse after the inspection. This happens to nearly one-third of all real estate transactions nationwide—a statistic that should make every seller pay attention.
The inspection phase becomes a minefield where 40-50 issues typically emerge, regardless of how well-maintained the property appears. In today's increasingly cautious real estate market, these findings often trigger buyer anxiety that can derail even the most promising sales. We dive deep into the ten most common inspection deal-killers and provide practical, cost-effective solutions to address them before they become problems.
From roof concerns and aging HVAC systems to electrical panel problems and plumbing issues, we reveal why these particular items create such anxiety among buyers. More importantly, we explain how the Certified Pre-Owned approach transforms these potential obstacles into selling advantages. This strategic pre-inspection process reduces deal fallout risk from over 30% to just 7%—a dramatic improvement that directly impacts your bottom line and helps avoid the dreaded "stigmatized listing" syndrome when deals collapse.
We also explore special considerations for properties with wells (where 40-50% show E. coli contamination during inspections) and share why timing matters when addressing repairs. For approximately $500—the cost of a pre-listing inspection—sellers can identify and address issues before they become deal-breaking negotiation points, potentially saving thousands in reduced offers or failed transactions.
Ready to skip the stress of traditional selling? Discover how our Certified Pre-Owned approach helps properties sell faster for more money, or explore our cash offer option where you can close in as little as 14 days with no repairs or showings required. Remember: list smart, not hard!
www.CashCPO.com to find your agent - or get your full market value offer!
Welcome to Real Estate News Radio with Rowena Patton. That's me, and you can find all you need at realestatenewsradiocom. We bring you straight talk about real estate without the fluff. I'm Rowena Patton and you probably guessed that, and today we're diving into something that can make or break your home sale inspection reports. We've shown that around 30% nationwide drop out at the inspection. This can also happen because of the appraisal. There are two things there. We talk about certified pre-owned homes all the time. Remember there are over.
Speaker 1:If you're buying a home or you're selling a home and you're waiting for that inspection report, 40, 50 items is not uncommon. A 40 to 50 report is not uncommon, and especially in a more nervous real estate market which is around the country right now. That's when buyers could walk away because they get nervous. So do it upfront, guys. So, whether you're thinking about selling or you're already on the market, these are the most 10 common issues inspectors find and what you can do as the seller yes, the seller to avoid delays, price cuts or buyers walking away. By the way, if you're selling, you don't have to wait for a buyer's inspection to call the shots. You can pre-inspect your home and list it as certified pre-owned, which helps your home sell faster for more money. Head over to cashcpocom to get a full market value offer and even take cash in as little as 14 days. If you don't want to do that, all of our agents are fully trained in how to help you with a certified pre-owned conventional listing. There's a button there to find agents. So go to cashcpocom and find the agents that know what they're doing. So let's jump into the list.
Speaker 1:Roof damage or the age of the roof, inspectors always check the roof missing shingles, soft spots, spots or just plain age it all gets flagged. Even if there's no leak, it raises red flags for buyers. A CPO listing means you've already handled or disclosed. You don't necessarily have to fix it or pay for it. Roof concerns Visit cashcpocom and see your home's full market offer or to find an agent that knows what they're doing. With certified pre-owned, you can do a certified pre-owned conventional listing. You can even do if you're listed already and your agent didn't know about this a reverse CPO, which is basically where you do the inspection quietly, take care of things. In many states you don't have to use a licensed contractor for the nitpicky little things. Of course we're not talking about the roof, probably there.
Speaker 1:Number two, and stay tuned because we've got 10 coming for you. Hvac issues dirty filters, poor maintenance or just an aging unit. Hvac problems scare buyers. They imagine these big ticket replacements right away.
Speaker 1:Number three electrical panel problems. Oh my gosh, I've bought a house before where it has the old knob and tube in and completely put new panels in. Remember everything's solvable with money and time. Electrical panel problems, outdated panels or double tap breakers are always flagged. Buyers want safe, modern electrical systems and if you've got the old system in place, people are wondering oh gosh, does it have that old wiring in place? Or the cloth covered wiring that could be dangerous? So go ahead and at least get the panel switched out.
Speaker 1:Plumbing leaks or drainage problems this comes in at. Number four. Oh my gosh, this is such a common one Leaks under sinks or maybe a soft spot under your sink where there used to be a leak. There's always around this, guys, and it doesn't cost a lot to do it. Slow drains or old piping are the things that pop up in most reports. Or there's some piping that was flagged years ago and these minor issues can become major if you've got a drip going on obviously can give buyers cold feet.
Speaker 1:Coming in at number five water heater age. These ones bug me. They really bug me because back in the old days and you've probably seen some refrigerators in garages that are still harvest gold from the 60s you realize that's 60 years ago and they're still going strong. However, these days if you've got something nowhere, like a water heater, if it's over 10 years old, it'll be flagged even if it still works. So buy a seat is an expense coming their way. And another way around this is to offer a home warranty. A true trifecta for a conventional certified pre-owned listing is to do the inspection, do the appraisal and also offer a home warranty. That is the full trifecta, especially if you're in an area where houses are sitting longer and you see prices dropping, which, by the way, most of the country. It's July 9th 2025. There's very few states left where this is not happening and obviously in some areas like Texas, arizona and Florida, it's happening more rapidly.
Speaker 1:Coming in at number six grading and drainage. This is a huge one and I see it almost every time. If you've got land that is going downwards towards your house, you need to create a little berm area all the way around or you can do a French drain. Dig out a trench and put some gravel in. Make sure where your HVAC pipe is coming out and it's dripping there, it isn't dripping down the wall and you've got all that moss and everything around. Buy one of those $10 little things that you put underneath. There's some really basic things you can do here. You don't want water pooling near the foundation or gutters dumping water too close to the house. These show up all the time and they talk about foundation concerns, which really scares people.
Speaker 1:On that note, and it's a little different. But don't leave any wood. Maybe you've got a fire pit or you've got a wood burning fire or something like that inside the home and you're leaving a pile of wood right next to the house. Don't do that. That's a termite risk. It's encouraging termites. That's what will come up on the inspection report. What else have we got?
Speaker 1:So, coming in at number seven, windows that don't open, lock or seal. If I had a dollar for every time, one of my sellers said, oh well, the window's fogged. But it was that way when we bought it 20 years ago. It's very common Fogged glass, broken locks or windows painted. Another really common one are all inspection notations. They're often small issues. However, they can chip away at a buyer's trust. Not only that, if you've got a bedroom with one of those windows or other windows in the house, especially if it's a government loan or VA loan, that could easily be flagged as a safety risk Number eight.
Speaker 1:Gfci outlets missing or broken oh my gosh, this is so common. Any wet areas kitchens, baths, garages require a ground fault circuit interrupter, that's those annoying little plugs where the red button pops out and it closes everything down. They're there for safety. It's an easy fix even to put one in most of the time and it doesn't cost that much. However, it's another thing that makes buyers very wary when it comes up as a safety issue. And again, on some types of inspections for some types of loans and most people are getting loans these days still then that comes up and makes them scared.
Speaker 1:You can skip the stress. Get in front of them with a certified pre-owned listing. Now you can do a conventional certified pre-owned listing and find your agent at cashcpocom or let us handle everything. Cashcpocom to learn how you can walk away with cash in 14 days, or you can choose to stay for 90 if you want to. No showings, no repairs and often a better net than a traditional sale. All you've got to do is put your house in at cashcpocom. Cashcpocom to get a full net sheet back.
Speaker 1:And these things are awesome, guys. It's free, there's no obligation, and it will show you what you'll walk away with. And these are all projected. Of course we can't, you know, make it perfect, but it will show you apples to apples. It will show you four options Number one, the cash offer. Number two, conventional CPO what you'd walk away from that. And number three, a conventional, listing what you'd walk away with from that. And a for sale by owner, listing what you would walk away from that. They're all projections, however. At least it's apples to apples. So, if you like knowing what money you're going to put in your pocket and isn't that why we're selling, after all? After all, make sure, even if you don't want the cash offer or you don't want to certify pre-owned it, pre-own it, just go get your free net sheet cashcpocom and we'll send it out to you, coming in at number nine. We're almost there.
Speaker 1:The penultimate issue attic ventilation or insulation issues. I have suffered with this so many times myself. In older, older houses they used to put this is the most common one. The bathroom used to vent out into the attic. That's not permitted anymore because poor ventilation leads to mold and moisture. These are sneaky but serious flags that often are known until an inspection. What they do is they can just vent from the attic space, from where your fan's coming out out of the bathroom out to the exterior of the house. You're going to see it very commonly. And the last one, but by no means do you only get 10 issues coming up. I have to tell you that You're going to have 40 to 50 items come up on the inspection report. I want you to listen to this as a buyer. It doesn't mean it's a bad house, it's going to be. I've never seen one less than 30 issues, unless they're certified pre-owned, because we've already done the inspection upfront for the listing. We may even have it listed coming soon or we may have it listed in a slower market because we're doing the inspection and we're putting things right fast.
Speaker 1:Many times in the deal you're going to have to use a contractor, a licensed contractor, and they're going to see licenses. Imagine what happens when a contractor turns up and there's a sign outside. Do you think you're going to pay more or pay less? So go ahead and take care of it up front. In most places in the country it'll cost you about 500 bucks. Might cost you a little bit more if you have a well, if you've got a septic. By the way, guys, if you have a well, get it tested. 40, 50% of the time they come up with E coli. There's easy kits you can purchase for not very much money at all to put that right. If you wait until it's under contract, and with the inspection to put that right, if you wait until it's under contract and with the inspection, how would you feel as a buyer, even if it's minor, seeing that there's an eco lie in the well and yet it's so common you can take care of it up front. It's going to cost you probably over $500 is what I've seen to take care of it after the event and you might scare the buyers away.
Speaker 1:Buyers are nervous right now especially. Think about it. Most markets 40 to 60% of the people buying a house are coming in from somewhere else. They've got a nervous checklist. The nervous checklist is oh, are we going to like the area? Oh, we've been there for vacation. Is it going to be great? Oh, are we going to find new friends. Oh my gosh, this actual neighborhood we're buying in or area we're buying in is it going to be okay? Don't give them a whole checklist of concerns by not doing your inspection. They don't have to be a deal killer. In fact, you can literally flip the script entirely. I've been teaching this since 2007. I have a bestselling book on it.
Speaker 1:When you pre-inspect and list your home as a certified pre-owned property, you give buyers peace of mind. You reduce your fallout risk, by the way, from over 30% to 7%. Yes, agents don't tell you this, I'm sorry. And if it does fall out, you've got what's called a stigmatized listing. Everybody calls us from all over the country and locally and says what's wrong with it? Why didn't they buy it? You don't want that. It drives down the price even more. This is 500 bucks as an inspection for you guys.
Speaker 1:Or, if you're just ready to skip the chaos and get a full market value offer, visit cashcpocom. You can also find your agents there that are fully versed in how to list a certified pre-owned property even without a cash offer. It's going to give you those two options and you'll get that great net sheet showing what your net from a conventional listing a for sale by owner listing. A conventional CPO listing that's where you pay the 500 upfront, or a full cash CPO offer where you can get your money in as little as 14 days, up to 90 days, your choice. This is Rowena Patson with the Real Estate News Radio. You can catch us anytime, 24, 7 at 8 to 8 333-4483. We can help you all around the country, or visit realestatenewsradiocom for more ways to connect. Until next time you guys list smart, not hard. See you on the radio very soon.
