negotiations after home inspection... (buying a house) - Page 2

AceLuby · #1 10-18-2007, 11:26 AM

A thing to keep in mind too (since I'm going through this process right now too), is that you can ask for these things to be fixed, but they could agree yet not fix them. On your final walkthrough before closing you'll be left w/ the choice of taking the deal as is or walking. I don't think it hurts to ask them to fix it, but don't be suprised if they simply say no, or say yes and nothing gets done by closing.

Tien · #2 10-18-2007, 12:04 PM

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Lol

Every single house in every single neighborhood including new construction homes have something wrong with it that are much more costly than your list of things.

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FYP

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It you are going to nickle and dime for a few hundred bucks, then nickle and dime them if you want, but these things are so minuscule.

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Exactly. Unless this is an extreme buyer's market, I can tell you as a seller that had to put up with this crap, that it will likely just piss the seller off. Ask for the window thing to be fixed before closing and forget the rest.

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lol, you have a point there with new construction but the fact that they are normally under warranty negates the fact that you have to worry about things not working.

But yeah, OP's inspector could probably come up with a list of things wrong with the house with any new construction home.

stephenNUTS · #3 10-17-2007, 04:38 PM

These are simple fixes that you can "ask" the seller to take care of at what appears to be a minimum cost.

However ,as far as OPENING up negotiations...it seems you either want out for some reason,or are reaching here,being that you are in contract with your escrow money tied up,so be careful and ask you lawyer BEFORE you open a can of worms over nothing,that can get UGLY with these sometime trivial things

In many states(New York for example) the seller is OBLIGATED to pay $500 to the buyer for these type repairs(even if there are NONE ness.),that comes off your final buying price at the closing either way...so unless they sign the waiver(which most dont ,that obligate them to fix these and other repirs for a year).Its sort of like the lemon law of cars for non-builder warranteed home sales,from existing home owners.
NOBODY in their right mind would sign this,on a $400,000 home for instance!

What was the estimate the H/I gave you to repair the items on his fix list BTW?

Stephen

'Chair · #4 10-17-2007, 04:51 PM

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These are simple fixes that you can "ask" the seller to take care of at what appears to be a minimum cost.

However ,as far as OPENING up negotiations...it seems you either want out for some reason,or are reaching here,being that you are in contract with your escrow money tied up,so be careful and ask you lawyer BEFORE you open a can of worms over nothing,that can get UGLY with these sometime trivial things

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Gotcha. Any adjustment to the purchase price or whatever would technically give the seller an "OUT". Good point.

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What was the estimate the H/I gave you to repair the items on his fix list BTW?

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no estimate. he would make comments like "that's an easy fix/tweak/etc" and gave me a good lesson in basic home maintenance that I would consider worth the fee alone.

stephenNUTS · #5 10-17-2007, 07:01 PM

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These are simple fixes that you can "ask" the seller to take care of at what appears to be a minimum cost.

However ,as far as OPENING up negotiations...it seems you either want out for some reason,or are reaching here,being that you are in contract with your escrow money tied up,so be careful and ask you lawyer BEFORE you open a can of worms over nothing,that can get UGLY with these sometime trivial things

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Gotcha. Any adjustment to the purchase price or whatever would technically give the seller an "OUT". Good point.

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What was the estimate the H/I gave you to repair the items on his fix list BTW?

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no estimate. he would make comments like "that's an easy fix/tweak/etc" and gave me a good lesson in basic home maintenance that I would consider worth the fee alone.

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Again consult your laywer...but just tell them to take care of these fixes,based on his inspection report...or allocate the estimate to a deduction at closing ,and fix these minor repairs yourself

~stephen [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

BeaucoupFish · #6 10-17-2007, 07:25 PM

If you like this house, and it is a 'good house' that will sell easily, forget about all the items on the list, they all sound normal and minor. The Termite report will be the one you need to pay most attention to: insect and water damage repairs can be considerable, if needed. And once disclosed, anyone else that might buy the house instead would face the same issues (and the seller knows this). I believe in almost all cases, significant issues from the 'termite report' will (and sometimes, must) get fixed by the seller.

Sounds like your home inspector was one of the good ones.

RJT · #7 10-17-2007, 07:58 PM

The cost of items like this is usually determined when the deal is struck. For example, the seller agrees to fix anything over $2,000.00, buyer eats minor stuff.

I assume none of this is talked about in purchase agreement. It is all negotiation now. Obviously, you know that, thus your OP.

Just wanted to point out that this should have been discussed prior to inspection. I would have as a the seller.

Maybe, just through out a lump some figure to reduce the buying price; rather than trying to price each line item.

Tien · #8 10-17-2007, 08:31 PM

'normally' parties wouldn't nickle and dime a couple hundred thousand dollar purchase over a couple of bucks.

But there is nothing wrong about nickle and diming as much as you can.

How I would talk to the sellers if those things meant anything to me would be:

"These little things are not things I wanted to waste my time doing after I buy this house"

Emphasis on "time" rather than the measly 30-40 bucks an item.

Say it would really inconvenience your time to have these things fixed up and you would be willing to match half / half on what it costs to fix it to make it fair.

You have a much better chance of getting that accepted than making them eat up all those costs 100%.

But if you want to be the REALLY nitpicking buyer than tell them to eat all those expenses or keep the house cuz you don't have the patience to clean up more of their mess. It's not a deal killer to you so neither should it be a deal killer to them.

That would be pretty damn mean to do that but that would be pretty awesome as well.

SossMan · #9 10-17-2007, 08:35 PM

If you have released contingencies, the seller will probably just tell you to go pound sand anyway. I would for these items. If that's what's coming up on your home inspecation, that's a clean house. I've never seen a home inspection that didn't have at least some of these smaller minor items. The house isn't new, so you are responsible for small stuff like this.
If you are within your contingencies, I would ask for a few hundred dollars for item #1 and see if you can get it, but if you don't it's really no biggie.

SossMan · #10 10-17-2007, 08:37 PM

one more thing...someone suggested doing an escrow holdback for the repairs for item #1. Be careful with that if you are financing and haven't turned in the purchase contract yet. Lots of times, if a lender sees this, they are going to want full section 1 clearance before lending. You can't come back afterwords and do an as it addendum...just make it a credit for closing costs if you are going to do it like that and not just take it off the purchase price. it's much cleaner from a lending perspective that way. Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it can't go back in.