Home-Buying Process, Pt. 6: Negotiating Repairs | Northwest Iowa Living

Welcome back to part six of my homebuyer series! Today we’ll explore another important aspect of the buying process: negotiating repairs.

To what extent buyers can negotiate with the seller to make repairs depends on the contract. If you bought the home as is, your options will be different from those who didn’t. That’s why you need to decide upfront which issues with a property, if any, would be a deal-breaker for you.?

Also, keep in mind that resale homes won’t be as unblemished as new-construction homes. When you’re considering the home’s condition, the most important thing is to?find out if all of the major systems function properly, like the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and so on.?If there were any significant issues with those areas, the seller should have disclosed them or stated in the contract that they had no plans to repair them.

“Decide upfront which issues with a home, if any, would be a deal-breaker for you. ”

If you don’t want to deal with negotiations for repairs at all, you can always write an offer with an as-is addendum. With this kind of offer, you can still request repairs from the seller, but you have to move forward with the transaction regardless of whether or not they choose to comply with your requests. Otherwise, you can cancel the contract, though you’ll lose your earnest-money deposit if you do.

If you have questions about negotiating repairs during the home-buying process, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via phone or email. In the meantime, keep an eye out for part seven of this series where we’ll discuss home appraisals, what they are, and how they affect you. Hope to hear from you soon!