Depending on what is found in the inspection, you MAY be able to get some concessions from the seller. I would talk to your agent about the specifics of your particular inspection. If there are serious issues that have not been previously disclosed, it is okay to ask the seller for credits. However, there are no guarantees.

Situations when you USUALLY won't be able to get any credits are...

1. A short sale. Sellers in a short sale usually won't have any more room to negotiate credits.
2. A foreclosed home. Banks that are selling properties for less than market value don't like to give credits.
3. When problems have already been disclosed. If the sellers have already made a problem known, they assume that you will take that problem into consideration when making your initial offer, rather than asking for credits after the offer has been accepted.

This is yet another reason why you should always use a buyer's agent when making an offer on a property. A lot of people assume they will get a better deal by making an offer directly through the selling agent. The only way to make sure that your best interest is being looked out for, is to have an agent negotiating on your behalf.

YES YES YES - Everything in real estate is negotiable!

When you submit an offer, that is the beginning of the process. During the course of your due diligence, you are encouraged to make sure the property is exactly what you intend on purchasing. If an inspection uncovers an unexpected surprise, you should consult with your agent about asking for a credit(s).

Negotiation is one of the key factors in choosing a good real estate professional. He or she should be able to aggressively advocate for your best interests, especially as it relates to this process.

Please feel free to contact me directly with any further questions or comments.

James Testa
Paragon Real Estate Group
415.515.6097
jtesta@paragon-re.com

Hi Jude,

Yes, real estate is one big negotiation! I wrote a detailed answer to your question on my blog. Please visit: http://sfhotlist.com/blog/2008/12/26/faq-can-a-home-buyer-ne… Sorry to make you go to another link but I wanted to write a full answer to this frequenly asked question.

I describe the process and the pros and cons. I hope you find it helpful!

All the best,
Danielle

Danielle Lazier, Zephyr Real Estate
San Francisco Realtor
danielle (at)sfhotlist.com
http://www.SFHotlist.com

Jude,

You can renegotiate the terms of the contract at certain times, not always. The contract sets the terms and conditions of the purchase. It requires both parties to take certain actions within certain time frames. If you have an inspection, and discover something that changes the valuation of the property in your calculation you can renegotiate .Always ask yourself how would you respond if you were on the other side of the transaction before you take an action. It's foolish to throw the proverbial s. . t into the fan and see what happens.
Successful negotiation is one of the marks of a good agent. Talk to your agent and good luck in the purchase of your home.

Jude,

You can always ASK for concessions, but if you want the request to have any teeth you need to have some leverage. Assuming that you have an inspection contingency written into the purchase contract, you must negotiate the concession before signing off on the contingency. Whether or not it will be granted depends upon how bad they seller wants to sell, how much they owe on the property, etc... The best thing you can do is have an experienced pro with expert negotiating skills to represent you. If you don't already have an agent I suggest you talk to several and go with the one who understands your needs and has the ability to carry them out.

Of course we are always happy to provide expert, no-strings advice if you need some help.

Happy Holidays,

Lance King/Managing Broker
415.722.5549 Cell
lance@fixedrateproperties.com

For your example, you must have a property inspection contingency in your original offer. In San Francisco most homes/condos are purchased with the 7 page SFAR contract. A recent change to that contract makes the Property Inspections an automatic contingency that you would have to purposely waive not to have the right to conduct inspections, and ask for concessions for any problems you find that you were not previously aware of. As long as you don't initial the "waive" paragraph, you have the right to ask for concessions after conducting a property inspection.

You can do similar things with other contingencies - for example, if you have an appraisal contingency, and the home appraises for less than your purchase price, you can ask the seller to agree to sell at the appraised value. Please note, in both instances, the seller has the right to refuse your requests for any concession, and if they do, your only two choices are to complete the purchase without the concessions, or to cancel the contract "subject to" your contingency. in a Seller's market, they almost always refused concessions. in today's buyer's market, they are almost always open to negotiation or outright agreement to concession requests.

One final note, I am not a lawyer, and you are strongly advised to discuss all legal matters with an attorney before taking any action.

Yes, but the physical inspection has to show conditions on the home that need to be corrected and that are going to cost hard cash to repair. You can itemize all the problems and the cost to correct them and you would be within your rights to ask the Seller for a credit in escrow in lieu of repairs.

If the property that you are buying is a Bank owned property or a short sale, it is going to be difficult to extract concessions from them but you can try.

Buyers agent would have to amend the contract seller/buyer agrees to terms. ALSO depends on lender approval amount of concessions mortgage brokers needs to confirm amount of request. It can be done however not knowing how far along you are in process confer all parties (your realtor, mortgage broker) prior submitting your request. GREAT QUESTION