Issue during home inspection

[Kenneth Hynes]

Hello All -   Intermediate level investor (have 5 buy and holds) looking to do my first home hack / Multi family on a two unit .    

I am in the due diligence / home inspection phase after putting in an offer for a two unit property that was being offered as an estate sale (owner passed and the heirs didn't want the building) The listing agent made a point about saying the house was "As IS" (this wasn't in the Witeen MLS listing) . After viewing the property and looking at other inventory in the area , decided to put an offer in at ~$12 K below asking ( $200,000) . Offer was accepted the next day and we went under contract

After my offer was accepted , arranged for a home inspection . Most of what the inspector found I had already anticipated through my walk throughs, but one issue popped up was the third floor bathroom , specifically it leaked during flushing , both on the floor and small water cascade on the floor below The toilet did have a note on it saying not to flush , there was a drain problem , so the previous owners did know about it. Question is how best to proceed . According to the listing agent , they don’t want to fix it, but are open to offering a credit on closing .

How do I get an accurate estimate / correct credit amount without a plumber physically inspecting the unit , (property is vacant and arranging it to be opened is a big coordinations hassle ; and how much to ask for credit ?

[Joe Norman]

Sounds like a minor issue with a wax ring or another gasket.  Worse case it could be cracked porcelain but even then it'll only cost $125 or so for a whole new toilet (plus labor, if you aren't doing it yourself).  Do you have an agent representing you?  If so she should be advising you on how to properly handle this negotiation.  If not, I'd say to ask for a $500 credit and settle for $0 since this is probably a pretty minor issue.