Originally Posted by DoubleF
This doesn't totally make sense. Many banks will refuse to finance without an inspection (hell, my mortgagors ate the cost of the inspection). But if you can get away without one, great. But also as others mentioned, the inspection is pretty superficial anyways.
Furthermore, caveats can be put on the inspection if the condition is disclosed beforehand on the listing (ie: considered built into the price).
ie: HVAC is older but functional at this point, should still work fine for a few more years. Roof is older, but no issues with leaks and not expected to require replacement for another few years. Windows are old, price reflected, you replace at your own time etc.
I've received conditions on the home inspection that I can only renegotiate for things in excess of what have already been disclosed. So if they told me that there are certain things that may need repairs/replacement within a few years, I cannot renegotiate about that. But if the inspector finds something extra, that I can renegotiate price on.
You can state that, but I believe my realtor says you can't put conditions that lock them in and don't offer a way out. So you can state that they cannot renegotiate on anything disclosed due to the inspection. But you cannot basically state they cannot use the inspection to pull out of the deal or renegotiate for things not previously disclosed.
Maybe I just had better realtors who understood not just the sales side, but the seller/negotiations side/legal side and were great at explaining that to me.
We view the money as value but value isn't just the purchase price for both sides.
- Deposit (Amount, non-refundable/refundable (conditions for refund), how fast you can get the cheque to the seller realtor etc.)
- Possession date (A month of extra mortgage and expenses adds up to a certain value, consider using the mortgage calculator in reverse when negotiating a possession date with the seller). But whether the owners need to move out vs an empty house are things to contemplate too.
- Chattel (Ask about things you wouldn't mind keeping and put a value to it. Things that would cost you way more to get one into the house and isn't relatively valuable to the seller but would cost them money to have the movers move. ie: BBQ, extra fridges, furniture, vehicle etc.) Sometimes you negotiate on price aggressively because there are things you need to buy for several thousand dollars. You can decide not to push so hard on that last few grand if you don't need to spend that money, but also put into wording the repercussions if the chattel you want isn't left behind (ie: seller realtor would have to cough up equivalent value from the commissions vs no idea where family disappeared to). I dunno if that last part is enforceable, but usually the realtor will help to facilitate that part to ensure it doesn't happen when they give the seller the gift and whatnot.
- Misc: Once you open up the "how can we make this sale easier for you" convo between the realtor, you can ask if there's other considerations that can help make it easier for the seller to take on your demands. For any of these side deals though, definitely write out a contract external to the house sale. Don't roll all of it into the purchase price, don't rely on verbal agreements.
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Personally, on the realtor side, I've asked for the seller's furniture, extra fridge, BBQ etc. and relaxed my stance on a few grand of negotiations. In our current place, my wife laments that we should have asked for a really nice bunk bed that the seller had moved last to stage the home. I bought a brand new townhouse and I arranged a side deal with the seller to buy all the new~ish staging furniture for a steal in exchange for not negotiating as aggressively on the final last bit of the selling price (as it would be used as a comparable for him selling the other units). He was happy to save costs/time on moving/storing and selling it and I got nice fricken stuff I would never be able to justify buying myself.
My buddy stored a car (for a super miniscule fee) for a few months for a guy moving to BC for work on short notice, and then was able to buy it off him for a great price (as it was super low hassle for the seller) when the guy got a company car and didn't need his car anymore. I think the story was the guy was super appreciative, offered to give my buddy a 10-15% final sales price commission for his time for helping him show and sell the car while he was in BC, so my buddy asked him what the price was to sell to him instead.
Another friend, because he didn't need to move right away, offered to let the family stay for a few months with inexpensive rent as somehow it was mentioned by the seller realtor they were going to move to temporary accommodations for a few months after the possession date. Considering that it would have been less moving and storage costs, more time to pack, less mortgage/expenses other than rent etc. while the other home they bought became available (possession date), it was a good idea. The family was surprised and really wanted to take him up on the offer, but afterwards couldn't take him up on the offer (stored some stuff at the place in the garage for a few months though) because they couldn't break the deal with the accommodations they had already arranged for.
And anyone who wants to try and squeeze a few extra bucks out of selling your home, clean the floor of the garage till it's basically as clean as the kitchen floor. All it'll cost you is a little bit of time and a bit of vacuuming and it makes a ridiculously huge difference in impression. Lots of homes have pristine interior, dusty ass garages. It's just a tiny way to stick out a little more and give an impression that the home is super well kept (kinda like how you can tell how a restaurant kitchen is probably run based on the cleanliness of the bathroom).
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