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Honestly getting an incompetent inspector / incomplete inspection report is not helping here...
But we don't have more than that here... do we?
What we have are the OP's admitted amateurs interpretations of
and inelegant phrasing describing things told to them.
Lighten up Chet.
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OP: If I wasn't clear enough before...
insist that the seller remedy these few things that probably are minor.
But there's no good reason for you to assume responsibility for an unknown.
1. I didn't correct about plus and minus because I knew what they meant.
2. While it is not likely I can think of scenarios where furnace cycling is a serious matter. Modern furnaces have interlocks for exhaust air flow and for main burner ignition. I can imagine a problem leading to either intermittent air flow or intermittent problems with the main burner. While the interlock is supposed to protect against these problems, I would be concerned enough to get the furnace inspected right away. Probably this would not be costly- but- replacement furnaces are costly and it would be best to know this is not an issue.
I am not telling the OP to "just ignore this stuff".
I agree there is a very remote chance that these things are possibly signs of something being potentially costly / dangerous, but the buyer does themself and the seller a disservice by coming to the negotiations with incomplete / incorrect /undifferentiated "findings".
The problem is that the inspector's report is lacking.
If the seller says "pound sand" knowing full well that his furnace is fine and he swapped out the outlets himself and his home is attractively priced and otherwise in tip top condition it is the BUYER that loses out...
I suppose if the seller agrees to "fix" these things that is good, but if the fix hides the fact that the whole place was wired by an incompetent person and things start smoking that is no bargain. Similarly the odds, all be they remote, of the furnace being a ticking bomb would not make it easy for me to sleep in this place.
The findings, as reported here, just lack the kind of info needed to be sure these things either need to be addressed OR are the only downsides in an otherwise superb home.
The best reports have a comprehensive summary of condition along with specific areas of concerns, ranked by urgency / potential to be "deal killers". There should be photos to document that the condition is as described, good or bad, and links or citations to national building codes / standards.
Honestly without those things a poor inspection does more harm than good, alternately sowing doubts where their should be none OR building up false confidence in the face of potential disasters.
We had a home inspection last week on the home we put an offer on. There are several items the home inspector pointed out are not working correctly and/or safety issues, etc. I don't know how to ask the buyers to fix? The major issue we have is the furnace isn't cycling properly, inspector said it could be the thermostat OR could be a bigger problem. Also some electrical outlets in the kitchen positive or negative and not wired correctly. Do we just choose the TOP 3 things we want fixed ? OR ask for a credit? We were able to get the sellers down on price AND they are giving us $3500 at closing, so we don't want to hit them with too much on the inspection..thoughts?
When we bought our house we also encountered a couple of safety issues upon inspections, as well as a few other minor things. We did ask them to take care of anything that was a safety issue, and they did with no problem. I think you definitely should ask for those safety concerns to be addressed. They will most likely have to deal with that anyway with any other potential buyer.
I hate to keep harping on this, but the think is the findings, as reported, are so sketchy that if they consistute a safety issue it is incredibly minor, but since, as reported, one is flat out factually impossible and the other is so vague that the inspection itself and the report is faulty...
For those of you who have not been involved in real estate the history of home inspection comes out the FHA program. To ensure that folks were not sold uninhabitable places the FHA required a checklist of conditions be verified before they would approve a deal. Mostly a good idea. Of course the folks doing these inspections realized that they could branch out and offer their service for a fee to all buyers. Unfortunately the notion of inspectors requiring conditions that rendered the house unfit for habitation quickly escalated to "sellers should deliver homes in perfect condition". Further inspectors that do not differentiate between "this house is not fit to live in" and "in a perfect world this how it should work" leads to the sort of "discussion" that is playing out here -- some folks are saying "GET IT ALL PERFECT" and I simmply thing the OP has not supplied sufficient detail to act on...
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