Pay for repairs before closing or lower price? (disclosure, appraiser, sales)

[FelixTheCat]

If the seller agrees to pay for some repairs listed on the inspection report, is the norm to lower the price by the estimated repair cost or to get the repairs done before closing?

[2bindenver]

Depends on the repairs that are asked for. Some repairs will need to e completed prior to the closing - repairs that are deemed necessary by the appraiser and health/safety items. Some items may be repaired by using your hazard insurance, and some are just a way for the buyer to feel better after the price was settled upon.

[GarySmith]

There are also times where money is escrowed for repairs after closing. This is simply another option.

If I were the seller, I would choose to lower price but that's me. You know more about the details and will ultimately need to negotiate the solution.

[bighusker]

It's really all negotiable. When I bought my house, I pushed for a price reduction over the seller fixing things after the inspection revealed some issues. My reasoning was that I'd rather have people I know fixing the problems. Also, there were a few appliances that were broken despite the seller listing them as "working" on their disclosure (namely the water heater and dishwasher), and I wanted to be the one picking out the replacements.

I wound up getting a reduction of almost $2,000. I think the seller was happy with this because I was willing to accept everything "as is" with the reduction. It also avoided a drawn-out process of the seller fixing things and me verifying that they were fixed. Another nice bonus is that the lower sales price should lower by property tax assessment a little bit.

[EllenArlingtonPark]

It depends on the repairs. If the buyer is getting an FHA or VA loan then some repairs must be made prior to closing or the buyer will not get funding, so there will be no closing.

[f_m]

Originally Posted by bighusker

It's really all negotiable. When I bought my house, I pushed for a price reduction over the seller fixing things after the inspection revealed some issues. My reasoning was that I'd rather have people I know fixing the problems. Also, there were a few appliances that were broken despite the seller listing them as "working" on their disclosure (namely the water heater and dishwasher), and I wanted to be the one picking out the replacements.

I agree with this idea, in that if the seller fixes it, then they will likely do it in the least costly way (which may not be satisfactory in the long run). But it will depend on what the problem is.