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Be careful how you draft repair clauses in real estate agreements

After a typical home inspection, a buyer inspector discovers various deficiencies. The question is, what to do about them? In many cases, the buyer asks the seller to repair the item prior to closing. However, no process is mentioned to deal with situations where the buyer is not satisfied with the repairs that were done.

In addition, there is no “right” for the buyer to hold back any money on closing, unless the agreement specifically provides for it. My advice is in most cases, just estimate what it will cost to fix, negotiate a price reduction and let the buyer do the repairs after closing.

See the attached article about problems that occur when repair clauses are misunderstood.

Click here to read the article.

http://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/2013/06/09/

toronto_home_sale_leads_to_repair_clause_dispute.html