There are things that the seller should understand about necessary repairs and the cost of repair contingency. When you receive an offer on your house you need to pay attention to the amount that appears in the cost of repair contingency paragraph. This amount will be important when you get to the inspection process. Larger houses and older houses should have a higher number in the cost of repair contingency. Think about it...this only makes sense. If the house is old or is large then you can expect that the house will need more repairs than a newer/smaller house. The larger the amount in the cost of repair contingency the stronger the offer in the eyes of the seller.
Once the house is under contract, the buyer will pay to have multiple inspections performed on the house. The buyer has the right to inspect the structure and any equipment that is being conveyed with the property. Once the buyer is satisfied with the inspections, they will present a repair request to the sellers. The buyer will usually allow the sellers to view the inspection reports and most reports include a repair quote.
If any part of the structure or if any of the fixtures that are being conveyed with the property are not functioning to the extent in which they were suppose to perform then this is a necessary repair that the sellers should be responsible for fixing.
This could include a roof leak, window seal wood rot, cracked vinyl siding or cracks in the bricks or mortar, cracked heat exchange, light bulbs burnt out in the light fixtures, loose toilet seats...pretty much anything that is not working correctly. Now here is what many sellers don't understand...the buyers can get out of the contract even if the sellers agree to complete all of the necessary repairs. If the buyers do several inspections and conclude that the necessary repairs add up to more than the amount in the cost of repair contingency then the buyers can walk...even if the sellers agree to complete all of the requested repairs.
Please contact me if you have any questions about any part of the house buying/selling process.
