You’ve finally found your dream home. Congratulations! But before you bring the deal much closer to the table, there are several other important steps the transaction must go through before closing day. This guide will prepare you for the negotiation process and identify the most common repairs needed after a home inspection so you know what you can expect.
Know what’s worth negotiating
Bear in mind that no house is perfect and nearly all homes will have issues during the inspection. Before you start negotiating, decide which repairs are important and reasonable to request from the seller. This includes plumbing issues, faulty electrical wiring, cracked tiles, and improper ventilation. Moreover, if the issues will require thousand dollars’ worth of repair costs like improper grading, a cracked foundation, a sagging roof, and other costly problems, it may be something worth considering. Remember that when you negotiate repairs after a home inspection, your goal is to get any major problems taken care of.
Hiring a qualified home inspector can be beneficial at this stage for they can help you uncover the house’s maintenance problems or substandard structural issues. You may also want to ask the inspector or a general contractor to give you an estimate of the costs of the repairs.
Know your options
Once you have narrowed down your list of requests, your realtor will present them to the seller’s agent. These are the types of requests you can make in response to a home inspection report:
- Ask the seller to make the repairs themselves
- Ask for price reduction to accommodate for the cost of repairs
- Ask for alternate compensation, like leaving behind some of their furniture or appliances
- Ask for a home warranty to cover your first year of residency
Moreover, buyers may also prefer to handle the repairs themselves to ensure the project is done according to their standards.
Know when to walk away
Sometimes, despite the best intentions, you will not be able to reach a satisfactory agreement with the seller. If you find that the seller is not willing to work with you, it may be time to cut your losses and walk away. Nevertheless, the home may not even be worth buying if it requires so many costly repairs. Take the time to consider your options and allow yourself to decline the offer if you don’t feel 100% confident and satisfied with the state of the home and the terms of the sale.
Knowing how and what to negotiate after a home inspection will save you lots of time and leave you stress-free, and help your negotiations go as smoothly as possible. If you need an expert to handle the negotiation on your behalf, our real estate agents at The Noel Team are happy to be of service. We can also connect you to the best home inspectors in Colorado to give your home a health checkup before you plunge into the purchase agreement. Contact our team today at 303.774.9400 or send an email to sjnoel(at)remax(dotted)net.
