How to Approach Repair Requests and Credits Strategically
Once your inspections are complete and you've reviewed disclosures, permits, and documents, you have a detailed picture of the property's condition. If issues surfaced during due diligence — and they almost always do — this is the point where you and your Realtor discuss how to address them: through repair requests, closing cost credits, a price adjustment, or some combination. How you approach this matters as much as what you ask for.
Inspection-period negotiations are not an opportunity to renegotiate the price or build a punch list of cosmetic improvements. They're for addressing legitimate issues that affect the property's safety, function, or value in ways that weren't reflected in your original offer. That focused approach is far more likely to produce a productive outcome than an exhaustive list of minor items.
Credits vs. Repairs: Understanding the Trade-offs
When a seller agrees to address an inspection finding, the resolution takes one of two forms:
- 1Closing cost credit — The seller reduces your closing costs by an agreed amount. You hire your own contractors after closing and control the quality and scope of the work. This is generally the preferred approach when you have contractors you trust and want to oversee the work yourself.
- 2Seller-completed repair — The seller arranges and pays for the repair before closing. Advantageous for large, well-defined items — but carries risk: you may not be able to fully evaluate the quality of the work until after you've taken ownership.
Your Realtor can help obtain contractor estimates to support your requests — giving them a factual basis and making them easier for the seller to evaluate fairly. Focus your energy on safety concerns, major systems, and structural issues. Cosmetic items rarely warrant the negotiating capital and can make buyers appear unreasonable, which affects the seller's goodwill for the rest of the transaction.