When Linda Lehman decided to sell her 30-year old home, she worried that years of deferred maintenance would come back to haunt her.

"I was scared that when I got to the end, I'd have to make $10,000 to $20,000 in repairs" for the buyer, says Lehman, a 51-year-old homeowner in Charlotte, N.C.

Her concerns were twofold: that that trouble spots would knock down her asking price, and that repairs to placate buyers would reduce her net proceeds. Like many suddenly single women, she found herself suddenly on her own to repair and sell a home that was maintained for years by her husband.

So Lehman did the unusual: She hired a home inspector to go over her house with a fine-tooth comb.

Her thinking reflects a sound strategy to repair only the most critical items necessary to pass inspection muster. The usual approach is to wait for an offer before inspectors scope out a home. Once inspectors for buyers get involved, though, it opens a Pandora's box of costs and demands. Buyers push the envelope; sellers, sometimes panicked by lack of other offers, capitulate.

Lehman's path is a proactive course easily emulated by others who know little about the real-estate sales process. It's important for a basic, crucial reason: Lehman's inspector represented her interests, not the buyer's.

The implications for home inspections that work in the favor of single women are enormous. According to the National Association of Realtors, 17 percent of home sellers in 2006 were single women. That dwarfs the 6 percent of single men NAR reports as home sellers.

In Lehman's case, she had plenty of cause for concern.

The heating and cooling system was "on its last legs," the garage door wavy and warped, the last termite inspection a distant memory and the basement a disaster zone. Her estimated out-of-pocket costs might have topped $20,000 or more. And those were repairs she could scarcely afford. She needed every nickel from the sale to purchase a new, smaller town home nearby.

But the exhaustive 30-page inspection report found all systems mechanically sound. The components might appear cosmetically iffy but were still operational. On the other hand, inspectors for buyers can raise a red flag on the most nitpicky of items. By hiring her own inspector, Lehman eased pressure from sole reliance on the buyer's report. Problem areas became negotiable items.

According to home inspector Rob Kent of Pittsburgh Property Inspectors in Pennsylvania, a scant 1 to 2 percent of his business is for sellers. "I find it amazing that a lot of these people think their house is in fantastic shape, then they find all these things wrong and they wonder how this happened," Kent says.

But by then it's too late, because the buyer is in the driver's seat in terms of repairs and, more importantly, repair costs. Kent says the time to spot problems is early. Only then, says Kent, does "the seller has chance to shop around for the lowest price."

Sellers can also control scope of work. For example, a basement with evidence of moisture can open the cash spigots for buyers to demand elaborate French drains and other water control measures. But Kent says it "could just be the foundation needs to be regraded," to funnel water away from the walls. For $500, the seller can solve the problem quickly. The ticket for an elaborate French drain to stem water problems found by the buyer: $10,000.

"I see that constantly -- where the seller could control their costs but they wait too long," Kent says.

Kent charges $250 for a standard home, a typical inspection rate. Lehman paid $600 but considers it money well spent.

"It was worth it to have the peace of mind that I don't have any major issues," she says. She also says she may tack on a home warranty policy to further assure buyers that any problems with appliances and heating or cooling systems are fully covered.

Her advice to single women about to enter the home selling market: hire an inspector.

"I think buyers tend to look at anything wrong as symptomatic that the house has problems, and it gives them the idea they can walk from the deal," Lehman says. "I wanted things to be as right as they can, so there are no surprises at the end."

On the Net:

National Association of Realtors: http://www.Realtor.org

http://www.pittsburghpropertyinspections.com