what can i do? what are my options?

[chriseverest]

we made an offer on a house which was accepted. we just had a home inspection and the inspector told us that there's some work need to be done on the roof, the furnace is 30, 35 years old, and the water heater's 25 years old. some of the wiring is copper(??) and can be a hazard. how do i go about negotiating with the seller side? any help would be appreciated.:confused:

[TJ2007]

I guess 1st you need to check your contract to see what it allows...

Most will either have written in a certain percentage or dollar amount that the seller will have to cover, unless you have an 'As-Is' contract which will make it more difficult.

Glad you had an inspection.

I would go after the major items and if the contract doesn't provide for it maybe let the smaller items slide...it is the inspectors job to point out all items, sometimes they make them sound scarier than they are (just my opinion)

[chriseverest]

TJ--thanks for responding. the house is NOT sold as is. i checked the house needs to be inspected and all that in my contract. i have FHA loan, the seller's paying 1500 closing cost and up to 2.5% of the offer price, which is around 2500. ideally, i would like them to get me a new furnace/water heater, and fix the roof.

anything else i should be aware of? anything else i should do?

thank you for any suggestions or comments.

[TJ2007]

Firstly a lot depends on what state you are in and what contract you are using.

Secondly you need your agent to address this with the seller asap

However the following is generally the norm:

The seller is only REQUIRED to repair or compensate you for non cosmetic items.
If the furnace & water heater are actually working this may be an issue.
If the the real costs of REQUIRED items that are not working or functional or dangerous exceed the 2.5% repair limit you can be released from the contract or renegotiate for them to be repaired or price reduced.

Regardless you should still have your realtor to go bat and try to have the seller take care of these items or compensate you for them...

[Thesa]

In Oregon we have a clause in the contract that is called the "Inspection Period" during that period the buyer has the right to have the home inspected, receive a copy of the report and the buyers agent and sellers agent need to negotiate any repairs or credits. The contract in Oregon is written with a blank for your agent to fill in the number of business days if not completed it is 10 business days, unless of course you waive your inspection.

Now, from the FHA loans I have done the lender will want the roof and the heater addressed not just given a credit. This of course varies from state to state, lender to lender and house to house.

It sounds to me like you are in the inspection period of your contract - you need to be sure that you and your agent are well aware of the timeline here. If this is not resoloved prior to our drop dead date you have accepted the home as is... which could mess up your loan.

Your agent should be able to give you the best advice about what works with your loan and your contract.

Let us know how it turns out.