A recent article by Inman News highlighted one of the most frustrating parts of a real estate transaction. The repair request.
In an Albuquerque real estate transaction, the buyer is able to obtain inspections on the property to satisfy themselves on any condition on the home that is important to them. After these inspections, the buyer can request that the seller address these items. What is fair and what will instantly kill the chances of that buyer owning the home?
As the article describes, it’s better to stick safety and health issues. Roofs, termites, radon – that sort of thing. Depending on the price of the home, and the market conditions, the seller would most likely have to address this type of condition with any other buyer, and lender conditions may call for it.
When you get to the part about “door on south bedroom doesn’t latch properly”….or “window in north bedroom is sticky”…let’s think about those requests. Let’s call them “level 3 issues”. Those are items that you are likely to discover as soon as you move in. There are regular maintenance items. Yes, they have been discovered, and yes they can be fixed. They are also items that should be considered as normal, routine maintenance items that should be not standing in the way of your new home purchase.
Here’s a little hint about our contracts that you may find helpful. This area of “repair requests” can also set up a trigger to have the seller sell to another buyer, like instantly! The way the contracts are written, if you submit a repair request – and the seller has a ‘back door buyer’, someone waiting in the wings who has made a back up offer….this could trigger the seller to just say no and move towards a termination. I know this may sound harsh and not likely to occur, but it has happened and could happen, if you get carried away with too many requests.
Inspections are the purpose of finding out what you can’t see for yourself…but don’t assume the seller will fix everything and anything you ask for. By all means get inspections, all that you require to make sure you have a satisfactory understanding of the condition of the home. Also make sure you aren’t sabotaging your own home purchase. Don’t forget to look at the big picture which is to get your new home and make it your own!
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