Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
What if sellers refuse to do (critical) repairs? (re: radon)
Our sellers have had our repairs list for almost a week, and their only response was demanding a copy of the radon test report. They are pretty finicky. Negotiating with them was really difficult and getting any answer from them (even minor stuff) is like pulling teeth. I have a feeling they are going to act like 4.9 "is hardly anything" and say no. Our realtor says they'd be foolish to not do it but that doesn't mean they'll agree.
If they say no, what recourse do we have besides walking from the deal? Have them take money off of our contracted price? Something else? We only asked for 2 other things (fix the doorbell, which wasn't chiming, and show a receipt that they had the heat pump serviced recently since it wasn't tagged).
FWIW our house tested positive too and we're installing the system. We didn't even question whether to install it or not. Why would someone want to live in an unsafe house (especially since the finished basement in the next house will be DD's playroom).
Re: What if sellers refuse to do (critical) repairs? (re: radon)
I may be wrong, but if a seller finds out something in their home is unsafe, I think they either have to fix it or disclose it to future buyers that the condition exists.
If this is the case in your area, then it would make sense for them to just fix it for you since that's easier than putting the home back on the market and then having to disclose down the road.
Maybe this could be pointed out to them by their agent?
The other recourse is for you to ask for a sale price reduction or money toward your closing costs (as you already mentioned). Or walking away.
This. They'll have to tell any other buyers about it now that they know. It would be stupid not to fix it. You didn't give them a huge punch list, so hopefully their agent can convince them that they shouldn't be difficult.
The sellers we bought from were resistant to install as well until their realtor informed them they would have to disclose this to any other potential buyers. It's less than a grand to install so I don't see why they wouldn't do it.
I had a similar situation when buying the home we close on next Monday - we asked for 3 things - fix something with the disposal, have furnace serviced, and perform radon mitigation. The seller pushed back so we removed the disposal repair from our ask and instead asked for the furnace service +$1000 for the radon mitigation. Our seller agreed to that.
Our radon # came back at 4.8, which is high according to EPA but average for the town we are moving to in MN.
After a chemical, miscarriage, ectopic, and failed fertility treatments..
BFP #4 05.25.12 | 01.19.13 Allison arrived @ 37w3d!
Love & luck to my IRL BFPBs kiki & Banker & to my besties!
Not necessarily. In NY, you just sign a form and give the buyers something like $500 at closing and you don't have to disclose anything.
She's in PA. That option doesn't exist here.
I suspect you are going to have to call their bluff on this one. If they don't respond, tell them you are backing out.
Know that they are aware of it, they will have to disclose it (and the report) to any interested parties. It is a material fact.
Review your contract and consult with your Realtor about strategy. Most contracts have time frames spelled out for requested repairs. If they don't respond, act quickly. I have a feeling they will either do the repair or offer a credit when pushed. Talk to your Realtor.
Good luck!
Lighthouse State Beach, Santa Cruz.