HELP Negotiate inspection issues OR money in lieu?
Hello again bigger pockets community!
I’d like to start by saying I am grateful for all of you’re responses. This process is driving me crazy in a good way and I know that when I am stuck I can always come to these forums for some advice. I’ve been planning this house house as of February 2019 and now that the time has come it feels so surreal. I feel prepared but also understand that certain things come with experience.
Ok let’s get on to it then! My offer got accepted on a 2 family home this past Sunday. A beautiful newly renovated 2 bedroom apartment where i will be living with my husband and daughter and a 5 bedroom unit next door (also newly renovated) with 2 bathrooms that we plan to rent by the room. There is also a basement that I will be renting out to my brother. After doing the math of the rental income vs the mortgage payment I should break even which was my goal. I want to start this journey to financial freedom and the first step was to eliminate my living expense.
So offer accepted on Sunday. I scheduled an inspection for today, Wednesday.
Summary of the findings:
1. 6 minor plumbing issues (accordion pipes in bathroom sinks, leak on dishwasher valve, grout in shower where there should be caulk etc)
2. 2 minor electrical (outlet in 1 basement room doesn’t work, there are tons of other outlets that do work, and second floor bedroom light switch turns off the outlets in the room- all other rooms don’t do this). I refer to these a minor because according to my inspector each issue should be about $150 to fix. Please let me know if you disagree with him. I am going to be calling some specialists tomorrow to get some quotes.
3. The basement is made of stone wall which my inspector says is prone to moisture getting in which turns into mold. We spotted some exposed spots of stone wall which had this white mold. However, majority of the basement has the stone wall covered with drywall so he wasn’t able to check all of the walls. He said he doesn’t think we have a current issue but that this will probably become an issue down the line in 3-5 years.
4. The biggest thing. The roof. The inspector said that it’s pretty much at the end of its life and will need to be repaired in about 2-3 years. In addition, it has 3 layers when it should have 2. The bottom layer looks like cedar shake is an inside layer and it’s expanding. He says a roof that size would be estimated at 20k.
I am waiting for the official report and then I want to negotiate my offer with the seller. I am torn between asking for the minor repairs and a credit for the sales price (is 20k too much?), only asking for the credit, and/or getting a home warranty. I am hesitant because I want to close on this house but 20k is a big expense to plan for. I also don’t want to turn the seller off because he has another offer on the table. But if he goes with the other offer I’m sure this issue is also going to come up.