You just had the home inspection, and issues were found by the inspector. As the buyer, should you cancel the sale?

The answer is maybe, or maybe not. When purchasing a home, you should always get the home inspection by a licensed professional. The inspector will almost always find something wrong with the house. After all, no house appears to be perfect. But the real question is, what is serious enough to cause you to kill the deal?

There are certain things that you don’t want to be involved with. Don’t get involved when there are issues like foundation issues, serious water damage, mold and more. The roof and the heating / cooling systems can be very expensive. If they need replacement, did you factor that into your offering price? If not, you may consider asking the seller to help pay for those big ticket items.

However, the inspector may find deficiencies that are not necessarily deal killers. And many of these can be fixed relatively inexpensively. You can request a credit from the seller and get them done yourself. Otherwise, ask the seller to get them fixed. Some things that you may think would be deal killers, but aren’t necessarily so, would be cracks in the concrete floors, some molds, lead-based paint or wood destroying insect infestation.

Small cracks in concrete floors are relatively normal and can be filled or patched. Rely on your inspector to tell you if it’s a serious issue or not, should it be found. Not all mold is dangerous. If the inspector sees mold and doesn’t know for sure, bring in a specialist.

Lead based paint, which was used in homes built before 1978, may still be present in the home. A certified contractor can remove lead-based paint.

If wood destroying insects are present, it depends on whether there is significant damage or not. Either way, if damage is found you can ask the homeowner to have it replaced or rep[aired. If the seller is unwilling to do that then it may be time to kill the deal. But it can be fixed, it’s just a question of how much.

The inspector may also find issues with the HVAC systems or some of the appliances. These can be easily taken care of. We usually ask the seller, in this situation, to purchase a home warranty. They home warranty will cover the entire HVAC system, the furnace, air conditioner, hot water heater and also all of the appliances included in the sale. Should any of these items fail during the warranty period, you’ll pay a small service call and the warranty company will either fix or replace the item at their option. And these contracts can be renewed every year.

So simply because there are some issues found in your inspection, don’t take this as a sign that you actually have to kill the deal. Most of these can be overcome, hopefully we can get the seller to take care of all of the issues.

Please call us you’re ready to either buy or sell a home, because we can help you. IF you’d like to search for a condo in other Monmouth County towns, click here.