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Received the home inspection report...wow. We love the house, and most of the itemized things on the report are little niggly things we can do ourselves in a day. However, some are a concern and if we're going to return to the table with a couple of biggies, should we just list all the problems with estimated costs of repair, and see if they'll come down on the price further or make the repairs?
Do people usually have the sellers make a bunch of little repairs or let them go, or?
Biggest concerns (advice needed):
2 twenty yr old water heaters
2 11 y r old a/c units
damp wall issue, repaired (they say) but not cosmetically (walls & ceiling areas destroyed and left exposed for carpentry work to be done)
Dry rotted weather stripping around windows
Carpentry work post-damp/wet wall repair
Non-conforming deck/balcony balister spacing
Garage door wont reverse when obstacle obstructs
There are alot of seemingly more minor items, such as no smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detector, dishwasher drain needs an air gap place in the drain line, a support post to the entrance gable is wiggly, a circuit breaker sub panel switch plate is missing, etc etc.
What do we DO with this info now? What are our options, what do people usually do?
Our R.E. Agent, when items are mentioned, says things like "Lowe's sells those for 2-3 dollars" or "I think Lowe's sells those wall boards and you can match up the colors" or "We dont want to put our mean faces on just yet" etc. But now we're thinking this woman isnt working on our behalf, because we're being expected to forgive ALOT based on her advice and we're getting sick of it.
What do we want? We want repairs made, or we want them to come down on their price. Can this happen? We're worried the R.E.Agent is going to tell us "they are not going to do that"
The old water heater and ac units, you can forget. If they are working, then that's all you can ask. If I was a seller, I wouldn't replace just 'cause they are old. If they are broken, that's another story.
When you toured the house, you already saw the damage of the damp walls so I hope you tailored your offer to take that into consideration. Some things just don't show up until a home inspection, so you have no control over those.
For piece of mind, I would ask them to pay for a home warranty (I would have had that in the original offer), and then ask for money off so that you can hire a contractor you trust to fix the other items. Out of curiousity, how old is the home (since there are no fire alarms)?
You might want to see about coming up with an itemized price list for all the things you've mentioned, and if it totals up to a significant amount, you can perhaps suggest a 50-50 split of the overall cost. If there are significant safety or neglect issues, then you can perhaps try the same offer/suggestion.
When I put an offer in on my house, I knew the roof would need to be replaced almost immediately, so I got an estimate on the replacement cost of that and factored that into my initial offer. Once the home inspection was done, it was discovered that several windows and trim/sealing would need to be replaced. I got an estimate for the replacement costs, and the sellers agreed to just bring a check for 1/2 the amount to closing, without renegotiating the purchase price and hassling with that.
You're not buying a brand-new house, however, so you have to accept that there are going to be some things you'll just need to fix yourself. There's nothing wrong with itemizing all the items to get the purchase price reduced, however, especially if the list turns out to be pages long.
For piece of mind, I would ask them to pay for a home warranty (I would have had that in the original offer), and then ask for money off so that you can hire a contractor you trust to fix the other items. Out of curiousity, how old is the home (since there are no fire alarms)?
Thanks for the reply. I made a mistake as it turns out, there are two smoke detectors, one on each level. The inspector was being over-cautious and recommending that there be one placed in each bedroom in addition, as well as one carbon monoxide detector on each level. (I hope I have that right since I dont have the report in front of me at the moment).
The old water heater and ac units, you can forget. If they are working, then that's all you can ask. If I was a seller, I wouldn't replace just 'cause they are old. If they are broken, that's another story.
When you toured the house, you already saw the damage of the damp walls so I hope you tailored your offer to take that into consideration. Some things just don't show up until a home inspection, so you have no control over those.
Thanks for the advise. I guess we wont do much about the old water heater and a/c units.
When we toured the house we did see the damp walls. Four months later, however, when we put the offer in, the sellers had already hired a crew in and were repairing the walls. A couple of weeks after the contract was negotiated, I thought to ask the agent whether or not there was anything torn up or ruined during the damp wall repair, such as carpet, ceiling, or regular walls. She replied that "the sellers are not repairing anything that has to be destroyed - such as carpeting, when repairing the walls, if this is what becomes necessary". Well, that didnt sit well but since they were still in the process of doing the repair work, I waited and said nothing. But the damp wall repair moved out into other rooms from the one room I had seen, and it was definitely torn up! I received nothing in the way of news or photos from the agent, but received the inspection report yesterday chock-full of info and photos. I was not happy to see the state of the room. The square footage was decreased because a new wall was framed in, but left, therefore a large rec room is now considered unfinished.
Since my original post, I told the agent I wasnt happy and she came back to say the sellers were finishing the room :-)
I dont know what you meant when you said "some things just dont show up until the home inspection and so you have no control over those"...this was the reason for my post, actually. Isnt the purpose of the inspection to gain some sort of control over issues that we otherwise wouldnt have known, and to do something about them?
Does your agent represent you or is the agent the listing agent of this home?
Conversely, are you already getting a " steal of a deal" compared to very recent closed comps?
It all matters.
Your response really hit home with me. We have asked ourselves the same thing: Whose side is she on?
You're right, she isnt a mind reader, but she has given us responses several times that speak for the sellers, without actually putting our inquiries TO the sellers. Initially, we put alot of trust in her and thought she was going to take care of us as 1st time homebuyers and as she was our "buyer's agent" (another gem she conned us into by telling us she couldnt put in our offer, nor see the transaction through to closing, unless we signed to say she was our agent).
We have had a few people saying we are getting a great deal on the house. But how does one seriously know. The market is so bad right now that there really isnt anything to compare to. We are buying a 20 yr old home, with zero upgrades. There are other houses listed in the same location for the same price, with half the square footage and fewer bedrooms. Who knows? The tax value is WAY higher (so yeay, our taxes will be too high). How does one really know the true value of a home?? To us, its worth a million, though, truth be told. We love it.
Take the big things that are safety issues and request the seller to fix those ASAP. Take anything that is moderate items and estimate how much it would cost to fix them. Ask the seller to fix those as well. Anything minor I wouldnt bother with as like the realtor said you can fix yourself and it wont affect whether you buy the house or not. If the seller refuses to fix anything you say, you have the right to walk out on the deal or the seller can concede by reducing the purchase price so that you can pay for the repairs yourself. If there is something like the water damage that is bothering you, I would insist on a second inspection after the repairs are done. If you lost square footage, you will have to re-evaluate if its worth to you or if its no longer worth as much due to the damage. Its a buyers market so I would get at least the major things repaired. Being only 20 years old tho I imagine the house is in pretty good shape. Sometimes inspectors point out everything cause they feel obgligated to find things for you.
Your response really hit home with me. We have asked ourselves the same thing: Whose side is she on?
You're right, she isnt a mind reader, but she has given us responses several times that speak for the sellers, without actually putting our inquiries TO the sellers. Initially, we put alot of trust in her and thought she was going to take care of us as 1st time homebuyers and as she was our "buyer's agent" (another gem she conned us into by telling us she couldnt put in our offer, nor see the transaction through to closing, unless we signed to say she was our agent).
We have had a few people saying we are getting a great deal on the house. But how does one seriously know. The market is so bad right now that there really isnt anything to compare to. We are buying a 20 yr old home, with zero upgrades. There are other houses listed in the same location for the same price, with half the square footage and fewer bedrooms. Who knows? The tax value is WAY higher (so yeay, our taxes will be too high). How does one really know the true value of a home?? To us, its worth a million, though, truth be told. We love it.
Actually that was not a con job. It's the law in many states, including my own.
I am thrilled you love the house. Just make sure your agent has can make you comfortable with the price you are paying and gives you copies of very recent closed sales comps, for comparable homes, within the area.
And next time your agent starts speculating about the seller's response, ask her if she is a mind reader.
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