Solex Group performs sellers home inspections on a discretionary basis throughout the GTA

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Having your home inspected prior to listing your property for sale initially seemed to be a good idea. But over the years, the drawbacks  of this practice have become apparent to numerous professionals and buyers:



• One key factor is that the most important part of a home inspection is the on-site experience with the inspector. This is where our clients (those obtaining key information on the general condition of the home) can use this gained knowledge to make informed decisions on the purchase of a very expensive commodity - a home. The inspector will also put the issues into proper context, answer questions, and give valuable home maintenance, repair and improvement tips in the field. Here, our client has the opportunity to enter into dialogue with our inspector and gain a good understanding of the home's condition and the issues reported on.  For anyone just reading a home inspection report, they will not have an intimate understanding of the overall condition of the home and the documented issues. This more in-depth understanding can only be gained when personally attending and engaging with the inspector.   

• The mindset of some sellers (and their agents) are often different than buyers, and this can cause unnecessary friction with a home inspector performing a sellers home inspection. Home inspections have been performed for sellers where issues identified are met with criticism and/or an altered opinion to ours in an effort to try influencing what we report on. Some sellers refuse to even provide our report to potential buyers because it makes the house seem like it's "full of too many issues" - although this is rarely the case. Some homeowners feel their home is in top condition with no or minimal issues and expect the report to not only state, but to highlight such positive aspects. Some sellers want the inspection report revised after repairs/corrections are made. As professionals, this "sellers mindset" does not influence our inspection or report as we are an unbiased 3rd party, but it can be frustrating at times. Some inspectors may cave to this pressure to not upset a client or their agent.

• Because home inspectors are not regulated in Ontario, this throws another challenge out there. A seller may just focus on finding a low cost home inspector to provide a report for potential buyers.  The value, professionalism, quality, integrity, qualifications, experience, and thoroughness can vary greatly between inspectors (even within the same company). A buyer relying on a potentially amateur sellers home inspection for a home purchase could still be left uninformed or misinformed with either unreliable information or a lack of information. We are finding more and more buyers are still performing their due diligence and having their own home inspection performed, even when there was a sellers inspection report available!  Why? Here's a sample of what we hear from buyers regarding sellers inspection reports: "we didn't find any useful information in the sellers inspection report and we don't trust it" or "the sellers report only stated positive aspects of the home, was only a few pages and it seemed sketchy to us".

• If a buyer relying on a sellers home inspection report for their home purchase has questions or needs clarification on a part of the report, who would they call?  A home inspector has no obligation to speak to or even discuss any aspect of his/her inspection without the clients consent (the individual(s) who hired and have a signed agreement with the inspector). Some Home Inspection companies charge for such a verbal review of the report. At Solex Group, we always try helping our clients with telephone advice when they have questions about their home or inspection report, even years later. This is yet another downside to a buyer relying only on a sellers home inspection report.

Professional home inspectors enjoy engaging with their clients in person and we find that a buyers home inspection performed for the decision maker(s) directly is still the best approach to satisfy the home inspection condition in a real estate transaction.​

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PLEASE CALL US PRIOR TO BOOKING A SELLER'S HOME INSPECTION - we may unfortunately, turn down some seller home inspection requests.​