Selling a 1929 historic home. Buyers now want $20k reduction + $20k concessions after inspection. Fair or aggressive?
TL;DR: Selling a 1929 historic Phoenix home. Buyers offered full asking price ($440k), then after inspections asked us to either complete a huge list of repairs (roof, sewer, electrical, crawlspace, HVAC, etc.) or reduce the price by $20k AND give another $20k in concessions. Trying to figure out whether this is normal inspection negotiation or buyers aggressively re-trading the deal.
We’re selling a 1929 historic home in Phoenix and just got hit with a very aggressive inspection negotiation. Curious what others would do in this situation.
The house was not marketed as fully remodeled or turnkey. It’s an older historic home and was priced accordingly. Buyers made a full asking price offer of $440k before seeing it in person, then came afterward, spent several hours at the property, and were extremely enthusiastic about it. We also currently have a backup offer at full asking price.
Buyers waited until the second-to-last day of the inspection period to do inspections and had sewer, roofing, HVAC, and electrical specialists all at the property during the inspection.
Their requests include:
- full sewer line replacement
- full roof replacement (the roof is approximately 15 years old)
- replacing the electrical panel with new 200 amp panel
- addressing knob-and-tube wiring and attic wiring
- multiple outlet/GFCI/electrical corrections
- crawlspace support work
- HVAC servicing/upgrades including hard start kit and surge protector
Their alternative proposal is:
- reduce purchase price by $20k
AND
- provide another $20k in seller concessions
What’s interesting is that after going through the actual reports, many of the inspection findings seem less severe than the buyer requests themselves.
Examples:
- Inspector said roof is aged/weathered with maybe ~2 years left. Buyers requested full immediate roof replacement.
- Inspector said older Sylvania/Zinsco panel should be evaluated/replaced as needed. Buyers requested full new 200 amp service/panel and broader code upgrades.
- Inspector noted service wires touching tree branches. Buyers framed it more like electrical repair issues.
- HVAC report was largely maintenance/cleaning recommendations, not system failure. We live in Phoenix and have serviced/maintained the HVAC system every year and completed repairs whenever recommended.
- Sewer is the one item that does appear legitimately significant and we are getting our own sewer opinion/bid because that may realistically affect future buyers too - it is the original cast iron pipes and they said that there is buildup and it is deteriorating.
Our realtor feels the house was already priced with condition in mind and that a lot of these are old-house maintenance/upkeep issues rather than value-adding upgrades. She also thinks the fact they pivoted to a large reduction/concession request instead of insisting repairs actually be completed suggests they are negotiating hard for a better deal more than demanding a truly turnkey house.
Would you:
- hold firm?
- negotiate sewer only?
- let the deal die?
- or view this as pretty standard inspection negotiation on an older home?
Update: we got a second opinion on the sewer and they said that it is at end of life and saw water buildup where the sewer meets the city sewer.
Our realtor dug a little deeper with buyer to get the list for most important to least…
Sewer
Electric
Crawl Space
Roof
HVAC