Do I Renegotiate a Price Reduction?
Once the initial excitement of discovering the right house and getting a good bargain burns off, many buyers start to sense”buyer’s remorse.” They wonder if they paid a lot or if they might have gotten the house for significantly less. There are a number of times when a buyer has the ability to renegotiate the price after contract approval but before closure.
Inspection
Read the inspection clause on your sale contract. This clause spells out the types of defects that, if detected by a qualified home inspector, are cause for the buyer to walk away from the sale.
Sign up for a home inspection by an experienced and accredited inspector. Be certain that he inspects all major systems, crawlspaces, attics and foundation areas. Get his report which notes all problems he finds.
Utilize the inspector’s report to make a record of requested repairs. Your realtor may use the list to create an inspection amendment to the sales contract. You might also simply ask the vendor to get a reduction in price in lieu of repairs.
Instruct your agent to let the sellers know you’ll walk away from the sale unless the repairs have been completed or they reduce the price accordingly.
Ask your home inspector to inspect the repairs to ensure they were done properly and according to the wording in the inspection amendment. If they weren’t, ask the vendor for one more price reduction in lieu of further repairs.
Appraisal
Get a copy of the appraisal report from your lender.
Note any problems contained in the evaluation that affect the home’s value, particularly if the home does not appraise for the purchase price.
Ask the sellers to get a price reduction based on almost any discrepancy between the appraised value and the purchase price. It is also possible to ask for a price reduction in the sum equal to a problem impacting the home’s value. For example, if homes with pools at the neighborhood have sold for $10,000 more than homes without, but all the other pools were gunite and yours is vinyl-lined, ask for a discount based on the price difference between a gunite pool along with also a vinyl-lined pool.