Buyers Make Home Inspection Requests to The Seller

Buyers Make Home Inspection Requests to The Seller

It’s an industry joke that some buyers request the seller to repair even the most minor issues found on a home inspection. But over the past couple of years, most sellers could list their house, sell it quickly for over asking price, and many buyers would often waive the home inspection.  This is not happening anymore in 2023. Buyers will want to do a home inspection. Buyers make home inspection requests to the seller after their home inspection.  This happens in a “normal market”.

So if you’re about to put your house on the market, even if you’ve heard that the market is shifting, you may still be holding onto the hope that things will be the same for you.

The good news is that you’re still in a great position to get a historically high price for your house. That’s despite the fact that we’re in a “housing recession” according to this CNBC article. To put it simply, since inventory is still low for the number of buyers looking for a home, prices aren’t coming down. Yet, the number of homes actually selling have been dropping.

But what sellers should be sensitive to is that buyers are now less likely to waive their rights to a home inspection. In addition to that, they followed up this week stating that 16.1% of buyers backed out of deals in July The highest rate since April 2020. Back in 2020, buyers were canceling contracts due to financial concerns caused by the emerging pandemic. Now more buyers seem to be backing out due to home inspection issues.

Are they all due to home inspection issues? Probably not. Some of them are likely due to financing issues, or any other number of factors. But those using home inspection issues as a reason to back out could also be using it as a remedy for buyer’s remorse.

It doesn’t matter if the buyer is simply using home inspection issues as a handy excuse, or they’re truly concerned about issues found during the home inspection. You should be ready and willing to address their concerns and requests. A buyer can’t easily back out of their contract if you agree to address any problems they find.

If you do, and have to put your house back on the market, you could find that your house doesn’t sell readily, or for as much as you initially accepted. Plus, your next buyer might throw the same (and possibly more) inspection issues at you.

The Takeaway:

It’s just not worth the risk of losing a buyer in this market. Things are shifting, and the market is already drastically changed from how it was in 2021. Yet you’re still in a solid position as a seller to get a historically high price for your house. So, if you find yourself being asked to take care of home inspection issues, truly analyze whether it’s worth being stubborn. Will buyers get even more picky and demanding in the near future? What if there’s more inventory / competition? Will you be able to get as high of a sales price?