How to negotiate repairs after a home inspection
Start with your purchase contract and its inspection deadline, then ask contractors to quote the items that matter most to you. Bring those quotes to your agent, who writes the request to the seller. You can ask the seller to fix an item or to give you a credit, and the seller can agree, counter or say no.
How do you negotiate repairs after inspection?
You negotiate through your agent, with a written quote behind each item you ask for. Confirm the inspection deadline with your agent first, so the request goes out in time. Then work through these steps.
- Ask your agent for the inspection deadline in your purchase contract.
- Sort the report into safety items, big-ticket items and cosmetic items.
- Get written quotes for the safety and big-ticket items.
- Decide with your agent which items to ask for, and whether to ask for repairs or a credit.
- Let your agent send one clear request to the seller's agent.
A short request with quotes attached is easier for a seller to answer than a copy of every line in the report. If the seller counters, your agent brings the offer back to you, and you decide whether to accept it, counter again or, if your contract allows it, walk away. For the quotes, see getting contractor quotes for home inspection repairs.
What should the seller fix after a home inspection?
There's no fixed list, so put safety problems and major systems at the top of your request. Those are items like a leaking roof, unsafe wiring, a failing water heater or a cracked foundation. Worn paint and a dripping faucet are usually not worth spending your request on.
What the seller agrees to is a separate question. The CFPB says that, depending on the terms of your purchase contract and local market conditions, the seller may or may not agree to pay for repairs. Your agent knows how sellers in your area tend to answer a request like yours.
Should I ask for repairs or a credit?
It depends on whether you want to control the work. With a credit, you get money at closing and hire your own contractor afterward. With a repair, the work is done before you move in, but the seller chooses who does it unless your contract says otherwise.
A credit can also be simpler when closing is only days away and there isn't time to schedule the work. The CFPB says a seller might give you money toward your closing costs, known as a seller credit, instead of making the repair before closing. Ask your agent and your lender how a credit would work with your loan. If you take a credit and hire someone yourself, here's how to check a contractor license in Oregon and Washington.
Who decides who pays for repairs after inspection?
Your purchase contract and the negotiation decide it. The CFPB says the seller may or may not agree to pay, depending on your contract and the local market. It also says your lender can require major repairs, like a new roof, before closing as a condition of the loan.
Ask your agent what your own contract says before you assume anything. Once the seller agrees, here's who verifies the repairs before closing.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Contracts differ, so confirm the details with your agent and your purchase contract.
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Your agent's list is a place to get the quotes
If your agent uses Proferral, they can send you their go-to list, and it opens on your phone with no app and no login. Nobody pays to be on the list, and Proferral takes no referral fee. Proferral doesn't check anyone's work, so the quotes and the license lookups are still yours to do. Here's how your agent's go-to list works.
Your agent sends you the link, and you open it on your phone without installing anything.