The Buyer Sent a Repair Request. What Should You Do?
The inspections are finished. Now the buyer wants repairs, money or both.
Before you say yes, say no or start calling contractors, separate three questions:
What does the contract require? What is the buyer asking for? What makes sense for your money and your sale?
Do you have to fix everything the buyer asks for?
No. A buyer's request and a seller's contract obligation are not the same thing.
The inspector reports conditions. The buyer decides what to request. The signed contract determines the parties' rights and obligations.
But “not required” does not automatically mean “say no.”
An $800 repair may make sense if it protects a strong transaction and the same problem is likely to come up with another buyer.
A $10,000 request for a problem that actually costs $2,500 is a different conversation.
First understand the obligation, the cost and the risk. Then decide.
Three questions can exist at the same time
What Does the Contract Require?
Read the executed agreement, completed blanks, repair provisions, limits, deadlines, riders and later written agreements.
What Is the Buyer Asking For?
A buyer can ask for something even when the contract does not automatically require the seller to provide it.
What Makes Sense for You?
Compare actual cost, buyer rights, closing risk and whether the same problem is likely to follow you to another buyer.
The inspection report is not the repair request
A home inspection report may contain dozens of observations. That does not mean the seller received dozens of repair obligations.
Inspection Report
What did the inspector observe or recommend?
Repair Request
What is the buyer actually asking you to repair, replace, pay or address?
Contract Obligation
What does the agreement you actually signed require?
Keep those three things separate before you agree to spend money.
The contract structure changes the conversation
Not every residential contract handles inspections and repairs the same way.
AS IS Contract
Under an AS IS structure, the buyer may have inspection and cancellation rights during the inspection period written into the signed agreement.
The buyer can still ask for repairs, replacement or money.
The seller is not automatically required to agree simply because the buyer made the request.
Standard Residential Contract
A Standard contract can contain defined repair categories, limits, notices and procedures.
General Repair Items, WDO matters, permitting provisions and the completed blanks may all matter.
Apply the signed contract to the actual condition rather than treating the inspection report as the contract.
Your signed contract controls the transaction.
Do not rely on what happened when your neighbor sold a house or what someone says “sellers always have to fix.”
Not every property issue belongs in the same bucket
General Repairs
Property conditions that may fall under the applicable repair language in the signed agreement.
WDO
Wood-destroying organisms and related damage may have separate contract language, procedures and limits.
Permitting
Open or expired permits and work that may require permitting can create a different question.
Insurance
Some property conditions can affect whether the buyer can obtain the insurance needed for closing.
Financing
Some conditions may affect the buyer's loan even when the general inspection negotiation does not require the seller to fix them.
New Problems
Something that stops working after the contract is signed may raise a maintenance question separate from the original inspection finding.
An inspector's wording does not decide what the seller owes
“Replace”
An inspector can recommend replacement. That recommendation does not by itself establish a seller's contractual obligation.
“Safety Issue”
A safety concern may deserve professional evaluation. The label still does not replace the contract language.
“Old”
Age can matter to buyers, insurers and lenders. Age alone does not automatically mean an operating system must be replaced by the seller.
Contractor Estimate
An estimate can help establish likely cost. It does not by itself determine what the seller is contractually required to pay.
Take the repair request apart one item at a time
- Read the signed contract. Identify the inspection provisions, repair language, limits, riders, additional terms and later written agreements.
- Check the deadline. Determine whether the buyer's notice or request was delivered within the applicable contract period.
- Identify what the buyer actually wants. Do not negotiate from the entire inspection report if the buyer is only requesting a few specific things.
- Identify the actual problem. Separate the inspector's wording from what a qualified repair professional says is actually wrong.
- Put the problem in the right category. General repair, WDO, permitting, maintenance, insurance and financing may involve different questions.
- Get a real cost when the number matters. Do not negotiate around a guess.
- Understand what the buyer can do next. A buyer who still has a contractual cancellation right creates a different negotiation from one who does not.
- Compare your choices in dollars. Repair cost, credit, carrying cost and the risk of losing the buyer all belong in the decision.
What does the problem actually cost?
If the buyer asks for a $10,000 credit for work that costs $2,500, those are two different numbers.
If the buyer asks for $2,000 toward a problem that actually costs $8,000, that matters too.
Request amount ≠ repair cost ≠ contract obligation.
Get better cost information when the number is large enough to affect your decision.
You may have more than one reasonable response
Agree
Complete the requested work or provide the agreed solution when the cost and transaction risk make sense.
Counter
Agree to some items, decline others, change the scope or propose another permitted financial solution.
Decline
Decline a negotiable request when you are not obligated to accept it and the transaction risk makes that decision reasonable.
Before saying no, know what the buyer can do next.
If the buyer still has a contractual right to cancel, declining the request can have a very different consequence.
Should you fix it or give the buyer a credit?
Complete the Repair
Repairing may make sense when the problem is clear, the cost is supported and correcting it removes an obstacle to closing.
Some insurance or lender concerns may require the actual condition to be corrected rather than solved with money.
Negotiate a Credit
A credit may make sense when the buyer wants control of the work and the financing and closing structure permit it.
A credit does not automatically solve something an insurer or lender requires to be repaired before closing.
Will the problem follow you to the next buyer?
This is one of the most useful questions in a repair negotiation.
If this buyer walks away, an active roof leak does not disappear. Wood rot does not disappear. A real electrical problem does not disappear.
Another inspector may find the same condition.
Starting over has a cost too.
Consider additional market time, carrying expenses, another inspection and whether the same problem is likely to return with the next buyer.
Some problems deserve more information before you answer
Roof
Is there an active leak or actual damage? Is the concern only age? Could insurance or financing become part of the problem?
Electrical
Is this a minor item or something that should be evaluated by a licensed electrician?
Plumbing & Moisture
Is there an active leak? What is causing it? Has moisture damaged another component?
Wood Rot & WDO
Is the damage caused by moisture, wood-destroying organisms or both? Does it require treatment, repair or both?
HVAC
Is the system operating? Does it need service or an actual repair? Is the request based mainly on age?
Water Heater
Is the concern age, leakage, installation, corrosion, permitting or an actual failure?
Get the facts before turning an inspection comment into a repair commitment.
I do not start by telling you to accept or reject the request
I want you to understand the decision first.
Here is what the contract says.
Here is what the buyer is requesting.
Here is what we know about the property problem.
Here is what we know about the likely cost.
Here is what the buyer may be able to do next.
Here is what accepting, countering or declining may mean to your money and your sale.
Then you decide.
The goal is not to win an argument over an inspection report. The goal is to make a good decision about the house, the money and the transaction.
You are here: Repair Request
Selling becomes easier to understand when you know what decision is in front of you and what comes next.
Previous: WDO Inspection
Understand what the WDO inspector is looking for and what the report does and does not mean.
Next: Appraisal
Understand what the appraiser is doing and what happens if value or a loan requirement becomes an issue.
Questions sellers ask after the inspection
Does the seller have to fix everything the inspector finds?
No. An inspection report does not automatically create seller obligations. The signed contract and any later written agreements determine the parties' obligations.
Can a buyer ask for repairs under an AS IS contract?
Yes. A buyer can ask. The seller is not automatically required to agree simply because the request was made. The buyer's remaining rights under the signed contract can affect the negotiation.
Can the seller say no to a repair request?
Sometimes. First determine whether the requested item is a contract obligation and what rights the buyer still has if the seller declines.
Can I offer a credit instead of making the repair?
Sometimes, if the parties agree and the buyer's financing and closing structure permit it. A credit may not solve a condition that a lender or insurer requires to be repaired before closing.
Does an old roof have to be replaced because the inspector says it is old?
Not automatically. Actual condition, the signed contract, insurance, financing and the buyer's request should be considered separately.
What if the buyer asks for more money than the repair costs?
The buyer's requested amount is a negotiation position. Get reliable cost information when necessary and compare the request with the contract before deciding.
Can a repair agreement become a new seller obligation?
A later written agreement can change what the parties have agreed to do. Review the actual written agreement and its requirements before signing.
Go deeper where you need to
A repair request is a decision, not a verdict
What does the contract require?
What does the buyer actually want?
What does the problem actually cost?
What happens if you say yes, counter or say no?
Get those answers first. Then make the decision.
Different residential contracts handle inspections and repairs differently. The executed purchase contract, completed blanks, repair provisions, limits, riders, notices, deadlines and later written agreements control a specific transaction.
This page provides general real estate information. It is not legal, inspection, engineering, contracting, lending or insurance advice. When disputed contract language requires legal interpretation, the parties should obtain advice from a qualified Florida real estate attorney.
Jim Whatley, Broker/Owner • Uber Realty LLC • 850-499-2940 • Florida Broker License BK3174026 • Florida Brokerage License CQ1038333 • Equal Housing Opportunity.