As a buyer, when you make an offer on a house, that offer is just an initial offer that it contingent on a home inspection. In a perfect world, the home inspection would turn up no problems with the home and you would pay the offer you made. However, more likely a home inspection will turn up some issues in which gives you the right to counter offer.

What is a Counter Offer After a Home Inspection?
After you have done a home inspection, a counter offer is not necessarily asking for a lower price. Instead, you will work with your realtor to decide which parts of the home inspection really matter to you. For example, the inspection may show the dishwasher is broken. You may want that fixed since it is included with the home. As part of your counter offer, your realtor will ask that they fix that dishwasher. Typically, on this first round in the counter offer, your realtor will recommend putting a lot more items in, since it is indeed a negotiation and it is best to start high.

After your first counter offer, the seller of the home will make another offer. In this, they could agree to repair some – though not all – the issues. They could also come back and say they will knock so much off the price in order for you to be responsible for doing it after you buy the home.

At this point, the offers can continue on, but usually you will want to make a decision quickly. Do you accept what they are willing to repair and finalize the sale or do you walk away? If there are no huge issues like roof or foundation damage, there may be some good faith money that you might lose by walking away at this point. However, it is usually not a huge amount compared to what those issues would cost to fix.

Contact True North Home Inspection with any questions about the home inspection process. Our job isn’t complete until all your questions and concerns are answered!