For real, like, an amendment/counter is like a page or two, and since everything is digital now no one even needs to meet in person or anything. It’s not a big deal at all! I am super annoyed at this agent. I think I would push for it on principle.
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I am so grateful for the advice/experience from everyone. Seriously, this is my first time ever doing this and I feel like I learn tons of new things about the process every day. I don’t have a buyer’s agent agreement signed, but they just sent me one overnight. Do I sign it? If I don’t get this house I kind of want to take a break and not be obligated to work with this realtor again. I don’t mind signing if I go through with the house, but I won’t decide that till Monday…
I think on Monday after I get the HVAC inspection done, and the water heater inspected, I’m going to have my realtor write up a counter, either a credit or just have replacements installed. I feel like there is no harm in asking at this point, and if she doesn’t want to do it then I guess I will just walk away from this one.
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I think A lot of brokerages might require an agency agreement for at least the house you have a ratified contract on. That way if you do go through with the sale, there’s no question your realtor gets the buyers agent commission for this house. That’s reasonable.
You should have an option to sign it and have it specify that the agency agreement is only for this particular address, so you won’t be locked into future work with realtor. If they try to tell you this isn’t possible they are lying
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+1
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Yes. I know here agents have locked people in to a set time period. Which sucks if you signed it right away and they are a crap agent.
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At least many years ago, it mattered if the agent was a buyer’s agent or not. If not, the agent’s fiduciary obligation was to the seller; and anything you said, such as, “I’d like to offer X but I’m willing to go up to Y,” was to be conveyed to the seller.
I’m torn about credit over replacement. With a replacement, you’ll probably get builder’s grade or lower (what’s the absolute cheapest) which will have a shorter lifetime. Of course that shorter lifetime might be ok because it gets you past the cash flow concerns you have.
I’m glad you’re asking for something, it’s clear this important to you and if your realtor doesn’t respect that, you have every right to walk.
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Your realtor kinda sucks. I’m glad you’re sticking to your wishes.
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The intangibles you described - good location in the complex, beautiful outdoor space, gut feelings…all sound lovely. And it’s tough when there’s not much inventory!
I think your plan to ask for a credit or replacement is a good one. Your agent sounds pretty crappy, but if the sellers are already moving out of state then really the worst they will do is give you another counter offer.
ETA about your agent - I mean, they sound lazy and ineffective but in a way that is not horror story levels, just mediocre and similar to some of my friend’s stories.
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When we bought this house last year, it was contingent upon inspection.
The inspection showed that there was something wrong with the (elderly) furnace.
We said that the seller could replace the furnace and we had to agree to the replacement, or we would take a credit.
The seller replaced the furnace with the midrange model we agreed on, and we had the even more elderly a/c replaced at the same time at our expense because it was cheaper to do them both.
Even in a sellers market, the seller was motivated to take our offer because she was bidding on other places, and our offer wasn’t contingent on selling our previous house.
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That’s a great way to handle it.
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I like this idea, I think I will ask my realtor to propose something similar. Like, I have to agree on what the replacement is (doesn’t have to be high end) and we agree on price/or credit. I feel like since my seller is similarly moving/bidding on a house, they will have the same motivation to make something work
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Would you feel better if the buyer bought one of those warranty policies that have been mentioned? Might be another option to consider.
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I have asked my realtor about that, but she has always said “they won’t pay because everything is old, and people with old appliances won’t pay for a home warranty” I will bring it up again when I bring up the credit
When my first houses’ realtor forgot to ask for one from our sellers, he bought us one himself to help “give us some peace of mind”. Your realtor is increasingly sounding a bit like a jerk lol.
ETA and it was a 25 year old house, all original appliances.
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Happy to share links if helpful, but I did some research on buying a home warranty when I bought my place this year, and the wide consensus was not to do it. If something does break, they’ll only send someone out to fix it, and won’t typically pay to replace it. They pay below market rates to repair people, so you tend to get less skilled people who will prioritize your projects at the bottom of their list.
So, nice to have if the past owners pay for it without a fight, but you may still have plenty of maintenance headaches with it.
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This is what I have read/heard re: home warranties, which is part of why I haven’t pushed hard on the subject
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Well my gut was telling me that this was all too much for me after the past few days of deliberating, and I decided to just go ahead and pull out of the contract. With my income/savings I didn’t feel comfortable with the potential of all the fixes, and what else could be hiding that the seller wasn’t disclosing.
I also saw and put an offer on another home today that I like WAY more, is in a better location, has a yard, instead of just a patio, and is completely renovated top to bottom. So that was part of what made the choice for me…I realized there are other houses out there, and I was compromising too much for having to spend so much. So 
this new seller considers my offer!
ETA: thanks again for everyone’s advice and comments. It really means a lot to me and was SO helpful for me to make this decision
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So something better could come out of passing on the house you initially loved. Sending good thoughts for this one!
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I’m glad you found an awesome new potential home! Fingers crossed that it works out!
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I’m happy you’ve found something that seems better suited to you!
Just curious if it is with the same realtor?
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