A very important part of a Real Estate transaction, but also a very misunderstood part of the transaction is the request for repairs also known as the RFR.
Buyers often think that by requesting repairs the seller is required to do these repairs. But this is not the case. The seller can decide to either do all the repairs, a part of the repairs, none of the repairs, or give some money or credit to the buyer to have repairs done.
Most of the request for repairs should only include things that involve Health and Safety issues, or differed maintenance that should have been kept up by the seller in the first place. Smoke alarms, GFCI outlets, problems that would cause an appraiser to have to come back and look at the property again should definitely be dealt with, hopefully prior to the appraisal.
Often times major things like foundation problems or something that couldn’t have been seen in the initial viewing of property could mean that you need to renegotiate the purchase price rather than actually do a request for repairs.
One thing I always do for a request for repairs is kind of make grocery list from the inspection report. Then have the buyer decide what is very important to them, and what’s not so important. Don’t get petty. Things that are natural wear and tear should probably not be considered. However, you may want to add a few things to the list that you may not care that much about but which give seller something to reject. This may make it easier to get a couple of the things you do want done.
As a listing agent I really do not want to see a request for repairs however, I believe a buyer’s agent should always submit one on behalf of their client.
If you have any questions, contact Mark Kunce at mark@sdmyhome.com or visit my website.
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