Negotiating Home Repairs after Inspections
Negotiating Home Repairs After you’ve found the house that you want to make an offer on, the next step in buying New Orleans real estate is the home inspection. Here’s where things can get really sticky, as you either begin to have second thoughts or want to ask for every single loose screw to be fixed. There’s more of an art to negotiating home repairs. Let’s be realistic and think about what inspections are actually designed to do. Home inspections are to uncover major, hidden mechanical and structural issues that were not known or disclosed by the seller. The kind of things that make you say “Nah, I’m good” and walk away from a deal. If there are defects that were obvious when you toured the house, that didn’t stop you from making an offer based on the condition of the property, right? Then it’s not your chance to beat up the house (and the seller). Sending a laundry list of small repairs to the seller could tank your home purchase. Sellers who get frustrated or feel they are being nickel-and-dimed to death have a tendency to throw up their hands and say take it or leave it. That’s not the outcome you want, is it? Also, I hate to say it, but let’s be clear that you aren’t buying a brand new home. Unless you’re actually buying a new construction home, almost every house will have some quirks, dents and dings. Some will have terrible wallpaper and paint choices, some will have shag carpet and 80s gold faucets. But those aren’t the obvious things that inspections were designed to find. We’re looking for electrical issues. Plumbing problems. Structural shifts. Roofs that won’t last another year. Things that would cause US to tell YOU that they need to be fixed or let’s move on. Rely on your agent for advice when preparing your inspection response. We’ve seen it all, and then some, and can guide you on the best way to get what you want without rankling the seller to the point where they refuse to make any repairs at all.
New Orleans Home Inspection : Will Your Agent Attend?
Home inspection conversations I’m part of an online group of real estate professionals from around the country, so it always interests me when the conversation turns to “how we do it” in different states. Recently, there was a discussion about the pros and cons of agents attending home inspections with or on behalf of their buyers and sellers. Amazingly enough (to me anyway), there were a large number of agents who choose to not attend the inspections EVER. There are even some who don’t encourage the buyers to be present as well. Some of the reasons I heard were things like “I don’t want the liability of knowing anything that might be wrong” or “the home inspectors just do their thing and send the report to the buyers later”. That may be the way things are done by other agents, but it’s not the way Crescent City Living agents handle a New Orleans home inspection. Agents should attend home inspections In my opinion, it’s the duty of a buyer’s agent to attend the inspections. We all need to be as informed as possible about the condition of the property before deciding to move forward. If all an agent is doing is reading a report after the fact, it leaves too many questions that could have been answered by the inspector on the spot. Being able to review an issue with the home inspector right there to explain any problems keeps everyone from being confused. When it’s time to put together a property inspection response asking for any needed repairs, this is invaluable! If you are relocating from another part of the country, know that you are strongly encouraged to attend your New Orleans home inspection and you should expect your agent to be right there with you. Start your next New Orleans home search here
Leave the Home Inspector Alone
There seems to be a recent trend in New Orleans real estate. Home owners and listings agents hanging around for inspections. UGH. The home inspection is the time for the buyer, who happens to be paying for the privilege, to bring in professionals to take a close look at the property they have agreed to purchase. It’s not time for the listing agent to hang out making small talk. It’s not time for the home owner to follow the inspector around, trying to deflect any findings. Why sellers and their agents should leave during inspections Eager home owners can sometimes inadvertently give away confidential information. If you tell the home inspector that you’re willing to fix, repair or replace something during the inspection, you can bet that they are going to share that information with the buyer. You know. The person that hired them and is paying their fee. Following the inspector throughout the house is a great way to annoy them. How they communicate the severity of defects often determines what repairs a buyer may ask for, so owners could be shooting themselves in the foot by being a pest during their 2-3 hours at the property. Go to lunch. Run errands. Sit in the park with a book. Just leave the home inspector alone.
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