There’s nothing like it. “It” being the feeling that you have when after finding the perfect house, making an offer that the seller agrees to and in your mind believing that you’re just weeks away from moving into your new home.
Except there’s a (potential) catch. Before you are able to officially declare the house as your own, a professional home inspection must take place. Although that takes a bit more time, honestly, that works in your favor because if the repair list amendment cites that the house has things like plumbing and electrical issues, that the roof needs to be replaced or that there is a problem with the heat and air unit, this means that you need to go back to the drawing board with the seller to renegotiate a new price.
If you’re curious about how to go about doing just that, we have provided a few things that you should keep in mind as it relates to the seller and also to you as the potential buyer:
What the Seller’s Responsibility Is
If you and the seller have negotiated a price that is at or above market value for the house and the home has a significant amount of work that needs to be done, then you are well within your rights to expect the seller to pay for the repairs. If they are not willing to do that, then you should ask to be able to pocket the closing costs so that you can pay for the maintenance that is required on your own. The good news is that in many cases, the seller will be willing to make the repairs; however, you should have the home inspected again once they do to make sure that a thorough job was done and that they didn’t hire a contractor who did a subpar job on the work that needed to be done.
What the Buyer’s Responsibility Is
However, if you happen to purchase a home that’s below market value, so long as the repairs are not going to cost thousands of dollars, we recommend that you pay to fix the repairs on your own. There’s a few reasons why we think this is the best route to go. One is that the seller has been living in the home all this time and if things like a leaky faucet has not been fixed or some new windows have not been added, then obviously the seller must be content; obviously, they took these things into consideration before they listed the asking price. Another reason is because expecting them to make the repairs could delay the time of you moving into the house or it could affect the deal altogether. So, if you’re really interested in the house and you have the budget to make the repairs, stick with the initial price, make the purchase and then the renovations.
Speaking of negotiations, there is one particular kind of purchase that doesn’t really leave much room for negotiating and that would be a foreclosure. Remember that if you purchase this kind of home, you are buying it from the bank and most of those homes are listed as an “as is” sale. In this case, if you’re purchasing a house for a “steal” make sure to go to a website like www.HomeInspectors.net before making the official purchase so that you don’t end up putting as much money into fixing it as you did into buying it. We wish you the best of luck.
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