Negotiating repairs after inspection in a seller's market

How do you negotiate repairs in a seller's market?

In a seller's market, ask for less, and put a dollar figure on everything you ask for. Keep the request to safety findings, anything your lender requires, and your two or three most expensive lines. Pay for the small items yourself, and get the request to the seller in writing before your inspection deadline.

Key takeaways

• Nationally, more than 4 in 10 sellers gave buyers a concession in August. In the metros where concessions were rarest, the share fell as low as 4.2%.
• Put safety and lender-required lines first, under their own heading, so the seller sees what you won't drop.
• If the seller won't make a major repair your lender requires, the lender could have you fund an account to pay for it right after closing.

Are you really in a seller's market?

Start with this house, not the headlines. Ask your agent how many offers it drew and how close nearby homes sold to their list price. For a yardstick, NAR's Realtors Confidence Index reports an average of 2.1 offers per listing nationally, with 16% of homes selling above list price.

Redfin calls it a seller's market when there are more buyers than sellers. In its August analysis, San Francisco was one of just five seller's markets in the U.S., while San Jose, New York and Chicago were balanced. Redfin counts a concession when the seller pays toward repairs, closing costs or a rate buydown, not when the price drops.

The market label alone doesn't set the odds: balanced Chicago saw more concessions than seller's-market San Francisco. What all four share is a rate far below the national one, and Redfin says buyers in balanced markets don't have much room to get concessions. If your agent's answers point to a crowded market, keep your list short.

Which findings stay on your list no matter the market?

Two kinds of lines stay on the list, however small their price.

• Safety findings. Gas, carbon monoxide, an electrical hazard, an active leak or a structural problem goes to a licensed specialist before your deadline. If you smell gas at the house, leave, call the gas utility or 911, then a licensed professional.
• Repairs your lender requires. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) warns that "if major repairs (like a new roof) are needed, the lender can require that the repairs be made before closing, as a condition of getting the loan." Ask your loan officer whether any finding on your report triggers this.

If the seller refuses a repair your lender requires, ask your loan officer about the other route the CFPB describes: the lender "could ask you to put enough money in a special account to pay for the repair immediately after closing." That keeps the deal alive, but the money comes from you.

How do you choose what else to ask for?

Sort the rest of the report by dollars, highest first. Then cut it in three:

• Keep every safety and lender line, wherever it lands in the sort.
• Ask for the two or three most expensive lines that remain.
• Budget everything else from your own cash after closing.

Here is how that plays out. Say your report flags an electrical panel that needs replacing, a water heater at the end of its life, and a page of small items. Mortgage lender AmeriSave puts a panel replacement at $1,500 to $3,000 and a new water heater at $800 to $2,500 installed. Ask for those two lines, which together run from $2,300 at the low end to $5,500 at the high end, and let the small items go.

That range is too wide to put in a request. A licensed electrician's and a plumber's written bids pin down the two big lines. Kept prices every line of your inspection report for $79, usually under 4 hours, so you can sort the whole list before you call anyone (how Kept prices a line).

Where you draw the cut depends on your cash after closing, not on a rule. What to ask for after a home inspection covers which kinds of findings are worth raising at all, and is my repair request too long helps you trim.

How do you write the request?

Lead with the safety and lender lines under their own heading, then list the rest. Each line names one finding, where it is, the fix, and the dollar figure behind it.

The CFPB describes two ways to ask: have the seller fix it before you move in, or give you a credit for the cost. Ask your loan officer how large a credit your loan allows before you name a number. Repairs vs. credit vs. price reduction compares the options, and the buyer repair request letter template shows the wording around each line.

What if the seller says no?

The CFPB notes that whether the seller pays depends on your contract terms and local market conditions. If the answer is no, you have three choices:

• Accept and budget. Close at the agreed terms and plan the repairs from your own cash.
• Narrow the ask. Come back with only the safety and lender-required lines.
• Cancel. The CFPB says that if your purchase contract is contingent on a satisfactory inspection, "you should be able to cancel the sale without penalty." That depends on having that contingency and meeting its deadlines.

Your contract sets the deadline, how to cancel and whether your earnest money comes back, so confirm all three with your agent or attorney before you cancel. For deciding whether a finding is worth walking over, see when to walk away after a home inspection.

How common is it to back out after an inspection?

NAR reports 7% of contracts were terminated in the last three months, a figure it does not tie to inspections. The same survey found 20% of buyers waived the inspection contingency, which gives up the cancel option above. If you still have yours, use it before the deadline.

Is it still common to negotiate after an inspection?

Nationally, yes. Redfin found August's national share of sales with a concession was the highest for that month since at least 2020. In tight markets the share is far lower, as the table shows, so ask for less rather than nothing.

If your deadline is days away and you need to know which lines are worth the ask, upload your inspection report to Kept.

Sources

• Redfin, Home Seller Concessions, August 2026
• National Association of Realtors, Realtors Confidence Index
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Schedule a home inspection
• AmeriSave, The Real Cost of a Home Inspection