For many home buying transactions, the home inspection is a real deal breaker. Reading your home inspection can be overwhelming at first and deciding how to further negotiate your contract based on the home inspection is essential to buying SMART. Here are some tips that we have to help you make SMART decisions as you take your next steps.

First, determine your priorities—Prioritize your list of repairs into three categories: deal breakers, preferences and handyman fixes.

  • For deal breakers, ask yourself: “What are those big ticket items that need to be repaired by the seller or else the deal is off?” Once you have decided on these items, negotiate so that they are fully repaired and/or get an estimate and ask for a seller’s credit to pay for the cost of the repair.
  • For preferences, ask yourself, “Is it essential that this item be repaired/replaced, or is this just my preference?” There are some things that HAVE to be repaired and/or replaced. When it is only a preference item, it does not have to be fixed, but it sure would be nice if the seller would take care of it. Do not be afraid to ask for your preferences to be met as well, but be prepared for the seller to say, “No,” and be prepared to fix it yourself.
  • For handyman fixes, ask yourself, “What can I fix myself or hire a handyman to fix” (at minimal cost)? If the items on your home inspection are handyman fixes, weigh these items against the deal breakers and your preferences before you decide to negotiate these into the contract.

Next, examine those items that are past issues but that are no longer present issues—For example, what about the part of your report that reveals that there is evidence of water damage in the past, but there is no evidence of it at present? How should this be negotiated? Once again, this comes down to whether or not the item is a deal breaker, a preference or a handyman fix.

Once you have prioritized the items in your home inspection, it is time to re-negotiate. Give us your “wish list” of repairs, and we will draft your re-negotiations into your contract and present it to the sellers agent.

The last step is perhaps the most difficult. Now, you just have to wait to hear back from the sellers about what they choose (or don’t choose) to repair.

We are committed to helping you through every step of this process. If you have questions at any time, please contact us.

Committed to helping you Buy. Sell. Live. SMART!

Seth & Alyce