Repair Request / Inspection Request - Tips and Tricks

Guide to Writing Repair Requests

Follow the steps below to add the form to your loop in Dotloop

• Open the loop where you want to add the document

• Choose the folder you want the document to, and on the right click on Add Document

• Select Template

• Search for document in the Rovi Realty Master Documents/RR MA Buyer Packet/RR CT Buyer Packet with the key words Any State Repair Request

• Place a check mark on the tick box at the left of the document name and hit Add

NOTICE OF UNSATISFACTORY INSPECTION 

(When only Offer to Purchase has been signed)

Buyer: _____ALL BUYERS NAMES______________________________

Seller: ______ALL SELLER NAMES OR “OWNER OF RECORD_______

Property: ___FULL PROPERTY ADDRESS_______

Offer to Purchase Date: _DATE WHEN OFFER WAS FULLY EXECUTED

Date of Request: _DATE WHEN REQUEST IS BEING SENT

CHECK ANY OF THE APPLICABLE BOXES BELOW

In accordance with paragraph(s) Fill this in with applicable paragraph number of the Offer to Purchase, Buyer hereby notifies Seller that the following inspection(s) is/are unsatisfactory [check one or more]:

• Home Inspection                 ❏ Lead Inspection

     ❏ Termite Inspection               ❏ Subsurface Sewage Disposal System Inspection

     ❏ Well System Inspection        ❏ Other

     ❏ A copy of the applicable section(s) of the inspection report(s) is/are attached hereto

Buyer requests that Seller agree to have licensed contractors do the following, at Seller's expense, prior to closing [describe work or see attached documentation].  All other terms of said Offer and any and all previous addendums shall remain in full force.  Seller to provide Buyer with any and all receipts, permits and documentation for repair work and inspections completed prior to closing.

THE REPAIR REQUEST SHOULD MAKE SENSE IN REGARDS TO REQUEST PLACEMENT   **ALL ELECTRICAL SHOULD BE GROUPED TOGETHER

ALL PLUMBING SHOULD BE GROUPED TOGETHER, ETC***

RELEVANT PAGES SHOULD ACCOMPANY ALL REPAIR REQUESTS, AND BE MENTIONED IN THE REPAIR REQUEST VERBIAGE.

EXAMPLE: 

Licensed electrician to make the following repairs as mentioned in the report:

Page 1, section 2   Replace all outlets in kitchen with GFCI outlets

Page 5, section 6    Electrical panel to be inspected and double tapped wires to be repaired 

Licensed plumber to make the following repairs as mentioned in the report:

Page 2 section 4    Fix leak under sink in first floor bathroom

Page 8 section 1     Replace corroded pipes with pvc piping in second floor bathroom.

----> The repairs should always come directly from the buyer.  The agent should never forward or create a repair request that a buyer didn't request.  The drafted repair request should always be forwarded to the agent to approve the request before being sent to the buyer for signature.

Sometimes the agent will forward exactly what the buyer is requesting, and it is the job of the person drafting the repair request to put the language into “real estate terminology” when necessary.  If it doesn't make sense or there is too little information, reach out to buyer or agent for clarification.

BUYER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO TERMINATE THE OFFER TO PURCHASE AGREEMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITS TERMS IF BUYER & SELLER CANNOT COME TO A MUTUALLY SATISFACTORY AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE CONDITIONS LISTED ABOVE.

Buyer                                Date                          Buyer                             Date

____________________        ___________            _______________________          __________

NOTE: THE FOLLOWING SECTION TO BE COMPLETED ONLY IF SELLER AGREES TO ABOVE REQUEST(S), CHECK APPLICABLE BOX.

❏ 1. Seller agrees to ALL of the above requests, at Seller’s expense, prior to closing.

❏ 2. Seller agrees to do the following ONLY, at Seller's expense, prior to closing [describe work or see attached documentation]: 

         Seller                     Date                              Seller                    Date

____________________        ___________            _______________________          __________

ONLY sign below if (2.) is checked above.

Check below whether Buyer accepts or rejects Seller's proposal:

❏ ACCEPTS ❏ REJECTS

         Buyer                     Date                            Buyer                 Date

____________________        ___________            _______________________          __________

 When Representing the Buyer:

Setting the expectation for your buyer from the beginning is crucial.  Educating them on what are important things to look for at showings prior to offer and at inspection is something you should be comfortable doing.  Every house is going to have some issues (even new construction), sometimes the report will be long and can be scary to the unfamiliar buyer.

1. The process really starts at the offer presentation.  You should be making your offer, and explaining to the listing agent, based on the current condition of the property.  Go over the known structural and mechanical issues with your buyer and take those into consideration when writing your offer

2. At the time of inspection, explain to your buyer that this is a time for them to go through the home with their inspector with a fine tooth comb to see what they might have missed when viewing the home. If you have questions on how to run the systems … ask the inspector 

3. Once inspections are done, ask the buyer to review the report to see if there were any major issues that arose that they did not take into consideration when writing their offer that they would like to ask the seller to have repaired

4. Once they have created their list, you must review with them and explain the current market conditions and the specific conditions regarding this property.  For example, if we are in a seller’s market asking for too many repair items could cause the seller to back out of the deal and move forward with another offer.  Even if we are in a buyer’s market, it’s possible that the house you are working with had multiple offers and there are other buyers who would be willing to pay more or overlook the issues. 

5. At the end of the day, try to come up with the most reasonable request that you can and make sure it was the buyer’s decision to ask for the items not yours.  Explain to the buyers that the sellers have  three options:

a. Refuse to do anything

b. Repair all

c. Repair some

6. You will need to email the requests to your TC and they will draft your repair requests for Buyer signature on this form. It is helpful to attach the parts of the inspection report that you are requesting to be repaired and be very specific with the TC on what you are requesting.  Remember they are not negotiating this they are simply filling out the form for you. After the buyer signs your TC will send to the Seller’s agent to collect Seller signatures. 

7. When presenting the repair request to the listing agent make sure you do the following:

a. Don't just email the request over.  Make sure to call the other agent and explain your position.

b. When applicable, put together a list of the items that you are not asking for to demonstrate to the listing agent that your buyers have overlooked additional items

c. Make sure to tell the other agent that if they don’t have contractors to help them with estimates that you could provide contractors to do this.  You can call HMHI Contracting, LLC to help with this.

A BUYER OR CONTRACTOR HIRED BY THE BUYER IS NEVER ALLOWED TO DO WORK TO OR ON THE PROPERTY UNLESS A HOLD HARMLESS HAS BEEN FULLY EXECUTED!

When Representing the Seller

1. The process really starts prior to listing the home and trying to get your seller to do a pre home inspection and take care of any of the smaller issues.  This will allow us to provide buyers with a home inspection report showing the current condition.  Ideally if the seller could fix some of the issues with the home we could increase the buyer pool.

2. Next you want to feel out the other agent at offer time.  Are they aware that the property needs a roof and has a couple cracked windows. Let’s make sure those things were taken into consideration in the offer and won’t be used down the road to negotiate price.

3. Additionally at offer time or potentially before (if we haven’t done the pre home inspection) , explain to your seller that the inspection period is often a time of renegotiation and that we should expect the buyers to comeback with some sort of a request. This will help alleviate shock from the seller if the buyers do make a reasonable request.

4. If the requests are reasonable, try and get a copy of the inspection report and see if there were other things that the buyers have elected to overlook. This can help to show your sellers that the requests are reasonable and they could have actually asked for more.

5. If your seller is hesitant to agree to repairs that you feel are reasonable try and get estimates (use MHI Contracting, LLC ).  Sometimes sellers think repairs will be more costly than they actually are. 

6. Explain to the seller that they have three options:

a. Refuse to do anything

b. Repair all

c. Repair some

Deal Saving Techniques

1. Often times it is easier for the seller to just give the buyer a credit in the form of closing costs instead of doing the repairs.  Please note that if the seller has already agreed to pay the buyers closing costs then this option might not work.  

2. If you can't get the work done prior to close, sometimes the lender will allow a check to be cut to a contractor at closing to have work done post closing. 

3. If the seller would like to agree to the repair request but doesn't have the money to do the repairs (but has equity in the home) you may be able to get a contractor to do the work (once buyer has mortgage commitment) and agree to get paid out of the closing proceeds. 

4. You can reduce the sale price. Please keep in mind that this will not generate funds to actually pay for the work so typically this isn’t the best option.

5. If the parties can’t come to an agreement, try to get all the parties involved in the transaction to pitch in to save the deal.  For instance if the two sides are off by $1,000 try and see if the buyer can raise offer by $250, the seller can drop price by $250, and each agent could reduce commission by $250 to make up the difference.  You could even ask the lender or attorneys to help financially.