A lot of homebuyers have the impression that the biggest hurdle to finalizing their home purchase comes from the seller accepting their offer, but passing the home inspection can end up being the biggest challenge. To help you work through the details and make the best of a less than desirable situation, let’s look at how to handle a bad inspection when buying a house in Atlanta.
Take Account of the Findings
Once the inspection has concluded, you will receive a report containing the inspector’s findings on every little bit. Now is your chance to comb through that inspection report from front to back to pick apart both the positive and negative aspects you feel are worth mentioning.
If it seems to be a bad inspection, you can then communicate your concerns to the seller through your agent or even take a more personal approach by composing a draft letter listing both the positive and negative findings.
The positive findings should be included to sort of soften the blow as well as make clear your intentions to continue with the purchase of the property in order to help reinforce confidence and trust in the negotiating process.
Request Repairs
With your draft letter or informal list of repairs on hand, it’s time to sort through them all and determine which ones matter more than the rest, especially in the case of a bad inspection.
If you are looking to have any of these repairs done prior to taking ownership of the property, you want to aim for the biggest and most necessary repairs over anything smaller and cosmetic. The bigger issues you need to address could include a cracked or unstable foundation, a leaky roof, and barely or non-functioning utilities.
Something to mull over is the possibility of handling these repairs yourself after taking ownership of the property, and that could be a reasonable way to go if you feel the seller will not handle the repairs properly after the bad inspection. If you believe the seller is unable or unwilling to responsibly remedy your repair requests, move to the next step.
Renegotiate
If you reach the point where either you don’t think you want the seller to handle the necessary repairs or you would rather take care of them yourself, it’s time to use those repairs as leverage to negotiate the entire deal.
The place to start here would be to request the seller get estimates for the most pressing repairs, such as major cracks in the foundation or a furnace that is clearly about to kick the bucket. Hopefully, the seller is up to working with you a bit here and then provides those physical estimates that you two can then use to help reshape your final offer price.
Some sellers will put their home on the market knowing repairs are needed, and they may offer a credit to you upfront as a show of good faith. What it comes down to is that you want to be firm in either having the major repairs done or pushing for compensation for these obviously-needed repairs in some other form within the deal.
Move to Plan B
After all of these other tactics when dealing with a bad inspection, you may find yourself in a situation where the seller is unwilling to budge whatsoever. Unfortunately, there are some sellers who believe simply that a seller’s market means they should be able to dictate absolutely everything, and that’s not what leads to a successful real estate transaction.
If you’re in this spot, consult a real estate professional – hopefully, an agent who has been assisting you this whole time. Maybe your agent can work some magic and close the deal with everyone happy.
Ultimately, the best negotiation tactic left at that point is to walk away and have a backup home ready to go.
Help Navigating a Bad Inspection When Buying a House in Atlanta
If you’re dealing with a bad inspection on a Atlanta home you’re planning to buy and need help, contact us at (404) 977-5054!