After a while, you have 15 to 20 small things - a door lock that doesn't work, a garage door without a safety release, missing screens, a few stuck windows. Now it is a big deal and you've killed the sale.

Home inspections are traditionally done on behalf of the homebuyer, usually as a contingency for the sale. But Landmark Home Inspection is one of a growing number of home inspection companies who say a pre-sale inspection can help sellers sell their home faster. 

The cost of the inspection varies according to the size of the house and the amount of time required. Generally, the cost ranges from $275 to $500. 

Usually the seller wants to know what might need repair before a house is placed on the market. 

Most sellers don't realize how detailed the report is. I check about 700 items in a home. The report is about 30 pages long. Even a good house will have at least 20 items that need repair. Most of them are very inexpensive to fix.

Sellers often think they have a deal made when the buyer presents an offer contingent on an inspection. 

Then the inspector comes through, finds some things, and the buyer reduces his price based on the inspection. The seller loses money, if they don't lose the sale outright. It's a disadvantage for the seller and the Realtor not to know what's wrong with the house. 

First-time home buyers are especially scared off by the prospect of spending all their free time unjamming windows, replacing traps under the bathroom sink or replacing cracked window panes. If these items are known ahead of time, the seller can spend a few dollars and make many of these problems go away.

Sellers need to be careful not to use their pre-inspection report as a marketing tool to potential buyers, or offer it in lieu of the buyer getting his own home inspection.

Often, when the report becomes available to prospective buyers, he relies on the report of an inspector he doesn't know, without any knowledge of the caveats and disclaimers. His expectations can be through the roof, based on the written inspection. If he moves in and finds out that the problem is not in the report, he may take the inspection as being presented as a warranty or guarantee. We always recommend the buyer get his own inspection.