Selling Your Home in Tulsa, Oklahoma Repairs – we’re still not through negotiating – You’ve chosen your Listing Realtor, agreed on a list price and have prepared your home for sale. You’ve received feedback and have finally negotiated your first offer and are under contract.
Now that we’re under contract and everybody is happy, the clock begins to tick for the Buyer to finalize his financing arrangements and inspect your home. Typical home inspections include termite, structural, EMP (electrical, mechanical, plumbing) and roof. If you’ve taken care of your home with stern attention towards pro-active maintenance, you’re probably not in for too many surprises.
In the Oklahoma state real estate contract, a Seller agrees to a capped amount he will spend on repairs BEFORE inspections are done. If the inspections turn up defects that the Buyer wants treated, repaired or replaced that exceed the repair cap, the Seller can back out of the contract. Also, if anything comes up in inspections that alarms the Buyer, he can also back out of the contract.
But, let’s assume that the Buyer still wants to buy your home, and you still want to sell it.
Often, it is more difficult negotiating repairs than it is negotiating the general terms of the contract, including the sales price.
Selling Your Home in Tulsa, Oklahoma Repairs – we’re still not through negotiating
I have a listing now where termite damage was found in the crawl space and the required repair is going to tear up the new bathroom flooring that the Seller just purchased and installed. So, in addition to paying for termite treatment and wood repair, the Buyer wants new bathroom flooring. Of course, we exceeded the repair cap agreed to in the contract, but luckily, all parties of the transaction still want to make this work. So, the Seller agreed to pay a portion of the repair cost and the Buyer agreed to pay a portion also.
We really continue to negotiate all the way to the closing table. Whether single-party or transaction Broker, the best Realtors will look for solutions and compromise to keep a deal together.
You’ve already taken your home off the market and are ready to move on with your life. The last thing you want to do is put your home back on the market and start from scratch.
Some Realtors encourage their Sellers to conduct their own inspections prior to putting their home on the market, and I agree that’s a good precautionary step. The Seller must be prepared, however, that when the Buyer conducts their inspections, different things may turn up. So, that initial inspection is not necessarily a clean bill of health, so to speak, and the Seller needs to respect that the Buyer wants the home as worry-free as possible when moving in.
Negotiating repairs, replacement and treatments and other factors that make come up between the execution and closing of your contract requires patience and compromise – but it’s your ability to compromise that’s truly “priceless.”
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Joan says
Is it required that the seller provide the buyer with receipts for work done as a result of a TRR? If yes, when are they exchanged?
Thanks.
Lori Cain says
It is not required for the Seller to provide receipts, however it is standard practice that receipts be provided to the Buyer prior to closing. The Buyer may choose to pay the Inspector to re-inspect or the receipts may suffice as proof that the work was done – depends on the type of repair and Buyer’s comfort level.