Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thought long and hard about this, processed with agent and husband. Decided it simply wasn't worth losing the house for the few thousand we hoped to get for the HVAC (which we will replace before we move in). We want this house and we can afford the repairs. We've been looking for months and know what is out there, so feel confident that this is the right fit for our family.
At the end of the day, it remains a sellers market and this is a house in a highly desirable neighborhood in NOVA. We sucked it up and let the inspection contingency expire. Thanks for all of your feedback. It helped.

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:maybe I am wrong, but when the seller counters, you can accept or counter, but if you counter, the seller can just say that there is no contract anymore, and you are done, the seller can find another buyer. happened to a friend of mine, the seller got pissed off and when friend countered again the seller said no and there is no contract. friend lost the house, who went to another buyer
NP here. My understanding of the regional contract is that after one party voids the contract, the other party has one last chance to accept the first party's most recent offer.
Anonymous wrote:maybe I am wrong, but when the seller counters, you can accept or counter, but if you counter, the seller can just say that there is no contract anymore, and you are done, the seller can find another buyer. happened to a friend of mine, the seller got pissed off and when friend countered again the seller said no and there is no contract. friend lost the house, who went to another buyer
Anonymous wrote:maybe I am wrong, but when the seller counters, you can accept or counter, but if you counter, the seller can just say that there is no contract anymore, and you are done, the seller can find another buyer. happened to a friend of mine, the seller got pissed off and when friend countered again the seller said no and there is no contract. friend lost the house, who went to another buyer
Anonymous wrote:
Out of curiosity, why would this advice be in the agent's interest if it's not in the buyer's best interest. Seems like it may make the deal fall through. Wouldn't the agent want to get the deal done unless the repair issues were pretty serious?
Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure your agent is giving you great advice. There are certain things which should be fixed and covered by the sellers.
The regrading of the property: I think that's a big wish list item and I'm betting it's the big ticket item on your list. I would balk to if I were the seller. FYI -- I've never done a home inspection where the home inspector didn't mention grading as something which should be done at some point in the future. It's never been a deal breaker, it's more along the lines of this is something you should do to maintain your home.
Is the roof not being done going to impact your ability to get house insurance? If no, then this might be something which needs to be dropped.
The HVAC: should be repaired. You are not asking for a new HVAC are you?
Are you first time homebuyers?
I think you need to ask yourself these questions:
* Do you want this house? I mean really, really want it?
* Do you have the money in reserves to handle the maintenance of the house on an ongoing basis?