My seller client disagrees with the buyer’s inspector’s finding that an item needs to be repaired. Does a seller have to make the repairs requested by a buyer?
No. There is no requirement for a seller to make any repairs. However, a seller who rejects any repair amendment or refuses to negotiate any repairs risks the buyer terminating the contract if the buyer has an unrestricted right to terminate the contract and is within the termination-option period.
If the seller strongly believes the information in the inspection report is incorrect, the seller could have another inspection performed in an effort to continue negotiating with that buyer. If the buyer refuses to negotiate and terminates, the seller should provide both inspection reports to subsequent buyers.
A better approach to requested repairs by a buyer is for the seller to offer a monetary credit to the buyer at closing. This closing credit would cover the cost of any repairs that the buyer is requesting. The advantage of this approach is the requested repairs would then be under the supervision of the new owners (the buyers) after closing. After close, the buyers would choose the repair company of their choice and supervise the work to their satisfaction. This approach also eliminates the potential problem of substandard requested repairs made by the seller and the subsequent back and… Read more »
As long as the repair was suggested by the home inspector and not required by the appraiser.
I disagree. I would not say it’s a better approach but it is an option after surveying the list of repairs requested by the buyer. And the seller does not have to perform all requested repairs unless they are lender requested repairs. I have never had a seller to offer a credit to the buyer, especially when they don’t agree with the cost of repair or see anything wrong — they just move on.
And the Seller will have to modify the Seller’s Disclosure to reflect the defect.
Yes but they rarely do. Even when items are advertised on MLS and are defective and the seller agent now knows they are defective some refuse to change.