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Edwin Pawlowski
 
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"Stephen Huckaby" wrote in message
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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.


He has the choice of cutting his rice or walking away. Sounds like he is
ready to just say "no" to lower offers. Maybe. You just never know.


I have to tell you this never, never occured to me. I am hoping
that the report will save me from buying a "Money Pit." I
realize the home I am trying to buy is not new and there will be
MINOR problems.


That is what a home insector should do. There are both good and bad
inspectors. Some will miss things, others will do a superb job.



But, while I know some wear and tear is quite reasonable, what is
not. The easy answer would be "What can you afford." But that
is not a good answer. It the report comes back with a problem of
say Water Damage and $2000 to repair, should I eat the cost
What about $5000 for the Damage or $10 K.


Te answer lies with your deisre to own that particular house. Real estate is
vauled at what people are willing to pay. If the base price of a house is
$200,000 three people can look at it and walk away with three idfferent
ideas. One will try to buy it lower because he things it is good practice.
Another may be willing to pay the asking price but expects the house to be
in good condition. The third may think the house is severely underprice,
knows it the location he always dreamed of, and is willing to pay for
$20,000 in repairs just to have it. The deciding factor is your willingness
to pay the asked price, and the lender's willingness to finance it for you.
They usually want an apraisal to be sure they won't have a loss if you run
off to a South Sea island.

You have to decide what your pain tolerance is on something like that. Is
renovation something you enjoy doing, or a chore to be avoided. If you have
serios concerns after seeing the report, just move on to another house.