Buying my first home…need some advice?
Hi,
I am purchasing my first home (with my husband). The intercom system doesn’t work. When we had our home inspections, the inspector didn’t add this to his list (I asked him about it and he said that it didn’t have anything to do with the structure of the home). All of the issues on the home inspection sheet have been corrected. Now, we are wondering if we should bring up the broken intercom up at the settlement table. Both of the Realtor think that bringing this issue up at settlement will break the deal (because according to them I am getting a great deal). But, if I am purchasing a home…shouldn’t everything be in working condition. Some background information…we purchased the home for ,000 below the asking price…but it appraised at the value that we purchase the home for. I am emotionally attached to the home…and don’t want to lose it…we are using everything that we have to purchase this home and we will be on a tight budget after we get this home and we can’t afford to have issues. Question: a. Should we bring this issue up at settlement (or are we being to picky). b. Should we purchase the house with the broken intercom system and just fix it in the future? c. Should we bring the issue up at settlement and if they don’t fix it - walk away from the house (with this issue, I am worried about losing my 00 deposit).
Thanks in advance,
VC Travel
Bringing it up at settlement is really too late. You should have raised it with the sellers much earlier (the inspector was right in regards to what he said about it not being structural (or a hazard) however, that didn’t mean that you could not have added it to the repair list.
Listen to your realtors - if they think it is a deal breaker, it probably is. If it is, you will lose your earnest money since you are breaking the deal.
Buy the house as is. Fix the intercom after you own the house. If there is a home warranty policy, the repair may covered on the warranty.
An intercom system is considered more a luxury than a need. I would not be picky on this issue. Most homes don’t have intercom systems. It sounds like you are already getting a good deal on this home. Do you really want to take a chance of losing it over something so silly?
Really? An intercom…wow.
I have another option for you:
D. Do your sellers neighbors a favor and walk away from the home.
I can’t believe how picky buyers have gotten in this market. What’s next? The lightbulb for the keypad at the security gate is burned out?
No. When you are buying a house everything is not required to be in working order. If you require a house that everything is in working order you will pay much higher than normal.
The people that agree to buy a house with very few repairs usually get a much better price and also get to have things done to their satisfaction.
When we bought our 1969 house two years ago we removed the intercom and repaired the holes in the walls. They used to be popular years ago but now I think they are out of style.
If you really love the house then it is not worth it to walk away. You could definitely lose your $1,000 deposit depending on what your contingency was. Is it worth losing $1,000 over an intercom?