On Mon, 07 Feb 2005, Stephen Huckaby wrote:

First I'd like to say I'm a {farily} upright, honest sort of guy.
I'm buying my first home from someone, the seller/home owner.
When I went to the morgage broker he suggested having a home
inspection before making the contract final - and I would be the
one to pay for the inspection. No problem.

When I told the Seller, he said he had no objections to the
inspection, but he was told by a "friend" who buys and sales
homes, that people often take the Inspection report to the
bargining table and use it as a deal breaker, ie, EITHER FIX ALL
THE PROBLEMS IN THE REPORT or DROP THE PRICE OR WE WALK.
And the seller said when he quoted me a price, he gave me the
firm bottom price. He had it marked up to 'account' for any
negotiation.

Things are always negotiable, especially if you discover a major defect
that was not disclosed to you. That would also obligate the buyer to
repair or disclose that defect to any other potential buyer. And if
nobody met the seller's price, they either drop their price or keep the
house.

Of course some people are stubborn. When my boss discovered a structural
defect in a home he was considering (about $6000 to correct), the seller
refused to repair it or drop his price. So my boss bought a new home in a
nearby town (lower taxes anyway). But he heard that the guy with the
defect had to repair it before he could sell that other home.

When I bought a home, the problems that the home inspector found were
minor, like hot/neutral reversed on some outlets (which I fixed myself),
would probably need roofing within 5 years (no leaks or missing shingles),
and chiminy needs tuckpointing. But the home had been around since 1910
and reasonably priced (I paid less than assessed by lender). My only
unexpected expense since May 2002 was a vent damper for the boiler.