Your Home Is A Stage: Tips For Real Estate Staging

Buying A Single Family Home? Make Sure You Renegotiate After The Inspection Reports Are Completed

30 June 2019 by Andre George

When you make a purchase offer on single family homes, the offer must be contingent on successfully passing its inspections. Placing inspection contingencies on the offer protects your financial interests in case there ends up being major structural or other expensive problems with the house.

Once the inspections are done, then you need to renegotiate with the seller about how the repairs will be made and who will pay for it. During this process, consider each of these important points:

Be Mindful When Agreeing to Take a Reduction in Price in Lieu of the Seller Making Repairs

When problems are found on inspections, you have the option of renegotiating a lower price, asking for cash when escrow closes to pay for the repairs, or opting to have the seller make the repairs themselves. While you may favor the idea of taking a payment from the seller to make the repairs, you must be very careful the payment you agree to will actually allow you to complete the project.

Demand All Safety Issues are Professionally Rectified Before Agreeing to a Final Price

If the home inspectors find problems with your new home that pose a safety issue to you, your family, or the structure of the house, then it is completely reasonable to demand the seller have them professionally repaired. Even if the seller offers to make the repairs themselves, this is one area where you should demand professional rectification.

Understand the Time and Costs Making Even Simple Home Repairs Involves

If you are a first-time homebuyer and don't have a lot of experience working with contractors or making home repairs, then you may not realize the time and effort they require. Unfortunately, even simple things like hanging drywall or putting tile in a shower are very expensive and all too frequently workers are late or delay projects so they have time to complete work elsewhere. This can be frustrating for homeowners who are busy with work and find they need to take a lot of time off to deal with contractor issues. 

Think About Completing Repairs Yourself to Ensure Quality You Can Live With

Finally, if the home you wish to purchase needs repairs and you feel like the seller will make the cheapest repairs possible and then you will be stuck living with sub-standard work, you should really think about completing the repairs yourself. Whether you ask for a reduction in the overall price or have cash returned to you when the escrow closes to pay for the repairs, hiring your own contractors and choosing your own building materials ensures a result you can live with for the long term. This is typically the best option for cosmetic repairs.

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