Most sellers assume the first inspection that matters is the one their buyer orders after an offer is accepted. That is how it works in Edina, in Woodbury, in most of the suburbs where a buyer's home inspector walks through, writes up a list, and the seller negotiates repairs or a credit from there.
Saint Paul runs on a different clock, and it starts long before an offer exists. Under Chapter 189 of the Saint Paul Legislative Code, single-family homes, duplexes, condominiums, and townhomes cannot legally be shown to a buyer until a city-licensed evaluator has completed a Truth-in-Sale of Housing report, known around town as TISH. The evaluation has to happen within three calendar days of listing the property, offering it for sale, or taking any other action meant to start marketing it. Miss that window and you are technically in violation of the ordinance before a single showing has occurred.
That timing detail is where most of the confusion starts, and it is worth sitting with before we get to what the report does and does not require.
The clock starts at listing, not at offer
A TISH evaluation is a visual walkthrough of a home's structural, electrical, and mechanical systems, performed by an independent evaluator who is licensed by the city but not employed by it. The seller hires the evaluator directly or through their agent, and the city keeps a list of who is currently licensed but will not recommend one or set what they charge. Industry estimates put the fee in the $150 to $300 range, and the inspection itself typically takes about an hour.
Once complete, the report has to be conspicuously displayed at the home for every showing. It is valid for 365 consecutive days from the date it is issued, but only for the owner named on it and only for one sale. If a deal falls through and you relist, or if a sale drags past the one-year mark, you cannot renew or update the existing report. You start over with a new evaluation.
This is a meaningfully tighter window than a seller coming from Minneapolis is used to, where a TISH certificate is good for two years. It is also a different rhythm entirely from anywhere in the western suburbs the same seller might have lived before, where no such requirement exists at all.
What the report actually forces you to fix: one thing
Here is the detail that surprises almost everyone selling in Saint Paul for the first time. The TISH program is explicitly "disclosure only," with a single exception.
The evaluator will note deficiencies throughout the report, from aging mechanical systems to code violations, and mark hazards where they find them. None of that has to be repaired before you close. The report exists to inform the buyer of what the evaluator observed, not to force a punch list on the seller. A buyer who wants those items addressed has to negotiate for it in the purchase agreement, the same as they would with a private inspection anywhere else.
The one item the city will not let slide is a functioning hardwired smoke alarm. If a home doesn't have one wired and operating correctly, it gets flagged as a hazard on the report, and the owner is required to hire a licensed electrical contractor, pull an electrical permit, install the alarm, and have the inspector finalize the permit before the sale can close cleanly. Homestead owners can pull that permit themselves if the wiring already exists. Everyone else needs a licensed contractor to do it.
That is a narrow, specific requirement, and it is easy to miss if you are mentally filing TISH under "the same kind of inspection that happens everywhere." South St. Paul's version of this program works differently: hazardous items identified there must be corrected before the new owner takes possession, and the evaluator has ten days to file the report with the city. Saint Paul's program is more lenient on paper, but the smoke alarm requirement is not optional, and skipping the evaluation altogether is a misdemeanor under Section 189.19, carrying up to 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.
A quieter timing issue: evaluator supply
There is a second friction point worth knowing about if you are planning to list later this year. Saint Paul licenses its TISH evaluators through a periodic exam process, and the most recent application window has closed. The city has said it will post details for the next evaluator exam at the end of October 2026. Until then, the roster of licensed evaluators is fixed at whoever is currently certified.
That does not mean evaluators are scarce today, but it does mean the pool will not grow between now and late fall. If your listing timeline puts you into a busy fall market, booking your evaluator early rather than waiting until your photos are scheduled is the more comfortable way to handle it.
The same word means different things a few blocks apart
Because "TISH" and "Time-of-Sale" get used loosely across the metro, sellers who have bought or sold in more than one city sometimes assume the rules travel with the name. They don't. A quick comparison of what a seller actually owes, depending on where the home sits:
| City | What it's called | Repairs required before closing | Report validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Paul | Truth-in-Sale of Housing | Disclosure only, except hardwired smoke alarm | 1 year, one sale |
| Minneapolis | Truth in Housing | Disclosure, with option to transfer repair responsibility to buyer | 2 years, one sale |
| South St. Paul | Time-of-Sale | Hazardous items must be corrected before possession | Filed within 10 days of inspection |
| Maplewood | Truth-in-Housing | Disclosure only, similar to Saint Paul | 1 year |
| Golden Valley | Sewer line inspection | Tied to the sewer connection, not the home's overall condition | Set by city ordinance |
| Edina, Woodbury, Eagan, Minnetonka | No program | No city-mandated pre-listing inspection | Not applicable |
A few cities skip the general home evaluation but still require something narrower. Golden Valley's requirement is a sewer line inspection, not a full TISH-style walkthrough of the home's systems. If you are comparing a listing in Saint Paul to one in Golden Valley, you are not comparing the same obligation at all.
There is one more exception worth knowing if a sale is staying within a family: Saint Paul does not require a TISH evaluation when the property is being sold to immediate family, meaning grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren, or siblings. Aunts, uncles, and cousins do not count for this exemption.
Getting ahead of the evaluation
A little preparation before the evaluator arrives tends to shorten the list of items that show up on the report, even though most of them won't require a fix. Worth doing before the walkthrough:
- Confirm the home has a working hardwired smoke alarm near sleeping areas, since this is the one item that can hold up your closing
- Make sure the furnace, electrical panel, and water heater are easily accessible
- Clear a path to the attic hatch, crawlspace, and garage
- Gather permits or receipts for any recent electrical or structural work, in case the evaluator asks
None of this replaces a buyer's own private inspection, which will still happen separately and can still shape negotiations. TISH and a buyer's inspection are answering different questions. One is a public safety disclosure required by the city. The other is a private, optional evaluation the buyer pays for to protect their own interests.
A few questions that come up often
Does a private home inspection satisfy the TISH requirement? No. They are separate processes serving different purposes, and a buyer's inspection has no bearing on whether the seller has met the city's disclosure obligation.
What if my TISH report expires while I'm under contract? As long as the offer was made within the 365-day validity window, a closing that happens after the report's expiration date does not require a new evaluation.
Do any of the suburbs Anne works in require this? Not in the way Saint Paul does. Edina, Woodbury, Eagan, and Minnetonka have no comparable pre-listing inspection ordinance. Golden Valley's requirement is narrower and limited to sewer line condition.
Can I just skip it if I'm selling as-is? No. An as-is sale does not exempt the property from the TISH requirement. It only affects who takes responsibility for repairs.
Selling in Saint Paul comes with a rulebook that doesn't look like the one next door, and the gap between what people expect and what the ordinance actually requires is exactly where timelines slip. If you're weighing a Saint Paul listing against a home in one of the surrounding suburbs, or you just want someone to walk the calendar with you before you put a sign in the yard, Anne Rybarczyk Gray has handled this exact handoff for sellers across the metro and into western Wisconsin. Let's Connect.
