Home inspections can be done by a buyer, as part of the offer with the condition on inspection, or it can be done by the seller, as part of the home prepping process.
Whenever you want to buy a house, you want to be sure that a home inspector goes through home and documents in a “home inspection binder” the status of the home. This binder is meant to highlight any areas of concerns. It also helps you understand what to expect from your home, i.e. lifespan of current roof, furnace etc.
Having a pre-listing home inspection means that the homeowners purchases a home inspection before they even have a buyer. This is done as part of prepping a home for sale. A pre-listing home inspection minimizes buyers coming in with their own inspection. As an agent, you do the inspection before listing to ensure you know all the issues before an offer comes through. The last thing you want is to list your house for sale, have an interested buyer with an offer, then realize something in the house requires a $10,000 replacement cost. You could potentially lose the buyer, or it allows the buyer to come back and renegotiate the sale price.