Expert: Dottie Worthington - 2/26/2009

Question
I got an inspection that shows repairs costing 7K-10K to get the house up to code.  I gave the paperwork to my agent and asked him to ask for a repair allowance.  Instead he asked the seller to lower the cost of the home by 5K.  He was supposed to ask the seller for a repair allowance and not for them to lower the cost of the home.  They offered to lower the cost by $2K.  Did his actions affect my chances of getting more for my repair costs?

Answer
That is pretty much 6 of one half a dozen of the other. I don't think it hurt your chances any, you have the option of walking away since there seems to be a lot of repairs. Or, you can ask that the repairs be made ahead of time. But giving you the money for the repairs or taking it off the price, would be something your mortgage company may or may not approve.