Sellers often ask us if they will get a copy of the inspection report. The short answer is that it's entirely up to the buyer, who paid for and owns the information. One exception is when the sales contract includes an added clause that specifies that the seller also receives the report—which is rare. And, of course, if the seller is paying for all or part of the inspection cost, they will expect to receive it.

    It is standard, but not required, for the buyers to allow their realtor to get the report to facilitate negotiation, especially when the realtor is solely representing the buyer. And sometimes the buyer authorizes the inspector to send the report to everybody involved in the transaction.

    Here’s some other options:
1) Only buyer receives report, reviews it, then decides who—if anyone—to forward it to.
2) Buyer forwards only the summary page(s) to the seller.
3) Buyer selects only certain items in the report to forward to seller.

    Also, ignorance can be bliss for a seller. It may not be in the sellers' best interest to get the report because, once they are advised of defects in the home that are not readily visible, it becomes part of the required disclosure to the next buyer by law in most states. For more on this, go to Should I trust the Seller's Property Disclosure Statement?

   If the sellers want to avoid any surprises between contract and closing, a pre-listing inspection might be a good idea. This can also make sense when the seller has never lived in the property, such as for a rental or recently inherited house. There may be a few small additional defects listed in the buyer’s inspection, along with a few missing that were in the seller’s inspection, but they will likely agree on any major items. See our article How can a house be inspected by two different home inspectors that come up with different things to be fixed? for details. 

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To learn more about how to get a good HOME INSPECTION, see some of our other blog posts:

• The seller gave me a report from a previous home inspection. Should I use it or get my own inspector?

• Does  a homebuyer need to ask the seller's permission to do additional inspections after the initial one? 

• What questions should I ask the home inspector during the inspection?

• Are there any minimum inspection standards that a Florida licensed home inspector must meet?

• How can I make sure I don't get screwed on my home inspection?

• The seller gave me a report from a previous home inspection. Should I use it or get my own inspector?

• Should I get a home inspection before signing a contract to buy the house?

• What are the questions a home inspector won't (or shouldn't) answer?

• Should I use my realtor's home inspector or choose one myself?

• What can I learn from talking with the seller?

 • How can I reduce the risk of an expensive surprise when buying a house sight unseen?

• What should I bring to the home inspection? 

• Does my home inspection report give me everything I need to evaluate the price of a house?

• Should a homebuyer be there for the inspection?

   Visit our HOME INSPECTION page for other related blog posts on this subject, or go to the INDEX for a complete listing of all our articles.