How much did you ask for and get as a home inspection credit?

[Anonymous]

Just gauging in general.

[Anonymous]

I would think this is very fact dependent. Some houses are in great shape and it might be nothing. Others really need work and it could be very high. I think buyers get very greedy with this.

[Anonymous]

It's a seller's market around here for the most part, so be careful about nickeling and dime -ing the seller. I've had sellers get out of the contract with PITA buyers by declining to accept their contingency. If the house isn't listed as "as-is", expect them to fix the big health-and-safety stuff. Don't get weedy about scuffed paint, etc. And you pay for the inspection.

[Anonymous]

We made them fix about $7,000 worth of safety-related stuff, which involved putting in a new electrical panel that cost $3,000 on its own.

We also got a $15,000 credit against closing costs to fix a retaining wall. We threatened to walk on the house and they were desperate.

22207.

[Anonymous]

I think there's a difference between things that should have been apparent when you looked at the house and made an offer an things that you discovered only because of the inspection. For example, the furnace is clearly fro
1955. That is obvious and should be reflected on your offer price. Hidden asbestos or an electrical panel that can't handle the load is not something you necessarily would have known about when you made your offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there's a difference between things that should have been apparent when you looked at the house and made an offer an things that you discovered only because of the inspection. For example, the furnace is clearly fro
1955. That is obvious and should be reflected on your offer price. Hidden asbestos or an electrical panel that can't handle the load is not something you necessarily would have known about when you made your offer.

Not only that but any electrical panel by Federal Pacific is a hire hazard death trap. A lot of houses build between 1977-1985 have them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a seller's market around here for the most part, so be careful about nickeling and dime -ing the seller. I've had sellers get out of the contract with PITA buyers by declining to accept their contingency. If the house isn't listed as "as-is", expect them to fix the big health-and-safety stuff. Don't get weedy about scuffed paint, etc. And you pay for the inspection.

Sellers can't get out of the contract because the buyer asked for too much. You are incorrect. Sellers can get out of the contract because the buyer asked for too much, the seller said no, and the buyer then did not agree to no credit. The buyer can always say ok if the seller refuses to budge and move forward with the purchase. It is the buyer's to lose, not the seller's decision.

I agree with the other poster that asking for a credit for medium to big issues (not the small items) that are not apparent during earlier house visits is reasonable. The deciding factor could be whether the seller just wants to be fair or it could just be how desperate they are to sell or how good they feel about the contract price or how much cash they have on hand to credit.

Is there a downside for the buying making the request?

[Anonymous]

I think there is, PP. I know when we sold, the buyer really pissed us off by the end. They would have gotten more if they had not asked for every little thing. They also vastly overestimated all of the costs. It might just be me, though, because I hate unreasonable, greedy people.

[Anonymous]

I offered $15K below listing (maybe 2-3%) and the sellers didn't counteroffer. I didn't feel like nickel-and-diming them - I was getting a great house at a good price - so I didn't ask for much in the inspection. It turned up some things that needed work, lots of deferred maintenance. We just asked for a couple of safety issues to be fixed - some electrical stuff, plus a reconnection of some HVAC vents that should have been connected. $1,500 in total on a $560K purchase - they gave it to us. If they'd said no, we would have bought the house anyway.

[Anonymous]

What was your response to their request and did the contract ultimately go through? And what types of things did you consider greedy and every little thing? Just curious as I get ready to enter this process.

Sounds like the buyer must have done more than just ask for a credit based on the home contingency. They must have done something very specific to get you pissed off. Not sure what level of communicating they did with you or your realtor. But they must have done more than just make a request, I'm guessing.

I do understand that emotion plays a part in all of this, for both players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there is, PP. I know when we sold, the buyer really pissed us off by the end. They would have gotten more if they had not asked for every little thing. They also vastly overestimated all of the costs. It might just be me, though, because I hate unreasonable, greedy people.

Not understanding this. I think usually you just ask for things to be fixed. The seller fixes it and provides a receipt as proof at closing. Some things you don't want them fixing -- you want control over it yourself, but a lot of it you just tell them (or, rather, ask them) to fix.

Usually the list comes over with 20 things on it, say, and the seller really only expects maybe 10 to be agreed to. It's part of the negotiation.

[Anonymous]

Agent here, the buyer has the option of asking for things to be fixed or asking for credit at closing when the buyer submits the inpsection report and list of defcient items to the seller. Different situations call for different responses. If the seller thinks the estimate is too high, the seller can offer less money for that item or offer to have the item fixed or replaced before closing and bring the receipt from a licensed contractor to closing. All part of a negotiation, remembering that the buyer can walk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What was your response to their request and did the contract ultimately go through? And what types of things did you consider greedy and every little thing? Just curious as I get ready to enter this process.

Sounds like the buyer must have done more than just ask for a credit based on the home contingency. They must have done something very specific to get you pissed off. Not sure what level of communicating they did with you or your realtor. But they must have done more than just make a request, I'm guessing.

I do understand that emotion plays a part in all of this, for both players.

I'm the PP that you were asking. The buyers came in with a low offer. We came down and they barely came up, which was kind of annoying because it wasn't very much of a difference. Ultimately, I was happy with the price, so I think that's ok. Then, they basically handed us their inspection report and wanted every little thing on it. I don't want to get into specifics because I feel certain that the buyers read DCUM and we see each other here and there around the city and still know some of the same people. Some of them were things like "chimney should be inspected and any necessary repairs made" because their inspector didn't do chimneys. If they wanted the chimney inspected, they had 10 days to do it -- not my problem. There were many things that were just petty little things (think chipped paint sorts of things) and some more along the lines of "hot water heater is 10 years old" and they'd ask for replacement. It was as if they didn't get that it's not a new house. We ultimately negotiated and agreed to fix the things that we could on our own and a couple safety items that needed contractors. The expense was significant for us but, especially the safety type of items, we knew someone else would likely as for the same things.

The key was the walk through. They found a couple things they were upset about and called us over. DH fixed one on the spot. The other one was such a nothing but they cared deeply. They wanted something completely replaced with what would have been an upgrade that costs 4 times as much as what was there -- and what they agreed to buy. It was so outrageous. At the closing, we were ready to walk. We ended up paying a fairly small amount (although IMO about twice as much as we should have) and the agents and the closing company kicked in the rest. Honestly, I only closed because I felt bad for the closing people and my real estate agent (not theirs, she was egging them on). I was embarrassed for the buyers. The thing they wanted was incredibly petty.

In the end, I'm just as happy we sold the house. We had bought another and I didn't want the stress of carrying two, although we could have for a while. DH said he regrets it. He thinks their price was too low and he'll never forgive them for the way they treated him at the walk through (the wife treated him like a servant and was very bitchy to him). He says he's just happy he's not married to her. Personally, I think they went too far, especially since we now have an overlapping social circle.

[Anonymous]

Eek that does sound way way way over the top. Thank you for explaining in detail. Now I'm clear I'm not them - nowhere close. Yuck!

We had a fairly easy time with the price negotiations. We made what we thought was a reasonable offer but with a bit of a high closing cost credit. They countered with lower credit and all else same and we accepted. So no hard feelings built up there. Quick and easy. This is an old home (renovated though) in Bethesda. Inspection came back with issues (to be expected in a 100 yr old Victorian home), many sort of medium type things. No safety stuff or significant issues that would be deal breakers. Just some things to do that will cost some change in aggregate.

We are not thinking of nitpicking but rather just asking for a 10k credit. Won't cover all issues but all issues were not mandatory fixes or do it now jobs. No clue what the sellers will think of this of we proceed that way. But hopefully there won't be too much emotion bc it's all been business-like and quick and professional. Issue I guess is just do they have the $$, do they feel good about the sale price, do they have other offers, are they willing to start fresh etc. All things my husband and I don't know. But we thought it couldn't hurt to ask and that we were in the realm of reasonableness.

[Anonymous]

We probably had $10,000 in work done with a $11,000 credit at closing for grading. The seller had done very little maintenance. We've since even found more things, so I don't think we were greedy at all to ask - he could decline or fix, and he chose to fix.