A home is never truly bought or sold until the money has exchanged hands. You may have received an offer on your house and be reasonably sure that you have a buyer, but there are several other steps you must go through before the sale is final – one of which is the home inspection. The inspection notice and report you write up to the sellers once you receive it can be major when negotiating what to fix and what to leave when you are purchasing a home. You want the most fixed, but to also be reasonable depending on what kind of deal you got for the home.

First of all, you should be clear on the realities of selling a home. No home is perfect, and an honest inspector is very likely to find some existing issues with your home. Every home is going to have SOMETHING come up. This is normal. How you handle the negotiations that follow, though, can make a big difference in how much you give on your end and the level of stress you experience from the process.

When buyers start to overstep their bounds is often when real estate transactions go sour. Buying and selling a home is all about being reasonable. Sometimes buyers will ask for repairs of items that were clearly visible before an offer has even been made. One thing we like to open our clients eyes on is – are you getting the house for less than what it is worth? are you paying or over paying for what the seller’s asked for? All these questions take place on just what is reasonable to ask or to decide to fix yourself. Unless it is an incredibly strong sellers market where you can get away with telling a buyer they need to take the home “as is” then make sure you are reasonable.