At what point have you asked for too much?

One thing that is coming out of this "new" market we're all experiencing is a new wave of empowerment from buyers. In so many ways this is a good thing as it's brought balance back into the housing economy. In the past so many buyers acted out of a slight fear that negotiating on a house would leave them without any housing options. As a result of this new reality we are seeing the quality of sold houses increase. All of that being said, how much "negotiating" is too much?

For example: You walk into a house and see a cracked window, an old boiler, and a kitchen that needs upgrades. As you're walking through the seller's agent identifies these "known issues" to you(in the form of a written seller's disclosure). You then make an offer on that house with your offer price taking into account what you've seen.

Is it now appropriate to ask for full repair/replacement of these items, at the seller's expense, post-inspection?

Many buyers today are absolutely asking for these things.

One thing we know when we price homes is there is a cost premium asked for (and paid) for brand new construction. So, is it appropriate for the buyer to assume that once they've made their offer on a re-sale the sellers will upgrade their property to "new construction" levels?

As a buyers agent I would always ask, but in reality I know as a sellers agent, as long as the issues have been disclosed the Home Inspection Contingency is intended only for "unknown" issues. The renegotiation done post-inspection is supposed to identify anything that both parties discovered during the inspection only.

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You've had your Inspection, now what?!?!?

So, I've returned from a week away visiting family and friends and I have sitting on my desk a postcard advertising a "Home Inspection Response" Program. This is actually a great resource. So many times we as sellers or selling agents get a punch-list of items the buyers want repaired or replaced prior to closing. Each little item needs a different contractor to come in and fix one minor little thing here and there. The problem is, getting the busy contractors to block the time to come do a job that most likely won't be that profitable for them. I've always felt the need for someone to fill this niche and now it looks like one company is doing so.

What this means for sellers is they should be able to negotiate a little harder on inspection issues. In the past the negotiation would include money in increments of $500. For example, when I bought my place two windows needed to be repaired, and we knew a window contractor would never come in for such a small job. We requested $500 at closing and we're still living almost 2 full years later with the broken windows.

More recently, sellers of mine needed an electrical outlet fixed. Buyers had requested a similar credit, but we were thankfully able to find someone to come in for about 10% of the cost the buyers had requested. When you consider the money that quickly adds up at a closing table, being able to save $500-$1000 here and there is a huge benefit.