Oh Great...over dramatic sellers

[sajetto]

Well the inspection report came back on the house we went under contract on. The roof needs some new shingles in spots, the rubber boots need recaulking, a plumber needs to check out an old leak in the bathroom, and the outbuilding has boards that have completely rotted.

In our request list we put all of this including The outbuiling which needs 4 boards replaced at a cost of $30 a piece. The sellers freaked out about this and are pissed off b/c its not part of the main structure of the house. All of the other stuff is much more expensive than the $120 they would spend to repair the barn. Their agent says it may be a deal breaker, but we requested it anyway.

I really don't need this stress right now, but it seems ridiculous to me. Why don't they just suck it up and do it being that they are also under contract on another house and have to close in 2 weeks. Also interest rates are going up. We already paid nearly the asking price. Is it too much to ask that they repair rotten boards for a measly $120

What would you do? For some reason I have the instinct to stick by my guns.

 

[salmoneous]

Both you and the seller are playing a game of chicken to see who will blink first. Let's hope it's the seller.

 

[EthansMom]

What would you do? For some reason I have the instinct to stick by my guns.

It's $120. Is it worth having the deal fall through for $120?

We're in our third house. My experience with buying houses has been that the sellers don't/won't always fix everything that comes up on the inspection report. On our last house, the inspection came back that one of the window wells needed to be replaced at a considerable (over $1000) expense. We got an estimate and got the sellers to agree to pay for half of the expense.

Honestly, I would say, "Okay, fix the other stuff and we'll fix the outbuilding ourselves."

 

[sajetto]

Well, if they're going to blink they'd better do it soon if they want to move into the new bigger house. We are in no rush, I've got a huge apartment, so I don't really need a new place, I just want one.

 

[AprilShowers]

I think if you want the house, you should just go ahead and pony up the $120 and do the repair yourself.
That way, you'll know it was done right, and they don't do something halfway because they are ticked.
If you don't care that much about the house, then let your demands stand.

 

[Crankyshank]

For work that minor I would just do it myself and have the sellers do the other stuff.
When we bought our house the garage and its attached shed needed roofing work done. We're doing it ourselves. Having a house meant more to me than arguing over something that will cost only a few hundred dollars to fix - the sellers were also much more amiable to repairing the other things we requested because of this.

 

[ckret01]

I understand ...we just put a bid on a house, the seller came back with another offer and we accepted it.....then after we accepted it the guy turns around and says he is going tohave a open house on it still but won't accept any other offers and didn't know if he wanted to sell .......whatever right....we gave up and he came back and said the deal was still on....we really like the house so we said ok.

We then had the inspector come and the inspection came through that the roof needs to be repaired because it is leaking and the Radon test came back very high. We asked the seller to either drop the price a bit for both or have it fixed and he said he wouldn't go any lower for the roof and that he knew the roof needed to be replaced so that is why he originally dropped the price 5k and said he would take off $1000 for the Radon. So now we hve to decide if that is what we want to do and take it the way it is AGH

 

[stinkerbelle]

The sellers freaked out about this and are p***ed off b/c its not part of the main structure of the house.
What would you do? For some reason I have the instinct to stick by my guns.

IMO - I agree. It's NOT part of the main structure of the house. And for how minimal it is...I would think the buyers would just deal with it.

I mean - you should see the piece o crap outbuilding on our property...I'm surprised it's still standing.

 

[palmtreegirl]

Well, if they're going to blink they'd better do it soon if they want to move into the new bigger house. We are in no rush, I've got a huge apartment, so I don't really need a new place, I just want one.

Well there's your answer then, don't blink first.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Radon test came back very high.

Check with the realtor. In NJ it is required that the seller put in a system to correct this prior to the sale.

To the OP: I would tell them to forget the shed repair. This is definitely something that can wait. You can definitely live in the house with a few rotted boards in the shed. Good Luck with everything. Buying/selling homes is very stressful.

 

[phorsenuf]

What will you do if they say no? Walk away? If so be prepared to possibly lose your ernest money. Since its not the main house I don't think you can fall back on the clause that says if repairs need to be done and the seller refuses than you can walk with no penelty (paraphrasing here).
I'd check this out very carefully.
If your contract reads that all outbuildings must be inspected, than that is different.

 

[C.Ann]

I guess it all depends on how anxious they are to sell..

A small issue became apparent in one of the inspections on the house that DD and her DH are closing on in a couple of weeks.. The owners don't have the money to have the repair done, but they got an estimate of $2800.. SIL wants a better quality of work done so he asked for an additional $500 and they agreed to it..

 

[caitycaity]

if you really like the house, i would not let $120 be a deal breaker.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I think that according to your definition, there are many sellers out there that are over dramatic.

When I am selling a house, I will correct major defiencies that are found with the house, such a roof repair and faulty furnaces. I am not going to pay for ever $50 to $200 repair needed that most Home Inspectors can find -- because if the Home Inspectors look hard enough, most "used" houses will have LOTS of ongoing maintenance work that is needed.

 

[hlbtimes2]

I think its funny that you are posting on a internet board complaining about the drama of the seller. If its such a small issue, why dont you just let them slide on that repair? Seems to me you have your own bit of drama going on.

In my area (near Seattle) houses sell so fast that if you want one, you have NO room to argue over $120 for repairs on an outbuilding. Its to the point that most buyers are taking inspectors with them when they go to look at a house. If there are no major structure issues, they make an offer right then. Houses sell fast, and usually for over the asking price.

 

[ceiligh1]

If you really like the house I would just replace the boards yourself. I would think that the time and stress reduction involved in doing it yourself once the deal went through would be worth it.
Just to compare when we bought our house we had an inspection done the sellers refused to do anything that came up. We still bought the house, if they had cleaned it up a bit or had a better realitor they would have been able to get a lot more for this house then we paid.
It all comes down to you and how much you like this house and if you want to go back out and look again.
Good luck.

 

[kpm76]

I think its funny that you are posting on a internet board complaining about the drama of the seller. If its such a small issue, why dont you just let them slide on that repair? Seems to me you have your own bit of drama going on.

That was really uncalled for....clearly the OP is buying her first house and it's a stressful process so she was looking for opinions. If you don't agree that she should argue over $120 then there is a nicer way to put instead of insulting her for posting on an internet board and accusing her of drama herself

OP, I completely understand where you are coming from and understand your concerns. If it were me and I really, really loved the house I would probably let it slide. But you seem to be in no hurry so if it means alot to you to have the repair done, then by all means stick to your guns. A house is a huge financial and emotional investment and you need to be 100% happy. Good luck

 

[phorsenuf]

That was really uncalled for....clearly the OP is buying her first house and it's a stressful process so she was looking for opinions. If you don't agree that she should argue over $120 then there is a nicer way to put instead of insulting her for posting on an internet board and accusing her of drama herself

OP, I completely understand where you are coming from and understand your concerns. If it were me and I really, really loved the house I would probably let it slide. But you seem to be in no hurry so if it means alot to you to have the repair done, then by all means stick to your guns. A house is a huge financial and emotional investment and you need to be 100% happy. Good luck

I don't know, I would have to tend to agree with the drama on her end. Let's say it's on both ends. But really, it's $120. to replace some boards on an outbuilding. It has nothing to do with the home itself. Being a real estate agent once upon a time this is the type of thing that I just have to shake my head at. Why not offer to split the difference if its such an issue.
Seriously, is it really going to cause you to walk away from this deal if they refuse?

 

[sharbear]

I've been a seller and this is my take on the inspection. I live in a 80 year old house. It has problems, it's an 80 yo house. I swear the inspector is paid by the little things that he finds wrong on the house I want to sell. I've spent weeks (or months) fixing up the house to get it ready to sell and the buyer is complaining about a small item that I don't even think is a problem. It's hard to get a house ready to sell and in an old house, it just can't all be fixed and my house is never going to be like a brand new house (and ask people who have a brand new house and ask them how many things are on their punch list). As the seller, I'm really tired and just want to get this sale over and move.

 

[sajetto]

I think its funny that you are posting on a internet board complaining about the drama of the seller. If its such a small issue, why dont you just let them slide on that repair? Seems to me you have your own bit of drama going on.

In my area (near Seattle) houses sell so fast that if you want one, you have NO room to argue over $120 for repairs on an outbuilding. Its to the point that most buyers are taking inspectors with them when they go to look at a house. If there are no major structure issues, they make an offer right then. Houses sell fast, and usually for over the asking price.

Wow, just wow.

Here in NC homes sure don't sell for more than the asking price. BTW This is NOT my first house. I buy foreclosures for a living and resell them. However buying from a bank is a heck of a lot different than buying from the typical home owner.

It would not have been an issue if the sellers had not reacted SO badly. It was just a request on the list and our agent let us know of how dramatic her reaction was. Its the principle of the matter. If she wanted to sell $120 wouldn't mean much. She would say "okay, I want out of the house so I can move on. I'll fix it and it'll be over with" OR she could have just sent her written notice that she would not fix that, but some of the other things that we omitted.

I think you may want to relax. I post on these boards b/c it is a place to vent and share my experiences with others. Others may not always agree with me, but they usually aren't jerks.

Why are your panties in such a twist?