How to Negotiate Inspection Reports for Home Selling
- 1). Request a copy of the full report. Request copies of the sections that describe repair issues if the buyer refuses to share the full report.
- 2). Note the inspector's precise language and recommendations. Differentiate between issues that are merely cosmetic and those which, if ignored, would adversely affect the home's structure or systems, the buyer's enjoyment of the property, or the buyer's ability to secure financing for the purchase.
- 3). Devise an equitable strategy for negotiating responsibility for repairs. For example, offer to repair major items the inspector insists require repairs, and minor issues you can do easily, at little or no expense. Offer more if the buyer has been especially cooperative during previous negotiations. Offer less if you've made most of the concessions thus far.
- 4). Decide how you'll handle the repairs for which you accept responsibility: make the repairs yourself before closing, or reduce the purchase price so that the buyer can make them himself after he moves in, or some combination of the two.
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