The scenario is all too familiar. Real properties get into escrow with serious and qualified home buyers and then, by a sudden shift of events, the deal doesnt push through and the same property ends up in the market after a few weeks. What seems to be the problem?
There is probably a long list of reasons why real estate negotiations fail. For instance, there are some homebuyers who have the tendency to get the home for sale on escrow even if they have not yet made up their mind in paying the price offer. Sometimes, buyer will dangle a tempting offer to sellers prior to inspecting the home and resort to price reduction during the actual home inspection. This is usually the case in a buyers market. The situation sometimes deteriorates up to a point where the seller are abused and forced against the wall by the enormous cutbacks and unbelievable demands by abusive buyers. Sellers will ultimately opt out of the deal once they feel that deceit is being applied on them.
Home inspections are designed to thresh out ticklish issues that affect the deal. However, it presupposes that both parties come to the negotiation table in good faith. Buyers need to make a good offer after the home inspection has been done. On the other hand, sellers must be cautious when dealing with buyers making offers that are way off the current price trends in your area.
In most cases, the major hurdle usually comes during the home inspection phase. Deals usually take the dive because of results of the home inspection. Serious complications come about when sellers dont or cant accommodate the adjustments being proposed by buyers. A stalemate in the negotiation will invariably result to a fall out in the negotiation.
Let us look at some of the major reasons behind the failures in home inspection negotiations:
1.It is now getting to be a common practice to allow sellers agents to be part of the home inspection negotiation. This might not be a good idea for most buyers especially if the home inspection becomes complicated and leads to unmanageable situations and the negotiation gets out of hand. Buyers naturally dont want to have extra hand that can pull the strings in favor of the sellers. You have to remember, that the seller will seek the professional advice of his agent to determine the best way to respond to your request for adjustments. If you are really serious in getting through with the deal, then there is no reason for you not to allow the presence of the sellers agent during the home inspection.
2.It is also essential that you are able to assess the home inspection result from the perspective of the seller. A competent and experienced agent can be able to prepare a well-crafted inspection response that will facilitate the resolution of serious issues reflected in the home inspection report. Problems usually complicate the negotiation if the inspection response involves demands that the other party cannot respond to.
3.Making unrealistic demands is tantamount to sending the deal to oblivion. What do you think will happen if you insist on pulling down a wall panel simply because the inspector cannot give you a definitive answer on what is behind that wall. Sellers will definitely not approve to such kind of demand and, ultimately, this can lead to a stalemate if either party is not willing to relent.
To avoid these common complications in your home inspection negotiations, it is important that you are accompanied by your agent and allow the agent of the seller to be present during the negotiation. If you have some unresolved issues and doubts with the results of the home inspection, then it is wise to get a second opinion of another home inspection specialist.