When a Buyer Changes Their Mind After the Inspection

In competitive real estate markets, buyers often make concessions to help their offer stand out. But what happens when they regret one of those concessions after they're under contract?

In the first episode of Just the Tip Tuesday, I talk about a real situation another agent recently brought to me.

The Concession That Won the House

Their buyers were competing against multiple offers and agreed that they would not request any inspection repairs costing less than $5,000. It helped strengthen their offer and they got the house.

Then the inspection happened.

The buyers discovered roughly $3,000 in repairs and, despite what they had agreed to, wanted the seller to take care of them.

A Tricky Negotiation Problem

This creates an interesting negotiation problem. While the buyers agreed not to request those repairs, they still had the ability under their inspection contingency to walk away from the transaction. Losing the buyer and putting the property back on the market could potentially be much worse for the seller than addressing the repairs.

But simply telling the seller, "Do this or the buyer might walk," isn't necessarily the best approach. Real estate negotiations involve people, emotions and sometimes principle. Turn it into a confrontation and a relatively small problem can quickly become a big one.

Borrowing From "Never Split the Difference"

Instead, I recommended using a negotiation technique similar to the "Accusation Audit" described by Chris Voss in Never Split the Difference. Rather than creating a buyer-versus-seller confrontation, the agents can approach the situation as two professionals trying to find a solution and keep the transaction together.

Sometimes knowing what the contract says is only half the battle. Knowing how to communicate, negotiate and solve problems when things don't go according to plan is just as important.