Home Inspection vs. Digs Report: What's the Difference?
If you've sold a home before, you know the buyer's home inspection. It's the one that happens after your home is under contract — the one where a stranger walks through your property for three hours and hands the buyer a list of everything wrong with it. The Digs Report is something fundamentally different. Here's how the two compare.
Who Orders It — and When
A traditional home inspection is ordered by the buyer, typically during the due diligence period after a purchase agreement is signed. The Digs Report is ordered by the seller, before the home is listed. That timing difference changes everything. When the seller controls the inspection, they control the narrative — and they have time to respond strategically rather than reactively.
What Each Report Covers
A standard buyer's home inspection covers the physical condition of the property: structure, roof, foundation, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and visible defects. The Digs Report does all of that — and more:
- Full property condition inspection by a licensed inspector
- Preliminary title review identifying liens, easements, and ownership issues
- Neighborhood statistics including school ratings, crime data, and recent sales
- Market context data to support accurate pricing
- Compiled documentation ready to share with buyers and agents
How Each Report Is Used
A buyer's inspection report is a negotiating tool — used to request repairs, credits, or price reductions after the seller is already under contract. The Digs Report is a selling tool — used to price accurately, make informed repair decisions, disclose proactively, and build buyer confidence before an offer is even made. One creates leverage for the buyer. The other creates leverage for the seller.
The Bottom Line
Both reports involve a licensed inspector walking through your home. But the Digs Report is designed for a completely different purpose: empowering sellers with the same information buyers would otherwise use against them. In a market where information asymmetry drives negotiation outcomes, getting the data first is a decisive advantage.