How to address buyer repair requests after the home inspection

Written by Samantha SheltonNMLS 1647301Updated October 2026

When a buyer’s repair request lands, sort it into three buckets before you answer: safety and structural defects, condition items the buyer’s loan program requires fixed, and cosmetic wear. The first two are where your negotiating capital belongs. And if you would rather write a check than swing a hammer, learn the ceiling first: FHA caps what interested parties may contribute toward a buyer’s closing costs at 6% of the sales price, and conventional financing caps it at 3%, 6% or 9% depending on loan-to-value.

Seller and contractor inspecting a basement water heater while sorting through buyer repair requests before closing

Two things settle most of these negotiations: a written contractor estimate, because a request framed as a large round number is a position and not a price, and the buyer’s loan program, which quietly removes some of your choices before you make them.

Learn how buyer repair requests work, which items you have to address, when a credit beats doing the work yourself, and how to answer in writing. If you’re earlier in the process, start with our Selling a Home guide.

Key takeaways:

Sort the list into 3 buckets: Safety defects, structural problems and lender-required condition items are the negotiable core; cosmetic wear and aging-but-working systems are fair to decline.
Credits are capped by the buyer’s loan: Interested-party contributions top out at 6% of the sales price on FHA and 3% to 9% on conventional depending on loan-to-value, and anything above the cap comes off the sales price before the lender sizes the loan.
Michigan’s disclosure duty covers 1 to 4 dwelling units: Whatever the buyer’s inspector finds is now something you know, which makes a pre-listing inspection the cheapest way to control the conversation.

What is a buyer repair request, and when does it arrive?

A buyer repair request is a written demand, delivered during the inspection contingency period, asking you to repair specific defects, credit money at closing, or cut the price before the buyer proceeds. It arrives within days of the inspection and is built almost entirely from the inspector’s report.

That report is not a repair list you owe. A home inspection is a visual survey of the systems an inspector can see that day, written to a professional standard of practice. Those standards explain why the report reads so alarmingly: inspectors must describe defects, not weigh them against the age or price of the house. Skim how certified inspectors document defects and ASHI’s standards of practice for home inspections before you read a single line as an obligation.

Your first job is translation. Walk the report against the request and mark what the buyer actually asked for, because buyers usually ask for less than the report contains. Our walkthrough of how to read a home inspection report covers the vocabulary.

Which repairs do you have to address, and which can you decline?

Nothing on the list is automatically yours except the condition items your buyer’s lender requires, because that loan is insured against the property, not just the borrower. Everything else is a negotiation governed by your purchase agreement, not by law.

Usually address	Genuinely negotiable	Fair to decline
Active roof leaks, water intrusion	An aging roof still shedding water	Curling shingles on a detached shed
Exposed wiring, missing GFCI protection, an unsafe panel	An older but functioning panel	Outlets missing cover plates
Structural movement, continuing settlement, failing supports	Hairline cracks with no displacement	Cosmetic drywall cracks, nail pops
Dead furnace or water heater, plumbing leaks	Systems near end of life but working	Dated fixtures, worn carpet, paint
Environmental hazards the lender or the law reaches	Radon or well-water results	Landscaping, code items legal when installed

The lender column is the one sellers underestimate. FHA holds homes to Minimum Property Requirements, HUD’s general requirement that every home it insures be safe, sound and secure. When an appraiser finds noncompliance, HUD’s handbook requires that appraiser to note all repairs necessary to comply along with an estimated cost to cure, and where a defective condition exists and correction is not feasible, the lender must reject the property.¹ HUD’s list of defective conditions includes continuing settlement, excessive dampness, leakage, decay, termites and environmental hazards.

VA-guaranteed financing runs its own property review, and the VA is explicit that its appraisal “isn’t a home inspection or a guaranty of value.”² The takeaway is the same for both: once a government-backed appraiser writes a condition into the file, that item stops being a negotiation.

How do you price a repair request before you answer?

Get at least one written estimate on every line you might actually pay for, and get it before you respond. An estimate turns an argument about severity into an argument about dollars, which is the one you can win.

Price the scope, not the symptom: Have the contractor quote the specific defect the inspector described. A bid to replace a whole system when the report names one failed component is the buyer’s negotiation, not yours.
Use licensed contractors and pull permits: Michigan’s disclosure form asks directly whether repairs were made without necessary permits or licensed contractors, so an unpermitted quick fix creates a disclosure item that outlives the deal.
Get the cost to cure in writing: On government-backed loans the appraiser is already estimating one. A contractor’s number well under it gives you something concrete to counter with.
Price the alternative: Compare the repair number against days back on market, not against zero.

Timing matters as much as price, because work squeezed between your response and the closing date runs on somebody else’s calendar. Our guide to managing home repairs during escrow covers what happens when a contractor slips.

Should you fix it or offer a credit?

A credit is usually cleaner, because it moves the work, the scheduling risk and the workmanship liability to the buyer in one line of the amendment. Doing the work yourself wins when the item affects loan approval or the fix is small enough to control.

Consideration	Do the work yourself	Offer a credit
Control over cost	High. You pick the contractor.	Lower. You negotiate the buyer’s number.
Schedule risk before closing	Yours. A contractor delay is your delay.	None. The work happens after you’re gone.
Workmanship liability	Yours, and it can follow you past closing.	The buyer’s, once the credit is documented.
Loan-program limits	None. Repairs are not a contribution.	Capped, and a mislabeled credit can shrink the loan.
Best when	The lender requires it, or the fix is quick.	The item is large or slow to schedule.

The cap is where sellers get surprised. A credit toward the buyer’s closing costs is an interested-party contribution, and every loan program limits it.

Conventional, principal residence or second home: Fannie Mae limits financing concessions to 3% of value above 90% loan-to-value, 6% from 75.01% to 90%, and 9% at 75% or below. Investment property is capped at 2%.
FHA: Interested parties may contribute up to 6% of the sales price toward origination fees, other closing costs, prepaid items and discount points.
What a credit can never do: Contributions cannot fund the down payment, reserves or the minimum borrower contribution. If your buyer is short on cash to close, a credit does not fix it.
Over the cap is not a rounding error: Concessions above the limit get deducted from the sales price, and the lender then uses the lower of the reduced price or the appraised value to set loan-to-value.

One trap deserves its own paragraph, because it costs FHA deals every month. HUD treats a repair allowance as an inducement to purchase rather than a closing-cost contribution, and inducements cut the purchase price dollar for dollar when the lender computes adjusted value. Agree to a $5,000 credit on a $300,000 Waterford sale, write it as a repair allowance, and adjusted value becomes $295,000: the maximum 96.5% loan drops from $289,500 to $284,675, and your buyer needs $4,825 more in cash.³ Written as a closing-cost credit inside the 6% limit, the same $5,000 leaves the loan alone. Our breakdown of seller-paid closing costs shows how that language gets drafted.

How to respond to a repair request in writing

Answer in one document, inside the deadline your contract sets, and keep every word factual. Four moves do the work.

Acknowledge the report: Confirm you received the inspection report and the request, and name the date of each. Silence reads as refusal and starts the buyer’s cancellation clock for you.
Itemize line by line: Mark each item agreed, countered or declined. A blanket no to a 14-item list invites a blanket cancellation; 4 agreements and 10 declines invites a counter.
Counter with estimates attached: Where you’re offering less than asked, attach the contractor’s number. A $9,000 request answered with a $1,400 licensed quote for the same scope moves the conversation to arithmetic.
Set a response deadline: Give a specific date and time, aligned with contingency dates already in the contract, so nothing you write extends the buyer’s way out.

Tone is strategy here, not manners. The most expensive seller errors in this window are emotional ones, and our list of common seller mistakes to avoid puts them in order. For where this step sits, see our selling process guide.

What happens if you refuse the request entirely?

The buyer can typically cancel during the inspection contingency period and recover the earnest money, or waive the issue and proceed, depending on how your contract reads. Refusal is legitimate, but price it honestly first.

Three costs sit behind a flat no. Your days on market restart, and relisted homes carry a story buyers ask about. The next buyer’s inspector finds the same conditions, so you negotiate this again with less leverage. And you now hold knowledge you didn’t have before, which changes what you write on your disclosure statement. See how to handle a buyer backing out for the mechanics, and Nolo’s overview of your legal obligations when responding to repair demands before you call an attorney.

When a repair issue becomes a financing problem

Repair negotiations fail at the loan more often than at the table, in three predictable ways: an appraiser writes a condition that must be cured before funding, a credit gets structured over the program cap, or a credit gets labeled a repair allowance and shrinks the value the loan is built on. All three are visible in advance in the file.

Align Lending is a mortgage broker, not a listing brokerage, so we are never across the table from you. We can read the structure your buyer’s lender will apply, and run your own numbers forward, because every dollar you credit changes your net proceeds and your down payment on the next house. When timing is tight, bridge loans cover the gap between the two closings, and the finances of selling shows where the proceeds land.

What Michigan sellers should know

Michigan’s Seller Disclosure Act applies to transfers of real estate consisting of not less than 1 and not more than 4 residential dwelling units, and no repair negotiation suspends it.

The duty covers 1 to 4 dwelling units, with 9 statutory exceptions: Those nine include court-ordered transfers, foreclosure sales, transfers by a nonoccupant fiduciary and transfers to close family. Selling “as is” is not on the list, so an as-is contract changes what you agree to repair, not what you must disclose.
What the buyer’s inspector finds belongs on the next form: The statutory form asks whether there has been evidence of water in the basement or crawl space, whether the roof leaks, whether there are settling, flooding, drainage, structural or grading problems, and whether you know of hazards such as asbestos, radon gas or lead-based paint. Every answer must be made in good faith, which the Act defines as honesty in fact.
Late disclosure gives the buyer 72 or 120 hours to walk: The statement is due before you sign a binding purchase agreement. If a disclosure or amendment lands afterward, the buyer may terminate within 72 hours if it was hand-delivered or 120 hours if it came by registered mail, a right that ends at transfer by deed or land contract.
Homes built before 1978 carry a separate federal duty: Sellers of most pre-1978 housing must disclose known lead-based paint and hazards, provide the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead In Your Home,” and give buyers a 10-day window for a paint inspection, which the parties may lengthen, shorten or waive in writing.

None of this makes you the guarantor of the house. Michigan law says a seller is not liable for an error outside their personal knowledge, and missing something discoverable only by inspecting inaccessible areas is not a violation. Read what a seller’s disclosure is next; a pre-listing home inspection buys the same information early.

How Align keeps your sale and purchase on one timeline

Selling and buying at once means two closings that have to line up. Samantha builds your next loan around your sale date, together with your agent, so the two dates are planned as one.

She handles your loan herself, with a processor supporting her behind the scenes, and her loans averaged under 14 days from application to clear to close over the last 12 months, across more than 100 loans. Clear to close is not the same as closing: your purchase agreement sets the closing date, and her job is to have your loan ready well before it.

Plan a buy before you sell

Sources: Align Lending loan records, 12 months to October 2026.

FAQ: Buyer repair requests

Here are answers to common questions about buyer repair requests.

Do I have to make every repair a buyer asks for?

No. Outside of condition items your buyer’s lender requires, repairs are negotiable. Sellers commonly address safety hazards, structural defects and active leaks, and decline cosmetic wear, aging but functional systems and code items that were legal when installed. Refusing everything risks cancellation under the inspection contingency, so counter with a partial list or a credit.

Is it better to fix the problem or give a repair credit?

A credit is usually simpler. It avoids scheduling contractors against a closing date and removes your liability for the workmanship. Do the work yourself when the item affects loan approval, when the buyer’s estimate is inflated, or when the repair is cheap enough to control. Credits are also capped by the buyer’s loan program. See managing home repairs during escrow for what happens when work runs late.

What happens if I refuse the repair request entirely?

The buyer can typically cancel during the inspection contingency period and recover their earnest money, or proceed anyway. Before refusing, weigh the repair cost against your days back on market, the odds the next inspector finds the same items, and your duty to disclose what you now know.

Can a pre-listing inspection prevent repair requests?

It reduces them meaningfully. Paying for your own inspection before listing lets you fix real problems on your schedule at your own contractor’s price, price the home accordingly, or disclose upfront so buyers bid with eyes open. It also removes the surprise that gives buyers most of their leverage. See the benefits of a pre-listing home inspection for what the report costs.

The bottom line on buyer repair requests

Sort every buyer repair request into safety and structural defects, lender-required condition items and cosmetic wear, then answer in writing with contractor estimates attached. The first two buckets deserve real negotiation; the third is fair to decline. If you offer money instead of labor, structure it as a closing-cost credit inside the buyer’s program limits, 6% of the sales price on FHA and 3% to 9% on conventional by loan-to-value, because a credit written as a repair allowance can shrink the loan and cost you the deal. And everything you learn here is something Michigan’s disclosure form will ask you about next time.

If you’re selling and buying in the same season, talk to Align Lending. We’ll shop your next mortgage across our lender network, show you the numbers side by side, and flag any repair-credit structure that threatens your buyer’s financing. Call 248-506-5727 or start online.

Footnotes:

1. Align Lending is not acting on behalf of or at the direction of FHA or HUD. FHA Minimum Property Requirements, defective condition determinations, appraiser reporting duties, interested party contribution limits and inducement to purchase rules are set by HUD in Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 and are subject to change. Return to text.

2. Align Lending works with VA-approved lenders and is not endorsed or sponsored by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs or any government agency. Return to text.

3. Example figures in this article are hypothetical and for educational purposes only; they do not constitute an advertisement of credit terms or a rate quote under federal or state lending laws. Actual loan amounts depend on the appraised value, the buyer’s credit qualifications, program limits and how the credit is documented, and are determined by the lender, not by Align Lending. Return to text.

Sources: maximum financing concessions of 3%, 6%, 9% and 2% by occupancy and LTV/CLTV, the treatment of excess concessions as sales concessions deducted from the sales price, use of the lower of the reduced sales price or appraised value for LTV, and the prohibition on using contributions for down payment, reserves or the minimum borrower contribution, Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-4.1-02, Interested Party Contributions (published May 7, 2025). Interested party contributions up to 6 percent of the sales price toward origination fees, other closing costs, prepaid items and discount points; repair allowances and contributions exceeding 6 percent treated as inducements to purchase; adjusted value on purchase transactions as the lesser of purchase price less inducements or the property value; maximum purchase loan-to-value of 96.5 percent of adjusted value; Minimum Property Requirements that homes insured by FHA be safe, sound and secure; appraiser duty to note all repairs necessary to comply together with an estimated cost to cure; definition of defective conditions and rejection where correction is not feasible: HUD Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1. VA appraisal estimates market value and is not a home inspection or a guaranty of value, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Applicability of the seller disclosure requirements to transfers of not less than 1 or more than 4 residential dwelling units, MCL 565.952. Nine categories of exempt transfers, MCL 565.953. Delivery before execution of a binding purchase agreement, the 72-hour and 120-hour termination rights, and expiration of that right at transfer, MCL 565.954. Transferor not liable for errors outside personal knowledge and no violation for conditions discoverable only by inspecting inaccessible portions of the property, MCL 565.955. Statutory disclosure form contents including basement and crawl space water, roof leaks, environmental problems, settling, flooding, drainage, structural or grading problems, and repairs made without permits or licensed contractors, MCL 565.957. Good faith defined as honesty in fact, MCL 565.960. Pre-1978 housing lead-based paint disclosure, the “Protect Your Family From Lead In Your Home” pamphlet, and the 10-day inspection period that parties may lengthen, shorten or waive, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Real Estate Notification and Disclosure Rule (Section 1018 of Title X).

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, financial, or tax advice. Disclosure obligations, contract remedies and loan program rules change and vary by property, transaction and program; review your purchase agreement and consult a qualified attorney, tax professional or licensed loan originator about your situation. Align Lending is an independent Michigan mortgage broker and does not list homes for sale. Figures shown are illustrative, are not a rate quote or an offer of credit, and are subject to change. Align Lending, NMLS #2041154.