Stephen Huckaby wrote on 07 Feb
2005:

I am hoping that the report will save me from buying a
"Money Pit."

I think you've figured out by now that you should have an
inspector, and there should be an inspection contingency in your
contract that will allow you to walk away with your deposit
refunded if you aren't satisfied with the report. At your option,
that can include the seller having to fix everything, both major
and minor.

So what you're really asking is how to negotiate with the seller
once you've seen the inspection report.

The most critical thing is to know what the house is worth. You
should have looked at all the sales of comparable houses in the
neighborhood in the last nine months. If you're getting a good
deal, you can eat a lot of repair costs. If you're paying at or
above the market, the seller should have to eat the repair costs.

Or better, give you a repair allowance or lower the selling price.
If you have a choice, you always want to do the fixes yourself or
have your contractor do them. If the seller does them, he or she
will spend the absolute minimum necessary. Faucet broken? What's
the cheapest one at the local home center?

If the seller is irrational or has expectations that are way too
high, he or she won't negotiate. At that point, it's up to you to
decide how badly you want that house.

I'm uncomfortable about you buying your first house without
professional advice. Perhaps you can find a buyer's agent who will
work for you for a set fee since you already have the house picked
out. If you're paying $5000 too much for the house, a $500 or
$1000 fee won't seem like much. If you lose your deposit, you may
lose a whole lot more than you'd spend for a professional.

--
Doug Boulter

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