Negotiating Repairs After A Home Inspection

Most first time buyers and sellers believe the real estate deal is negotiated at the signing of the contract.  Realistically though, in many cases, decisions and negotiations only start at the contract signing.Even in more competitive real estate markets, negotiations still happen once in escrow.

Here are a few tips for negotiating repairs after a Home Inspection.


Ask For A Credit For The Work To Be Done

The sellers are on their way out.n If the property is moving towards closing, they're likely packing and thinking of their new home.  The last thing they want to do is repair work on their old home.  They may not even treat the work as a high priority.  If you take a cash-back credit at close of escrow, you can use that money to complete the project yourself.  Honestly, chances are you will do a better job than the seller too.  Finally if you get the credit there is less back and forth.


The 'Big Picture'

If you want to renovate a bathroom within a few years, then you likely won't care that a little bit of the floor is damaged, that there's a leaky faucet or that the caulking needs to be redone.  These issues will get fixed during your future renovation.  Asking the seller for a credit to fix these issues will help offset some of your closing costs.


Keep Your Cards Close To You

A good listing agent will walk the Home Inspection with you, your agent and the Inspector.  Showing and telling your comfort level or intentions can come back to haunt you.  For example, if you mention you're planning a gut renovation of the kitchen, the sellers will certainly hear about it.  Making them less likely to offer you a credit back to repair some of the kitchen cabinets.


Keep Your Eyes Wide Open

You should never complete the original contract assuming you can negotiate more as a result of the inspections.  You need to go into escrow with your eyes wide open as well.  A Real Estate transaction is never a done deal until all the money has been wired in and the deed transferred.  Prior to signing the real estate contract, your main concern is that you may be competitive with other buyers.  Once you're in escrow and doing inspections, however, it's just you and the sellers.  Stay on your toes.  Otherwise, you may risk losing out on further viable negotiation opportunities.


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