While my sellers tend to become less stressed as soon as all of the purchase contract signatures are in place, I am with them and ready for the next negotiation phase. Property inspections can frequently result in buyer requirements for corrections by the seller. Whether you’re prepared for these or they come as a surprise, I’m here to help you to deal with them, as repair disputes are the most frequent reason for contract failures before closing.

Part of my job is to help you to avoid too many “surprises” related to condition and repair negotiations after inspections. I’ll do my best to give you information about what I see that buyers may want corrected, but there are definitely things that nobody can anticipate until the inspectors have submitted their reports. So, there’s one other thing I try to do in order to prepare you and leave some negotiation room for you.

I want you to always be thinking ahead to inspections and repair demands from the first offer. Always be thinking of what may be coming in the way of inspections and repair negotiations, especially when the initial purchase contract price negotiations are in play. No matter how urgent your need to sell, if you go too far in price concessions at the beginning, you may have no room left when inspections are done and condition corrections are requested by the buyer.

As the buyer is normally paying for and ordering inspections, my job for my sellers is to make sure that they happen on time and that I receive the inspection reports by deadline due dates. I then meet with my sellers and go over the reports and any buyer objections/requirements to develop a counter strategy. If there are no objections or they’re minor in nature and cost, you may opt to agree to corrections. However, if they’re more extensive and were not anticipated, my job is to help you to reply in a way that saves you money and keeps the buyer in the transaction.

Depending on the desires of the buyer and their selection of inspectors, there could be as few as a single inspector hired to do a thorough inspection of the home and all equipment supporting the home.  However, there may also be other inspectors hired with a more focused goal, possibly a heating and air conditioning contractor, a well inspector, septic inspector, etc.  Each of these inspections will have deadlines for completion and submission of reports and buyer requests for corrections.

I have my own list of inspectors and contractors, and can call in experts to provide cost estimates and help my sellers to make decisions within the deadline times. Unless you have multiple offers, a buyer in the hand is worth something. My job is to get them to the closing table and your satisfaction with your net proceeds from the sale.