What repairs to request

 I encourage all buyers to have a complete home inspection but when it is all done some are sure that they want to ask to have every little thing fixed and other buyers ask for almost nothing.  

Some repairs do seem ridiculous but having a furnace repaired so that it works or having a leaky pipe fixed does not seem ridiculous. . . and when I use the word ridiculous I am using it in the old school way not in the 2010 overused urban dictionary way. 

Making an offer on an older home and then asking to have all the windows replaced seems a bit over the top.  Sometimes I have buyers

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who are looking for craftsman style homes built in 1910 to 1940 and expect them to have modern electrical systems where all of the electrical outlets are grounded.  Often after sellers have owned a home and lived in it for a couple of decades with two pronged outlets they don’t see having them changed over to grounded outlets for the buyers as a priority to have done before they leave. There are some things that a home has to have like working plumbing and in Minnesota a working furnace or boiler is required. Personally I believe that if something . . just about anything in a home leaks the sellers should fix it unless it is a family member and in that case they should take it with. 

Buyers should keep in mind that sellers do not always have the money needed to make repairs.  Sellers should understand that often home buyers are strapped for cash and can not afford to have repairs made and buy a home all at the same time . . yet buyers need to know that there will be repairs in the future and they should budget for them. 

Sellers can say no to any repair that the buyers ask for and the buyers can cancel the purchase agreement during the inspection period and find another home if the inspection reveals too many issues.  

The point of the inspection is for the buyers to know what they are buying and it also protects the sellers somewhat because the inspector is finding the problems that could upset the buyers if they found out after they owned the home.