Find It First.
Before Their Inspector Does.
2,000+ 5-Star Reviews
Exactly what the buyer’s inspector will look at — roof to foundation, inside and out — only you see it first. Same standards, same photo-rich digital report, in your hands within 24 hours. The difference is who is holding the findings when the negotiation starts.
Following the InterNACHI Standards of Practice:
Optional services at an additional cost — not part of a standard pre-listing inspection. Each reaches something a visual inspection alone cannot, and each is carried out during the same visit. Tap one to see what it covers.
Buyers increasingly ask for it, and finding out on your own timetable beats finding out during their inspection with a closing date in the diary. Measured in house on a professional continuous monitor calibrated annually — not sent to a lab. More about radon gas testing
The lateral from the house to the main is the homeowner’s responsibility and one of the few problems nobody can see coming. A buyer’s scope finding a collapsed line mid-transaction is the kind of surprise that reopens a negotiation. More about sewer scope inspections
If there has been a leak, a damp basement or an unexplained smell, testing beforehand tells you what you are dealing with. Samples go to a certified laboratory. More about mold inspection and testing
View a sample reportWhy sellers do it
A buyer is going to have your house inspected either way. A pre-listing inspection does not change what is found — it changes who finds it, when, and how much leverage you have when it comes up.
A problem found before you list is a repair you schedule and price yourself. The same problem found during the buyer’s inspection is a repair negotiated under a deadline, usually at the buyer’s estimate rather than yours.
The most expensive moment in a sale is the one where an inspection report lands and the buyer comes back asking for a credit. Knowing what is in that report before you accept an offer is what stops it being a surprise.
A recent, independent report is something you can point at. It supports the asking price with documentation rather than assertion, and it signals a house that has been looked after.
Deals collapse late far more often over what an inspection turned up than over price. Removing that unknown early is the cheapest insurance in the whole transaction.
The honest answer
This is the question that stops most Michigan sellers booking a pre-listing inspection, so here is the straight answer rather than a sales pitch. Michigan requires sellers of most residential property to complete a Seller’s Disclosure Statement, and it asks about conditions you are aware of. An inspection can make you aware of something. So yes — knowing can create something to disclose.
That is a real trade-off and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What it is not is a reason to stay in the dark, because the buyer’s inspector is very likely to find the same thing a few weeks later, at the worst possible moment. Tap each below for what actually changes.
You are not obliged to fix everything a report lists. You can repair it, price it into the listing, or disclose it and let the buyer weigh it. A pre-listing inspection gives you all three options; the buyer’s inspection usually gives you one, under time pressure.
An inspection does not create a defect, it finds one. If it is there, it is there whether or not you looked — and it will still be there when the buyer’s inspector arrives, except then it arrives as a renegotiation instead of a decision.
Buyers are far more unsettled by a surprise late in the process than by something written down openly at the start. A known, documented issue is something a buyer can price. An unknown one is something they walk away from.
We are inspectors, not attorneys, and we are not going to tell you what your disclosure obligations are. What exactly must be disclosed, and how, is a question for your real estate agent or a real estate attorney — ask them before you book, if it is a concern.
Before we arrive
None of this changes what is wrong with a house. It changes how much of the house we can actually see — and every area written up as inaccessible is an unanswered question a buyer gets to imagine the worst about.
Water, gas and electricity all need to be connected. An inspector cannot test what will not turn on, and a return visit costs you time you may not have.
Furnace, water heater, electrical panel, sump pump. Anything stacked in front of them may end up in the report as "not accessible", which reads to a buyer as an unknown.
Unblock the hatch and move anything stored against it. These are the two areas most often written up as inaccessible, and they are the two buyers worry about most.
Garage, shed, electrical panel, gate, exterior doors. Leave keys out for anything we will need to open, and let us know about anything that only opens a particular way.
Dead bulbs, missing smoke alarm batteries, a furnace filter overdue by a year. Small, cheap items that otherwise fill a report and make a well-kept house read as neglected.
Shrubs against siding, branches on the roof, soil piled above the foundation line. All of it hides the very things an inspector is there to look at.
Unlike a buyer’s inspection, this one is yours — most sellers stay, follow along and ask questions as we go. It is the best chance you will get to see what a buyer’s inspector will see. Allow two to three hours, and settle pets somewhere we will not need to open.
Do not paint over a stain or hide a crack. It rarely works, it destroys the trust the report is meant to build, and a buyer who finds it later will assume there is more.
Why choose us
Selling is the one transaction where information asymmetry works against you by default: the buyer commissions the report, and you find out what it says after they do. With more than 16,000 inspections completed and over 2,000 five-star reviews since 2009, sellers and their agents across Southeast and Mid-Michigan use us to close that gap before it opens. We also handle home buyer inspections, annual maintenance inspections and commercial building inspections, pre-drywall inspections and 11-month builder’s warranty inspections.
Credentials from the recognized bodies, matched to the service you book.
Photo-rich, plain English, and ready to hand to your agent.
Including weekends, because listing dates do not wait for a Tuesday.
We encourage it. Ask what matters, what does not, and what a buyer will fixate on.
So nothing in your report is us quoting ourselves work. Findings only.
Reviews
Curt Markham was awesome and answered every question and concern I had for my pre-listing inspection! He was very knowledgeable and professional. I highly recommend using Trademark for all your inspection needs!
Arianne EspirituMichiganMitch did our inspection for the sale of our home and he was professional, efficient and friendly. The report was sent to me and my agent in a timely fashion and I appreciated how quickly the appointment was made and everything was finished! Would recommend to others.
Kendra AllenRoseville, MITrademark is incredibly thorough! The ONLY inspectors I would trust with my home! From setting the appointment to climbing into the attic and crawling under the house, they are incredibly talented. Please do yourself the best favor, and always use and recommend Trademark!!
Paige CookNovi, MIThe company is great. They take their time to address your concerns, answer all questions and make sure you are content. Ora was great to work with, thorough and addressed all questions and concerns. I will definitely request him whenever I need an inspector!
Zack OudeifMichiganMitch was great and thorough the our inspection. He provided explanations and suggestions throughout the service. Highly recommend!
Jaynie GMonroe, MIDavid was very knowledgeable. He explained the entire process and answered all of my questions. The report was very thorough and detailed. Making an appointment was very easy. I highly recommend and will be using in the future!
Ann JarjisMichigan
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Claim the Hero DiscountQualified and certified
Michigan does not license home inspectors, so the credential behind the report you are about to hand a buyer is worth checking. Each of these is issued by the organization named and verifiable with them directly, and kept current through continuing education.
The core credential from the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors. It commits the inspector to InterNACHI’s Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics, and to continuing education every year rather than a one-off exam.
The profession’s top-level board certification. It is earned through inspection experience and continuing education over time, not bought — which is why comparatively few inspectors in Michigan hold it.
National Home Inspector ExaminationThe independently written, psychometrically validated exam from the Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors, used by most states that license home inspectors. Michigan licenses nobody and asks for no exam at all, so sitting it here is entirely voluntary — which is rather the point.
Certified through the Certified Commercial Property Inspectors Association, the standards body for commercial building inspections. Commercial work follows a different discipline to residential, and this is the credential that covers it.
The International Association of Certified Indoor Air Consultants sets the protocols for how mold is sampled, handled and reported. Following them is what makes a laboratory result defensible rather than just a number.
The same body certifies radon measurement separately, because the discipline is different: where the monitor sits, how long it runs and what counts as a disturbed test all decide whether the reading means anything.
Certification from the National Association of Mold Professionals, covering how mold is identified, sampled and documented — the difference between spotting a stain and understanding the moisture behind it.
Training in running a sewer line camera and, just as importantly, reading what it shows. Roots, bellies, breaks and blockages all look different on screen and are easy to misread without it.
Certified Residential ThermographerCertified by Monroe Infrared in thermal imaging. A thermal camera reveals what the eye cannot — moisture behind finishes, missing insulation and overheating electrical connections — but only if the person holding it is trained to interpret it.
Licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly commercially. That is what makes aerial roof and property imagery legal to carry out and legal to hand you — and it means a steep or unsafe roof can still be inspected properly.
Our service area
We inspect across fourteen Michigan counties — Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Livingston, Genesee, Saginaw, Shiawassee, Lapeer, St Clair, Monroe, Lenawee, Jackson and Ingham — covering Metro Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, Saginaw and the communities in between. Tap a county to see where we work.
Not sure if we cover your area?
Call 734-331-3269 or schedule your inspection now.
Common questions
The things sellers and their agents ask us most before booking.
A full home inspection carried out before you put the house on the market, commissioned by you rather than the buyer. It is the same inspection a buyer would order — the difference is that you see the findings first and decide what to do about them.
It depends on the size and age of the home and any add-ons you choose, so we price each one properly rather than quoting a number that turns out to be wrong. Call 734-331-3269 or book online and you will see the price before you confirm.
Michigan requires sellers of most residential property to complete a Seller’s Disclosure Statement covering conditions they are aware of, so an inspection can create something to disclose. That is a genuine trade-off. It is also worth remembering the buyer’s inspector is likely to find the same thing later, with far less room to respond. We are inspectors rather than attorneys, so confirm your specific obligations with your agent or a real estate attorney.
No. The report is information, not a work order. You can repair an item, price it into the listing, or disclose it and let the buyer weigh it. Having the report early is what gives you all three options instead of one.
Most take two to three hours on site depending on size and age, and the digital report is with you within 24 hours — usually sooner. You are welcome to walk the house with the inspector.
Yes, and many sellers do. Sharing it signals transparency and can reduce how much a buyer feels they need to dig. It does not stop a buyer commissioning their own inspection, and it should not — but it changes the conversation when they do.
Usually not, nor should it. Most buyers will still want their own inspector, and any buyer’s agent worth having will advise it. The value of yours is that nothing in theirs is a surprise to you.
It is not a magic number on the price. What it reliably does is remove the late renegotiation, which is where sellers most often lose money — and a home presented with a recent independent report reads as one that has been looked after.
Yes. New homes are built quickly by many different trades, and we regularly find missed flashing, unfinished attic work and electrical faults in properties only a few years old. The buyer’s inspector will look just as hard at a new house as an old one.
Technically very little — same scope, same standards, same report. The difference is entirely about timing and who holds the information. Ours arrives while you still have choices; theirs arrives once there is a contract and a deadline.
Yes, all at an additional cost and carried out during the same visit. Radon testing and sewer scope inspections are the two buyers most often ask for, and both are far easier to handle before a deal is on the table than during one.
Book online any time, or call 734-331-3269. We inspect seven days a week including weekends, so we can usually work to your listing date rather than the other way round.
Seven days a week, report within 24 hours.
