Home Repairs Often a Part of the Homebuying Process

Be Sure to Add to Your Budget

Homebuyers often use every resource they have to buy a home, calculating their monthly mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, and closing costs down to the last penny.

But part of any homebuyer's budget needs to allow for home repairs. More often than not, homebuyers will need to pay for repairs during or in the year immediately after purchasing a home.

"It used to be one per cent of the sales price of a home could be expected each year for repairs and maintenance," explains real estate agent Danielle Keil, "but that was before the recent rise in prices."

Nor does it mean that your sellers are scoundrels. You and your sellers probably use the home differently and to varying degrees, and some things break just with the passing of time.

But particularly for the closing, homebuyers want to know how much of that cost they will face right away. "You want to know what to expect," Keil explains.

How much of a particular repair will be paid by the seller, or credited to buyers on closing, often depends on the particulars of the home in question.

"Sellers usually only have to put in smoke detectors and strap the water heater. All other repairs are up to negotiation, and it all depends on the market as to whether the seller will make the repairs or the buyer," Keil notes.

Keil says that makes a home inspection a key part of the homebuying process, paying particular attention to the more common repair areas, such as the electrical system, the heating system, plumbing, and the roof.

Question marks may warrant a more specialized type of inspection. "In the case of a roof, I think, if it's not a new roof or you aren't sure of the date of the roof, if there's no paperwork documenting its age, you should get a roof inspection," Keil notes. She says that, for about $100, a roofing contractor will inspect the roof and certify that it is water-tight.

A termite report is another common inspection in the mild but damp Bay Area climate.