About this video. The person on screen is an AI-generated avatar in my likeness. The voice is mine, cloned from recordings of my own voice, and the edit adjusts the sound. The image and voice may therefore differ from my real appearance and speech. The text is written and approved by me, and I am fully accountable for it. This method lets me publish regularly; it changes nothing about what is said.
Hello. Should you have your house inspected before selling it. It’s one of the questions I get most often from an owner. It’s also the one I have to be most careful with, and I’ll explain why.
The question, as people ask it: “is it worth getting an inspection before selling”
What a pre-listing inspection report contains, and who it belongs to
A pre-listing inspection report belongs to one single person. And it isn’t the one you think.
Let’s start with what a pre-listing inspection report contains, and with the question of who the report belongs to.
A pre-listing inspection is one the owner orders themselves, before putting the house on the market. A professional comes. They look at what is visible and accessible. They hand over a written document.
That document describes observations, element by element. The roof. The foundation. The attic. The visible plumbing. The electrical system. And it indicates what could not be seen that day.
The point most people miss is who owns the document. A report belongs to the person who ordered it. If you order it, you receive it. You decide what you do with it.
That’s what I can say about it, and it stops there. It’s a written document, produced by an independent professional, on a given date, obtained on your schedule. What it changes in your own situation, I don’t know.
The buyer will have their own inspection done anyway
An inspection before selling doesn’t avoid the buyer’s. They’ll have theirs done regardless.
The buyer is the half of the answer people forget. The buyer will have their own inspection done anyway.
In Québec, a promise to purchase almost always contains an inspection condition. The buyer chooses their inspector. They hire them directly. The professional relationship is between those two people, not with you.
That means something very concrete. A report you ordered doesn’t replace that one. Whether a report you ordered changes the buyer’s conditions or not is a matter of contract. That question goes to a notary.
So when a seller asks me whether a pre-listing inspection avoids the buyer’s inspection, the answer is no. That’s not what it does.
What changes is the moment when you become aware of the observations. Before listing, on your schedule. Or at the same time as the buyer, on theirs.
That’s the real difference between the two positions. The rest is confusion.
What you learn and will have to declare: the question for the notary
“If I get an inspection, I’ll have to declare everything.” Here’s who that question goes to — and it isn’t me.
What a seller learns in a pre-listing report, they will then have to declare. It’s the number-one objection, and it deserves a real answer.
When you sell with a broker in Québec, you fill out a seller’s declaration about the property. The principle, in my words: you declare what you know.
The fear always comes back in the same form. “If I get an inspection, I’m going to learn things, and then I’ll be required to declare them.”
I understand the logic. And here’s exactly where what I can say about it stops. What you’ll have to declare, and what knowing changes about that obligation, is a legal question. It goes to your notary, before you order anything. I can’t answer it in their place.
The only thing ignorance changes is this: what you don’t know, you can’t have checked.
And for the exact scope of what you sign in a seller’s declaration, the question goes to your notary. This is not legal advice I’m giving you.
The free version: the one-hour walk-through you can do yourself
There’s a free version, and it takes an hour. A flashlight and a pencil.
There’s a free, immediate version. The one you can do tonight, without calling anyone.
It’s a walk-through of your own house. One hour, a flashlight, a pencil. What you look at are the elements that come up most often in pre-purchase inspection reports. They fall into five families.
Structure: cracks in the foundation walls, cracks in the basement slab, sticking doors and uneven floors, exposed beams and joists.
Water: signs of infiltration, efflorescence, visible mould or a persistent smell.
The roof and attic: shingles, granules in the gutters, stains on the wood, frost.
Electricity: the type of panel, the amperage marked on the service, the brand written on the door, and the wiring visible at the panel. The rest of the wiring is inside the walls — you can’t see it.
And the visible plumbing, along with period contaminants that, for their part, are tested in an accredited laboratory.
One hour. A flashlight. A pencil.
What this walk-through lets you decide, and what it doesn’t do
You finish your walk-through and you’re in one of three situations. Here are the three.
This walk-through lets you decide three things. And here’s what it doesn’t do.
What it doesn’t do first, to be clear. It’s not a report. It’s not an inspection. It’s not a document, and it isn’t handed to anyone. These are your notes, for you.
What it does is get you to a decision. When you’ve finished your walk-through, you’re in one of three situations.
You noted nothing. You at least know what you looked at, and on what date.
You noted one or two elements. You know which ones, and you know which specialist answers for each. You can call directly.
You noted elements in several families. Then you know which ones, which specialists are involved, and how many calls that represents. What you decide to do with it next isn’t mine to say, and I recommend nothing here.
In all three cases, you’ve reached a decision. That’s all I ask of an hour and a pencil.
The two positions, and why it all comes down to the calendar
Both answers to “should you get an inspection before selling” are true. Here are the two.
The two positions on inspection before selling are equally valid, and here they are side by side. And with the calendar, because that’s where the question is settled.
What a pre-listing inspection gives: a written report, produced by an independent professional, obtained at the moment you choose. And therefore the time to have what needs checking checked, with the right trades, before the house is on the market.
What it doesn’t settle: the buyer will still have theirs done, with their own inspector. And an inspection report doesn’t replace the written opinion of an engineer, a roofer or a master electrician.
Both are true at the same time. No one can decide for you.
Here’s what I can say. The same observation six months before listing, or three weeks before the notary, is the same observation. It isn’t the same calendar.
A seller who knows chooses. A seller who finds out responds.
Who to call, and for what
I don’t do the inspection. My role is to know where to look and who to call.
- Home inspector
- Structural engineer
- Roofer
- Master electrician (CMEQ)
- Accredited laboratory
- Notary
Frequently asked questions
Get a value report for your property, and a marketing plan
Get a value report for your property, and a marketing plan — comparables, features, an opinion of value
Full transcript of the video
Full transcript of the video above. Published on September 1, 2026.
Hello. Should you have your house inspected before selling it. It’s one of the questions I get most often from an owner. It’s also the one I have to be most careful with, and I’ll explain why.
My name is Ernso Cléus. I’m a residential and commercial real estate broker at RE/MAX Crystal. Before becoming a broker, I earned a diploma in building inspection technology. Since 2019, I’ve walked into hundreds of houses with a flashlight.
How to choose the person, if you decide to go ahead, is or will be the subject of a separate video on my channel.
I’m not going to tell you what to do. I’m not going to tell you what it costs. And I’m going to tell you clearly why I’m not the one who can do it, in your home or anywhere else.
What a pre-listing inspection report contains, and who it belongs to
Let’s start with what a pre-listing inspection report contains, and with the question of who the report belongs to.
A pre-listing inspection is one the owner orders themselves, before putting the house on the market. A professional comes. They look at what is visible and accessible. They hand over a written document.
That document describes observations, element by element. The roof. The foundation. The attic. The visible plumbing. The electrical system. And it indicates what could not be seen that day.
The point most people miss is who owns the document. A report belongs to the person who ordered it. If you order it, you receive it. You decide what you do with it.
That’s what I can say about it, and it stops there. It’s a written document, produced by an independent professional, on a given date, obtained on your schedule. What it changes in your own situation, I don’t know.
The buyer will have their own inspection done anyway
The buyer is the half of the answer people forget. The buyer will have their own inspection done anyway.
In Québec, a promise to purchase almost always contains an inspection condition. The buyer chooses their inspector. They hire them directly. The professional relationship is between those two people, not with you.
That means something very concrete. A report you ordered doesn’t replace that one. Whether a report you ordered changes the buyer’s conditions or not is a matter of contract. That question goes to a notary.
So when a seller asks me whether a pre-listing inspection avoids the buyer’s inspection, the answer is no. That’s not what it does.
What changes is the moment when you become aware of the observations. Before listing, on your schedule. Or at the same time as the buyer, on theirs.
That’s the real difference between the two positions. The rest is confusion.
What you learn and will have to declare
What a seller learns in a pre-listing report, they will then have to declare. It’s the number-one objection, and it deserves a real answer.
When you sell with a broker in Québec, you fill out a seller’s declaration about the property. The principle, in my words: you declare what you know.
The fear always comes back in the same form. “If I get an inspection, I’m going to learn things, and then I’ll be required to declare them.”
I understand the logic. And here’s exactly where what I can say about it stops. What you’ll have to declare, and what knowing changes about that obligation, is a legal question. It goes to your notary, before you order anything. I can’t answer it in their place.
The only thing ignorance changes is this: what you don’t know, you can’t have checked.
And for the exact scope of what you sign in a seller’s declaration, the question goes to your notary. This is not legal advice I’m giving you.
The one-hour walk-through you can do yourself
There’s a free, immediate version. The one you can do tonight, without calling anyone.
It’s a walk-through of your own house. One hour, a flashlight, a pencil. What you look at are the elements that come up most often in pre-purchase inspection reports. They fall into five families.
Structure: cracks in the foundation walls, cracks in the basement slab, sticking doors and uneven floors, exposed beams and joists.
Water: signs of infiltration, efflorescence, visible mould or a persistent smell.
The roof and attic: shingles, granules in the gutters, stains on the wood, frost.
Electricity: the type of panel, the amperage marked on the service, the brand written on the door, and the wiring visible at the panel. The rest of the wiring is inside the walls — you can’t see it.
And the visible plumbing, along with period contaminants that, for their part, are tested in an accredited laboratory.
One hour. A flashlight. A pencil.
What this walk-through lets you decide
This walk-through lets you decide three things. And here’s what it doesn’t do.
What it doesn’t do first, to be clear. It’s not a report. It’s not an inspection. It’s not a document, and it isn’t handed to anyone. These are your notes, for you.
What it does is get you to a decision. When you’ve finished your walk-through, you’re in one of three situations.
You noted nothing. You at least know what you looked at, and on what date.
You noted one or two elements. You know which ones, and you know which specialist answers for each. You can call directly.
You noted elements in several families. Then you know which ones, which specialists are involved, and how many calls that represents. What you decide to do with it next isn’t mine to say, and I recommend nothing here.
In all three cases, you’ve reached a decision. That’s all I ask of an hour and a pencil.
The two positions, and the calendar
The two positions on inspection before selling are equally valid, and here they are side by side. And with the calendar, because that’s where the question is settled.
What a pre-listing inspection gives: a written report, produced by an independent professional, obtained at the moment you choose. And therefore the time to have what needs checking checked, with the right trades, before the house is on the market.
What it doesn’t settle: the buyer will still have theirs done, with their own inspector. And an inspection report doesn’t replace the written opinion of an engineer, a roofer or a master electrician.
Both are true at the same time. No one can decide for you.
Here’s what I can say. The same observation six months before listing, or three weeks before the notary, is the same observation. It isn’t the same calendar.
A seller who knows chooses. A seller who finds out responds.
Both positions are defensible, and it’s your decision — not mine.
Before getting anything inspected, a seller’s first question is still the value of their property. I produce a value report: the comparable sales in your area, the features that matter, and what I take from them. And I also offer a marketing plan for your property. Request it through the links below the video.
If you’re already bound by a brokerage contract with another broker, this invitation isn’t for you.
On this subject, one point matters more than usual: I don’t sell any inspection and I don’t sponsor any. If you ask me for a name, I give more than one, with no compensation.
Ernso Cléus, residential and commercial real estate broker, RE/MAX Crystal. Your broker who knows buildings.
Read also: selling your home with a broker · all the seller tips · get in touch
Ernso Cléus, residential and commercial real estate broker — RE/MAX Crystal. Your broker who knows buildings.
