How a Request for Repair Can Result in a Canceled Contact

Buyers who upset sellers with a Request for Repair might not buy a home.

Sacramento home buyers can forget all about a promise to purchase a home in its AS IS condition, which is how we end up so often with a Request for Repair in the sellers’ laps. They find a defect or some problem, and either their agents suggest they ask for a credit or repair or they find it somewhere online. When you call them on it and say, hey, what did you not understand about no repairs, no credits, they will say but we didn’t know about this, that or the other thing or they rationalize why they think it’s OK to try to renegotiate.

Their buyer’s agents say, oh, just go with the plan and let them down gently. Because the buyer’s agents do not want to be the bad guy. I get it. Completely. They want to be the buyer’s friend. A nice person. Not the person who tells them to read the contract. Not the person who shares what happens to buyers who upset the apple cart by asking for repairs. Not the person who explains how a request like that can dampen any enthusiasm or gratitude the sellers may have harbored toward the buyers.

If they press too hard, the buyers will say whoa, who are you representing? Me or the seller? You’re my agent, you’re supposed to do what I want. Even if it’s a stupid thing. I don’ want to be educated. I want what I want. So the agents back down and, if we’re honest, they hope to god their buyers are told no. I see this play out over and over in Sacramento real estate.

In fact, I just closed a home in Citrus Heights. I had to sell that home twice, but that’s OK. The first buyers were VA. We took their offer because I know how hard it is for a VA buyer to buy a home. Few listing agents want to deal with their type of loan. They get the short end of the stick. On top of this, the VA buyer was also a contractor, so he could make repairs if they were needed. Instead, he shot himself in the foot by asking for a Request for Repair. The answer was no. He could cancel. This might have been his only chance to buy a home this summer, and he blew it.

But he did provide us with a bunch of free inspections the seller didn’t have to pay for.

We’re in a hot seller’s market. VA buyers have a super tough time. Along came buyer #2 about a week later. We had several offers, IIRC, and we selected the same sales price, which was higher than our list, which was already higher than what the seller thought we could get. Not only did that home appraise, but a lovely family who really needed a 4 bedroom in Citrus Heights bought this home with an FHA loan. They assumed all responsibility for the pest work. No repairs. Closed the day before the 4th of July!