Pricing inspection findings as a buyer's agent
Put a named source, the scope, and the report page next to every dollar figure on a repair request, so the listing side counters instead of saying no.
Updated · By 
Ben Sikes
How do you price a finding so it doesn't read like a wish list?
Put a dollar figure on every line of the repair request, and make sure the number comes from someone other than you: a contractor's bid, the inspector's priced add-on, or a report-pricing service. Next to each figure, write who priced it, what work it covers, and the report page the finding is on. An unpriced line reads as a guess. A line with a named source gives the listing agent something to counter instead of a flat no.
Key takeaways
- Every line gets three things beside the dollar figure: the source, the scope, and the report page.
- Attach someone else's number. Your own price opinion is the easiest line to reject.
- Foundation movement, whole-house repipes, and drainage get a specialist quote, never a desk estimate.
Where do you get a number during the inspection window?
You have four places to go, and they trade speed for weight.
| Source | How fast | How it reads to the listing side |
|---|---|---|
| Contractor bid | Slowest, since someone has to visit | Strongest, a named company put its price in writing |
| Inspector's priced add-on | Same day, if your inspector offers it | Strong, tied directly to the report |
| Report-pricing service | Hours | Good, if every line shows its basis |
| National cost guide | Minutes | Weak, use it only to sanity-check the others |
Don't count on the inspection report to carry numbers. The International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI) Standards of Practice list "correction, replacement or repair cost estimates" among the things an inspector is not required to determine.
For a mixed list, get bids on the two or three biggest items and price the rest in one pass. Kept prices every line of an inspection report for $79, usually under 4 hours. How to get repair estimates during the inspection period walks through the timing.
Should you price a finding yourself, or attach someone else's number?
Attach someone else's number. When you write a figure yourself, the listing agent can dismiss it as the buyer's side inflating the ask. When the figure carries a contractor's name or a priced memo, the argument moves from "says who?" to "is this scope right?", which is a conversation you can win.
It also protects you. Your broker sets what you can put in writing on a repair request, so check what your broker allows before you send.
How do you make a figure read as sourced?
Write the line the way the listing agent will check it. Here is the same roof finding written both ways.
| Reads like a wish list | Reads as sourced | |
|---|---|---|
| Finding | "Roof issues" | The inspector's own words, such as cracked and lifted shingles on the rear slope |
| Remedy | "Replace roof" | Replace the damaged shingles and underlayment on that slope |
| Figure | A round number | The total from the bid or memo |
| Basis | None | Who priced it, attached |
| Report page | None | The page and section the finding is on |
The listing agent can hold the second line up against their copy of the report and see exactly where the number came from.
Which findings should skip a desk estimate?
Three kinds of findings don't belong on any desk estimate: structural movement in the foundation, a whole-house repipe, and regrading or drainage correction. The real cost depends on what a specialist finds once they open a wall or dig along the foundation, and no formula can see that.
Get the specialist out during the contingency window and list the line as "pending contractor quote," not a placeholder number. A placeholder invites the other side to anchor on it. If you need background first, see foundation cracks on an inspection report and polybutylene pipes on an inspection report.
How do you write the repair request as the buyer's agent?
If the inspector's report is in Spectora, its Repair Request Builder holds one figure per line; in Arizona, the same list goes on a BINSR (BINSR repair estimate tools). Before you send, run this check:
- Every finding on the request has a dollar figure or says "pending contractor quote."
- Each figure names its source: contractor, inspector, or pricing service.
- Each figure states the scope, not just a trade name.
- Each figure cites the report page.
- The request says which metro the figures are priced for.
- Nothing on the request is your own number with no source behind it.
The buyer repair request letter template gives you a blank version to copy. Whether you ask for repairs, a credit, or a lower price changes the total you put at the bottom, and repairs vs. credit vs. price reduction covers that choice.
Does your state have a form for this instead of a letter?
Often, yes. Many state Realtor associations publish a standard form. In Pennsylvania, it's Form BRI, the "Buyer's Reply to Inspections/Reports or Written Corrective Proposal," used "to notify the seller of the buyer's choice to accept the property or renegotiate the agreement."
Form or letter, the request needs the same parts:
| Part | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Property and parties | The address, buyer, seller, and inspection date |
| Buyer's decision | First line: accept, ask for repairs or a credit, or give notice to cancel |
| Findings | One line each, with the report page and a sourced dollar figure |
| Reply-by date | When you need an answer |
Once the seller agrees, the terms move into a repair addendum. Your contract sets the deadlines and terms for all of this, so confirm the dates with your broker before you send.
How do you handle several deals in contingency at once?
Set your sources before any window opens. Pick the contractors you call for anything over a dollar amount you choose, one pricing service for everything under it.
With the sources and the line format fixed, each new deal comes down to reading the report, dropping the findings into your structure, and sending. That's what keeps three overlapping inspection windows from turning into three all-nighters.
Can the home inspector give you repair costs?
Sometimes. Some inspectors sell a priced add-on. Ask when you book the inspection, not after the report lands.
What if the listing agent disputes your number?
Ask which line and why. If they have a lower bid for the same scope, compare the scopes line by line; the gap is usually in what each bid includes. If they have no basis, point back to yours and hold. A sourced number is easier to defend than to talk down.
If your buyer's window closes this week, upload the inspection report to Kept and get a sourced number on every line.
Sources
Cost figures are modeled from public wage and materials data unless a line says observed. Kept is accountable for the numbers on this page, and corrections go to support@usekept.com. How we price.