Consumption and Real Estate
For home owners & buyers looking to buy/sell now: How much impact would a home inspection have on your dec.?
Question : For home owners & buyers looking to buy/sell now: How much impact would a home inspection have on your dec.?
We put a contract on a house & made it contingent upon a satisfactory home inspection, which the sellers signed. So, I looked over the home inspection report & there were 10 things, 6 of which I think are really important to be fixed (some are safety hazards). Our realtor is writing an addendum asking that they fix or credit us on the selling price for the repairs. Nothing we are asking for is extremely expensive & we REALLY want & love this house. Sellers: Would you be likely to either fix or credit a buyer? And Buyers: What should we do if they say no to some repairs/credits if we really do not want to pull out of the contract? Please help!
home inspection pricing
Best answer:
Answer by Mark G
Your home inspection did exactly what it was supposed to – reveal defects. Some of those defects may affect the property’s value, but, as you’ve noted. are repairable, Virtually every property sold has something wrong with it. The question is really “What is the market like where you are?” If there is a lot of interest in this house and you are in a seller’s market, you may want to let the seller off the hook for some or all of the repairs if you feel it will endanger the deal. You already know the costs, so you just have to consider whether its worth it to you. On the other hand, in a buyers’ market, as most markets are right now, you have greater leverage and the seller will likely fix the items you’ve requested. Just don’t let your deal get screwed up over some small sticking point if that becomes the case. On the one hand, sellers can get a little irrational and defensive about what they think they should have to do. On the other hand, buyers receive their inspection report and sometimes insist on repairs being done that are less than mandatory. Be flexible, remain calm, and look at everything from the bottom line rather than what seems fair or reasonable.
As the seller ( and I have been in that situation), I would decide how easy or difficult it would be to fix the items myself whether that would me who would do the fixing or hire someone. That would also depend on the cost to fix as well. Those items I did not want to deal with, I would opt to work out a credit with the buyer. So, my response would depend on the cost to fix and the degree of difficulty to fix. I might reject some items outright.
Consider also that your interpretation of what is a safety hazard may not be accepted by the seller. Regarding those items you identify as safety hazards, you may want to find out if some or all would be required to be fixed before a cert. of occupancy would be issued.
If the seller refuses to fix all or some of the items, and you really want the house, then you have to accept the fact that you accept responsibility to fix the items. You’ll have to just “bite the bullet.” In my view, the only other option is pull out of the contract.