Without knowing the sales price of the house it ‘sounds’ reasonable. You can always ask, but in this red hot market the seller might just say no, so prepare for that.

I don’t know … sounds like a lot of work. The septic system alone … Your realtor and inspector should be able to help with repair estimates. Will you have the cash to make the repairs? Now that the problems have been identified the seller is obligated to disclose them to potential buyers. Personally, I’d be very cautious.

“Septic past life expectancy (35 years)”

That alone, if needing to be addressed, would exceed your 2% credit.

Yeah it passed inspection but its still old so its a gamble. I dont want to be unreasonable asking for $5k for a system that passed inspection but its still old? I know it could possibly last 10 more years or only 2 I know that will not nearly cover it but its better than nothing. the 8k should cover the other repairs.

Septic systems, properly maintained, can last for years. Ours was installed in 1965.

Thats reassuring. Ill have to get maintance records and see if it was pumped regularly. I have been reading some of these older systems are better than the new ones if maintained

If it were my house and in this market, I would decline. All those repairs are minor and most expected with an older home. Sounds like it’s in pretty good shape. Inspections are used to get the price down and most turn up something. Many new homeowners rarely fix the items on the list.

@Kate that is also my thought is that if we ask for ”too much” in this market theyll walk. homes in this area have been selling anywhere from asking to 50k-75k over . we did offer over asking but not by much but this home is older than many in the neighborhood

Sounds more than reasonable to me...unless there are other offers on the table.

For the approx. 60 yr. old home we bought this June, our offer was one of four being presented. We didn't have an inspection (OK, I was a licensed builder/renovator) and we paid 3.5% over list. Lesser home across the street just sold for 27% more.

Hard to imagine the vendor refusing to deal with your offer altogether because of negotiation. Provided your agent is not a complete a**.

@worthy we went only 1.5% above asking and were one of two offers on the table, they cancelled upcoming showings when they accepted our offer. so with 8k credit and 5k off price itd come out to 2% less than asking about 7k less than asking. idk if thats worth it to them to relist and disclose the issues or if the market is hot enough people wont care and theyll get better offers

By law, in our jurisdiction they would now have to disclose the termite problem. (Doesn't mean they will!)

If they don't accept your counteroffer you can always concede. Your market. Your call.

I would say pick the problem that you are actually going to repair right away and let that be your price or better yet get an actual estimate to repair and have the seller pay for it.

With that list, $5k sounds like a bargain. Not sure if you're the buyer or seller, but when I sold last year and the inspection found a couple issues, I had to get quotes for remediation for each one. Here's an example: mold in attic was $2750 for mold removal/remediation; new roof vent installation was $1085 plus the electrician to hook it up. So that's about $4k just for some mold that happened because my attic wasn't venting properly. (No associated ceiling damage.)

This is in one of the higher cost of living suburbs of Chicago, and since prices are super variable depending on location may or may not be helpful. My advice is that the seller needs to get estimates for repairs for all things found in the inspection, or decline to address.