You aren't required to meet current code for an older home; are they asking you to change the deck and attic venting?

They have not gotten back to us yet, they are supposed to by today. I am just trying to brace myself for what they might come back with/what is reasonable for them to expect me to do.

The insulation is in our crawlspace. It is installed so the paper part is "out", what you see when you look up, the paper is stapled to the floor joists. The pink part is against the floor of the house which I guess is backward. The inspector said there could be moisture problems because the paper on the insulation is a vapor barrier. We have a plastic vapor barrier down on the ground so I am not sure where this moisture would be coming from? It just seems like a big headache to me and I don't really want to deal with it or pay for it. But like I said, I def don't want these guys to walk away either.

I know I don't have to bring the deck up to code, I just didn't know if people generally expect that.

The insulation would be what I ask to be corrected. It will not be cheap. But then again, the next buyer after this one will more than likely request that it be corrected to.

What I find frustrating is we purchased this house 7 years ago, the insulation has not changed since then and our inspector didn't say anything about it. I had no idea it wasn't "right". When you look in our crawlspace it looks all nice and neat with the brown paper neatly stapled up and staring back at you. Grrrrr. I wonder if the insulation can be re-used or if we would have to buy all new. It appears to be in good condition from the small amount I pulled back to look at.

Whether it is "right" or not, actually depends on where in the country you live. If you find energyraterla or some of the others on teh hvac forum to ask the question of, you might find your inspector was correct, or yours was incorrect.

I wouldn't consider that a deal breaker. The deck and attic are not things that you should do anything about. That information is "for information only" for the buyers.

I'm not sure that there is a norm (sorry!).

When I and I number of friends and peers were selling our pre-crash-purchased properties after the housing crash, we all agreed to some pretty stupid repairs & credits, just to get our places sold. I'm under contract now to sell a different house (desirable location & property, and a much, much better market), and I told my buyers to pound sand, and they backed off. So, while this is obviously anecdotal, assuming no major surprises on the inspection, I tend to think it has more to do with the relative bargaining power of the parties involved in the post-inspection negotiation than anything else.

Not much you can do other than wait to hear. My advice is to try as hard as you can not to get emotional about it and view it from a financial perspective.

You can always offer a credit rather than a repair (I would always prefer to do that). Cash buyers are fantastic and I would try to make it work if you can.

Rather than offering "x" off the purchase price, state that you'll put "x" amount in escrow for 6 months. If the funds aren't used for the repairs the buyers are asking for, the money is returned to you. I suggest this because some buyers aren't concerned about the repairs, they just want the money. So, if they don't actually fix those SPECIFIC repairs (with receipts as proof), you'll get the money back. They just can't keep the money or use it for something else.

This post was edited by Jewel654 on Thu, Jan 30, 14 at 17:41

That is a great idea Jewel thanks! Still have not heard back. They technically have until Monday to let us know but they told us they would let us know by today because we are to be out of the house a week from Monday.

I like that idea too, Jewel. Who would hold the escrow in this case of a cash sale or in our case where our buyers are financing?

The closing attorney would hold the funds in their account until receipts are shown.

Okay all they asked for was that we re-label our breakers and update the ones that are supposedly not "correct" but they are all ones that are listed as acceptable on the breaker box itself so the inspector didn't know what he was doing and that is awesome for us. Not sure why they didn't say anything about the insulation but I am not asking any questions!!

It sounds to me that $10,000 should more than cover the identified repairs. Not sure how that insulation under the house got installed like that. Had to be the homeowner or a fly by night handyman. Anyone in the insulation business should have known this was incorrect.

Good News! Congratulations on what looks like a simple sale now. Maybe they googled the insulation thing and found info going both ways so not an issue to them.

Don't know of 1 lender in my area that will allow funds to be escrowed anymore....all repairs/discounts have to be completed prior to closing.
You might find a bank that does in house loans that will allow escrow but I sure don't know of any.

Same here LOTO

Fortunately, it's a cash buyer so the escrow funding could work, but sounds like it's OBE.