Is it better to ask for repairs or a credit?

Often a credit, because the buyer controls the quality of the work. It depends on the lender, the size of the repair, and what the seller can afford. Confirm the lender allows the credit.

What if the seller refuses every repair?

Your client decides whether to proceed, renegotiate price, or use their contract’s exit if one applies. Talk to your broker about deadlines before the client decides.

For agents in a deal

The inspection came back bad. How to keep the deal together.

Foundation, roof, electrical. The report is forty pages and your client is panicking. Most deals survive a bad inspection when the agent stays calm, gets numbers, and asks for the right thing. Here is how.

Step 1

Sort the report into three piles

Safety and structure. Foundation, roof, electrical, plumbing leaks, gas. These are worth negotiating.
Expensive soon. An old furnace or water heater near the end of its life.
Cosmetic and minor. Leave these out. A long list of small items annoys the other side and weakens the big ones.

Step 2

Get real numbers

A request with a contractor’s estimate is much harder to refuse than "fix the roof." For anything structural, get a specialist to look, inside your inspection period.

Step 3

Choose what to ask for

Repairs by the seller, a credit at closing, or a lower price. Credits are often easiest: the buyer controls the work, and the seller does not manage contractors while moving. Check that the lender allows the amount.

Step 4

Call the other agent before you send it

A short call explaining the main issues and your numbers, before the written request lands, makes a reasonable answer far more likely. Listen to what the seller can and cannot do.

Step 5

Prepare your client for every answer

Talk through, in advance, what they will do if the seller says yes, offers half, or says no. Clients who have already decided make calmer choices under a deadline.

Your brokerage

Where your brokerage fits

Deadlines, the forms you use to request repairs and what happens if the buyer walks are set by your contract and your state. Check them with your broker before you send anything.
If the inspection turned up something the seller may have known about, tell your broker. Disclosure questions are theirs, and sometimes an attorney’s.
Advisors on RealAly agree, before they are listed, never to use a session to recruit you to their brokerage or team. You keep your broker; you just get a second opinion from outside the office.

Questions

What agents ask

Is it better to ask for repairs or a credit?: Often a credit, because the buyer controls the quality of the work. It depends on the lender, the size of the repair, and what the seller can afford. Confirm the lender allows the credit.
What if the seller refuses every repair?: Your client decides whether to proceed, renegotiate price, or use their contract’s exit if one applies. Talk to your broker about deadlines before the client decides.