Comments on: Ask Adam: Repairs After the Home Inspection?

By: BettyBoop

BettyBoop — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:42:14 +0000

The phrase “AS IS” does not appear in Adam’s posting! Nor does it contain any guidance for how the seller can use it. Granted he “question” was posited as from a buyer BUT I reiterate that Adam’s posting does not address why a seller might emphasize AS IS i.e. get an inspection but take it or leave it–the seller is not interested in repairs. If the property is in an excellent location and there are not other comparable properties on the market due to limited inventory the suggestion that a buyer can expect repair concession is presumptuous.XX

By: Home Warranty Guy

Home Warranty Guy — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:34:23 +0000

As the CEO of a major home warranty company, I can tell you that no he warranty will cover previously known problems or conditions that were identified on a home inspection. Our home warranty (and a few others) will cover unknown pre-existing conditions, but no one covers previously known problems with a home’s systems or appliances. So, this is not a good or valid tip!

The best bet is to request the seller to make the repairs. Although they are not required to make repairs, most sellers do not want the deal to fall through. Furthermore, if they let the deal fall through, then the seller will be required to disclose the problem to prospective buyers which will reduce the marketability of the home. The Seller’s listing agent is going to everything he/she can to advise the seller not to reduce the marketability of the home. For that reason, the seller will usually agree to perform repairs on any faulty joke system or appliance.

By: Helen

Helen — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:07:36 +0000

Again as mentioned by Adam, it depends on your lender if you can get a concession and how much. FHA is notorious for not allowing concession because it then affects the sales price.

By: Helen

Helen — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:05:44 +0000

As Adam mentioned the sales contract in NoVa is an AS IS contract based on a timeframe that the buyer chooses. It is then listed in the MLS as sold as AS IS. This was changed in 2010 for the regional contract that covers No VA, DC and parts of MD.

By: Ballston Commons

Ballston Commons — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:23:49 +0000

Adam,

You do a good job with this column.

By: drax

drax — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:08:18 +0000

Never mind. That sucks. A better home warranty might have covered it though.

By: Hokie

Hokie — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:59:42 +0000

Not necessarily. The Home Warranty people came out and determined that neglect of ensuring clean lines was the reason for the failure (non cleaned internal lines led to backup and rusting through of internal components). Even though it was not neglect on my part- it was therefore not covered by home warranty people. A Home inspector does not do those internal inspections.

By: MM

MM — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:19:09 +0000

+1 My wife and I got a bit lucky with this…Our home inspector said “Furnace looks good, but it’s making a funny sound.” We could’ve ignored it, but we chose to add it to the fix list since the inspector thought it would be a simple bearing replacement. Turned out the repair cost was something like $2300 (only about $900 less than a full furnace replacement), so we had the sellers purchase a new system and we covered the cost differential between the repair and the new furnace…basically getting us a new furnace for $900.

By: Short Sale opportunity...

Short Sale opportunity... — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:12:20 +0000

Yup, we just did this last week on an As-Is property owned by Fannie Mae- kind of a PITA and they negotiated hard (we asked for $10K off, they started at $3K and we eventually took $4K) but it worked out- the worst they can do is say no. As I understand it, with REO properties (at least) it can be easier to go after closing costs than a price reduction because the pricing is set via some sort of internal system

By: FCGirl

FCGirl — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:05:35 +0000

Always ask for closing cost credits – and make sure you add a contingency in case the problem costs more than the seller thinks it will cost to fix and in case something else goes wrong with the same item before you’re able to get it repaired. Given that you, not the seller, will be living in the house, you need to protect yourself from potentially shoddy work done by the seller just to close the deal.