After the buyer's inspection: how sellers weigh repair and credit requests

What the buyer already has before you negotiate

When the offer or purchase and sale agreement, whichever comes first, is signed after October 15, 2025, a Massachusetts regulation (760 CMR 74.00) covers sales of one-to-four-unit homes, condominium units and co-op units. A seller or the seller's agent may not make accepting an offer depend on the buyer waiving or limiting a home inspection, and may not accept an offer from a buyer who has said in advance that they intend to waive one. Some transfers are exempt, such as sales to relatives, foreclosures and certain new construction, so ask your attorney whether your sale is covered.

Before or at the signing of the first written contract, the seller's side gives the buyer a separate disclosure form that both sides sign. It states that if the buyer chooses to inspect, the buyer has a reasonable period after the first contract is fully signed, as agreed by buyer and seller, to decide whether to go ahead if the results are not satisfactory. A contract term that makes the inspection meaningless, for example by unreasonably limiting scheduling or barring the buyer from walking away over the results, is not allowed. The two sides may agree on a reasonable dollar threshold of estimated repairs below which the buyer cannot withdraw, or on a reasonable limit to the deposit refund if the buyer does withdraw.

The buyer is not required to inspect. A buyer may skip the inspection after receiving the disclosure, as long as the seller's side did not pressure or reward that choice.

So two things run side by side. Whether the buyer goes ahead is governed by the regulation and by the inspection terms in the offer or P&S. Repairs, credits and price changes are a separate negotiation that exists only if both sides agree. Agreeing to some repairs does not take away the buyer's right to withdraw within the agreed period, and refusing them does not by itself end the deal. Whether a withdrawal means the full deposit comes back depends on the contract terms, so leave that question to the attorneys.

Reading the request list

The inspection report belongs to the buyer. You usually see only the request letter and whatever pages the buyer chooses to share. It is reasonable to ask for the report pages behind each request, so you are answering what the inspector actually wrote rather than a summary.

Put each item into one of three groups. Safety and water problems come first: exposed wiring, a missing stair rail, a heating appliance that is not venting properly, an active roof leak. Next are items the inspector flagged for further evaluation by a specialist, which means the cause or extent is not yet known. Last is routine maintenance and wear that is normal for the age of the house, such as caulking, gutter cleaning or a dripping faucet.

A home inspection is a visual, written evaluation of readily accessible systems as they were on the day of the inspection. Under the inspectors' standards of practice, the inspector does not have to report remaining life, the cause of a problem, repair methods or code compliance, and the report must call for further investigation when the extent of a problem is unknown or concealed damage is suspected. Words like “evidence of” or “possible” describe a sign, not a diagnosis. For those items, the useful next step is a specialist's opinion, not an argument over the wording.

Also notice what was visible all along. An older kitchen or old windows that were plain at every showing were probably part of how the buyer arrived at the price. That does not put the request out of bounds, but it affects how much weight you give it.

Pricing the items that matter

A number in a buyer's letter is a starting point, not a quote. For each item you take seriously, get a written estimate from someone who has looked at the problem. Compare the scopes line by line: does the estimate fix the defect, replace a whole system, or add upgrades beyond the defect?

Check who you are hiring. For existing owner-occupied homes of one to four units, the state's Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) law generally requires the contractor to be registered, and you can check registration and complaint history on the state's MA Contractor Hub. Investment, vacation and secondary properties are not covered by that law. Work involving structural elements generally needs a licensed construction supervisor, and electricians and plumbers work under their own licenses. Ask for proof of liability insurance and, where applicable, workers' compensation insurance.

If you take on the work, put it in a written contract. State law requires home improvement contracts over $1,000 to be in writing, and a registered contractor may not collect more than one-third of the price up front unless special-order materials are needed. The contract should say who pulls the building permit. The state notes that a homeowner who pulls the permit personally may lose eligibility for the HIC Guaranty Fund.

Repairs, a credit or a price change

Once the items and costs are clear, there are three common ways to respond, and you may also decline any request. Each choice puts the risk in a different place.

• Repairs by the seller before closing: you control the contractor and the cost, but you also carry the schedule, any permits, the receipts and the buyer's check at the final walk-through. If the buyer has a VA loan, repairs listed in a repair addendum need a re-inspection by the appraiser once they are done, so allow time for it.
• A closing credit: a fixed amount on the settlement statement, with no work or schedule for you before closing. The buyer's loan program limits seller credits and what they can be used for, so the buyer's lender has to confirm the amount works before anyone signs.
• A price reduction: changes the contract price itself. Because the buyer's loan is tied to the purchase price, the buyer's side needs to confirm the change with the lender as well.

A credit in numbers, and what stays outside the negotiation

To see what a credit does to your cash, take one set of assumptions only: a $1,000,000 sale price, a $350,000 mortgage payoff and $45,000 of transaction expenses (an assumed total, not a fee quote or tax rate) leave $605,000 before tax review. A $10,000 credit to the buyer brings that to $595,000. Before you agree, run your own figures with your attorney; the guide to seller net proceeds goes through each line.

Some obligations do not depend on this negotiation. The smoke and carbon monoxide compliance certificate from the local fire department, for example, is a separate requirement that the P&S usually has you deliver at closing.

Deadlines and putting it in writing

The inspection period and the date by which the buyer must give notice are set in the offer or P&S, and in Massachusetts the inspection usually happens before the P&S is signed. Find out early exactly when the buyer's decision period ends and how notice has to be given. If talks are still going as that date approaches, an extension has to be agreed in writing before it passes. Many P&S forms say who has authority to agree to extensions, often the attorneys, so check what yours says.

Whatever you agree, write it down: which items will be repaired and to what standard, who hires the contractor, what receipts or permits the buyer will see, the amount of any credit, or the new price. Agreements made by text or phone, or drafts nobody signed, leave both sides unsure what the contract now says. Your attorney prepares the amendment or repair addendum.

The report also changes what you know about the house. If the sale falls through and the home goes back on the market, ask your attorney how to handle what you learned when the next buyers ask questions.

A short worksheet keeps the response in order:

• List each request next to the report page it comes from, and mark it as safety or water, needs a specialist, or maintenance.
• Get written estimates for the items you take seriously, from contractors whose registration, license and insurance you have checked.
• Decide with your attorney whether each item calls for a repair, a credit, a price change or no change, and have the buyer's side confirm any credit or price change with the lender.
• Put the agreed terms in a signed amendment before the buyer's notice deadline, or sign a written extension first.