I think the grading work is a stretch. I have always been under the impression that landscaping is not covered. Therefore, your grading job would only be a consideration if it was affecting the house - which is sounds like it is not (yet).

Get estimates for all the other work and ask them to fix it all. Your inspector should be able to provide you with estimates. Know that they will most likely say they aren't fixing anything. Then you just ask for an amount off the purchase price.

These all sound really minor and I wouldn't walk away from this house even if they gave you nothing.

I agree with gingerjenny. Most of the stuff you mentioned is not a safety issue. I doubt any of it would prevent you from getting an occupancy permit.

When an inspector looks at a house, his (or her, but I'm just going to use the masculine pronoun) job is to point out issues with the house. He should be pointing out the items that are required safety issues for move in - which are the issues you ask for from the seller. And then he points out the stuff you should get around to fixing or should be aware of - like add more insulation, change your washing machine hoses. If your inspector told you that you only had 5 more years left on the roof, you wouldn't ask the seller to compensate for the 25 years of roof they used.

So all the small stuff - I categorize all that as FYI Information, things you need to deal with on your own.

The lawn grading issue as well - that's an FYI thing. 2 grading people recommend fixing - they think it's a good idea to fix. (Probably because they are landscaping people and would get paid by you to fix the drainage, and then re landscape - obvious they think it is a good idea). But both confirmed that it is not impacting your foundation. So no need to ask for that to be repaired.

As for the duct work. You posted a thread recently about this. You were asked what your agent thought. What does your agent say? Is it common in your area for the sellers to pay to change the duct work for sale? You said you were getting 2 quotes for the duct work. Did you get those quotes? How much is it? I can see asking for the sealer to be put on. But to me it seems a stretch to ask for the duct work to be replaced since the sealer "fixes" the problem. Knowing the price of the house and the cost to replace the duct work would help. Maybe you could get a quote to have the sealer applied, and then ask for that as a credit. But instead of having it sealed yourself, use the credit towards the cost of replacing the ducts.

As gingerjenny said, this is a 45 year old "used" house. You can't expect every thing to be perfect, and you can't expect the sellers to repair every small thing.

Good luck. Buying a home is a emotional experience and a stressful experience.

Thanks all for your feedback and recommendations. I guess I must be pickier than most. Pixie_lou... to answer your question about what my agent says about the ducting, she doesn't think the sellers will pay. As far as whether sellers typically compensate for ducting work in this development where the ducts are an issue, no one really has an answer to that.

I have a guy coming tomorrow to give a quote for the duct work who has actually done several houses in this development. He said off the top of his head it's probably a $7-10k job. The estimate for the re-grading and drainage work is around $6k.

As far as the grading/drainage, while I realize it's not currently impacting the foundation, the fact is that I am not just purchasing a structure I am also purchasing the lot attached to it. I feel strongly that having a large area that is obviously pooling a lot of water from rains, which we get a lot of here is a current issue with the lot that is a health hazard because it will be a mosquito frenzy whenever it rains. I previously lived in a house on a 1/2 acre lot, which is half the size of this one and did *not* have grading or drainage issues. Even in that situation mosquitos were rampant without pooling water and this is in the same county about 10 minutes away. So I can not even imagine what it will be like with pooling water in a yard less than half that size.

I guess the bottom line is it doesn't hurt to ask and all they can do is say no and then I'll go from there.

Yes, mosquitoes can be a health hazard. But you can't expect the seller to be able to rid your lot of mosquitoes. Just like you can't expect a seller to guarantee it will never rain on your property.

Nothing there, except a possible mis-wired circuit, is something that wouldn't have been obvious on your evaluation of the house prior to making an offer, so should have been factored into the price you negotiated. Coming back later and asserting that the grade of the lot, the amount of insulation, or the pipes in the heating system are a surprise that the seller should now compensate you for is absurd. These are all the kinds of things you would see on a casual walk-through of the property.

nwiegand--I have to disagree with your assertion that these things should have been noted during the showings. I've been to hundreds of homes with buyers.The home is on a slab. Most people would not see the duct work on a slab. Few buyers would know the difference between different types of duct work and what constituted a potential problem.

I can count on a single hand the number of buyers that inspected an attic for insulation. Very, very few would even know what constitutes adequate insulation.

If it was dry day or week when one visited, and with no signs of a problem in the basement, any pooling might not be noticed. That said, the OP does seem to have noticed it at some point.

That said, I don't think the pooling is an issue the relo company will even consider. For liability reasons they may consider the duct work, or not.

I guess I forget that while I'm poking around in the basement and attic most folks looking at a house are thinking about the wallpaper. However all of the good real estate agents I've worked with are very aware of such issues and should be pointing them out to their clients and factoring them into the pricing negotiation. You can't have any assurance that a seller will give in on anything on an inspection report after the deal is done, so highlighting and bargaining over such things up front is essential. As a seller I'd be pretty ticked off and unwilling to renegotiate things that were plainly there to see prior to the deal just because the buyer and their agent weren't paying attention. Concealed and undisclosed defects are another matter, which is what the inspection contingency is for.

In most things having to do with buildings, from flashing to gutters, to landscaping, "where is the water going to go?" is always a good question!

You mention that there are 2,000 homes in this development and about 75% have this type of duct work. That means 1,500 homes have this duct work. And that is only this development. The homes are also 45 years old, which means the majority of them have turned over multiple times. I find it hard to believe that neither your agent nor the selling agent have ever encountered this issue before.

In the meantime, based on your last thread it has been a week since your inspection. When is your deadline for the resolution of your inspection issues?

Pixie_Lou.We just submitted our addendum today, which was the deadline to do so. Only reason for that is it was impossible to get anyone out for estimates any earlier. Both my agent and the other agent have not sold homes in this particular development. We live in a very large county and this is only one of hundreds if not thousands of developments. Because I wasn't sure which development I would end up living in I chose an agent that was noted for her reputation in general, not for a specific development.

To whoever is stating that I'm being "absurd" for asking for these repairs, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I think you are being quite unfair with that comment.

I am a middle-aged single mom to a special needs child having just gone through a horrific divorce that resulted in being forced out of my home and having to live in a hotel with my daughter and our dog and cat for the past 6 months. I have passed on several other possible home or town-home purchases because there were major issues that were evident upon a walk through, or they were on a busy street, or in an unsafe neighborhood, or, or, or, or. My entire life savings is going into this house and yes, I am scared to death of the responsibility at my age with a special needs child in tow. It's not like I'm complaining about the wall paper or the paint being the wrong color or even asking for carpeting to be replaced, which it needs to be. I'm asking for things that could potentially present substantial expense and health hazards to me and my family.

I'm apparently not as home-buying savvy as some here but I have been doing the best I can to educate myself on everything as quickly as possible. In this market there is no time for researching because if you aren't the first one in the door with a viable offer then you lose. And until you see a potential house you have no idea what you may need to research and then you have to accomplish everything at warp speed. So it is a catch-22.

The last time I was involved in a home purchase was 15 years ago as that is how long I was living in my last home. Obviously if I would have even known to look in the ducts or have any clue that this was an issue or that their were drainage issues, I may have not put a contract in on the house. It wasn't until after the home inspection and having a drainage person come out that I understood these problems existed. I knew there may be an issue with drainage, but I wasn't sure.

I think with this home you should move on. Is there perhaps a NEW home with a warranty in your budget?

It is perfectly reasonable for you not to have the skills and experience to evaluate a house, however in your agent you have hired a professional in the business who you are paying a ton of money to. You can and should expect them to be on top of this kind of stuff, providing you with the advice and education required to make a good offer and decision. Playing catch-up after an offer is on the table is hard work.

OTHO, you can ask for whatever you want, and with a relo company might get it. The risk is that they will decline your requests, at which point you either take the property as is, or move on to the next one. If you do move on, hiring a more savvy agent to act as your buyers agent, if that is allowed in your state, would be wise, as might investing in an inspection prior to offer.

You have reasons to be especially concerned about avoiding major issues, but they may be on their way to making major issues out of things that need not be. Molehills become mountains when we are stressed and exhausted. Take a few deep breaths and try to look realistically at what the current situation is and what you are certain to deal with in the near future and not everything that could possibly go wrong unless you don't want to buy ANY house.

I would ask for the sealant to be applied and then schedule it to be checked and reapplied if needed. Asbestos is a problem if it becomes loose and airborne or "friable." If it is bound up in concrete, it doesn't sound friable as long as the cement is not breaking up or becoming powdery and having lived with cement slabs for most of my life, I just don't see it as inevitable that cement is going to start flaking and turn to powder. If it will give you peace of mind, ask them to apply the sealant or do it yourself if they say no.

Grading and adjustments to landscape grading are both acts of nature and maintenance issues. It isn't practical to try to overcome nature, so you try to control what you can. And then there are different approaches to the same problems. You can DIY -- fill in the low lying areas with some new soil and let the grass fill in over them on it's own, create a rock bed or other drain path to give water ways to move away from the house. A bit of working in the yard can be good therapy -- or it wouldn't cost that much to get a yardman (as opposed to a landscaping company) to help you with some of these things. A French drain or other way to remove water against the house would be something most women wouldn't undertake on their own, but it doesn't sound like you need those if a 45 year old house doesn't have any damage issue. The other extreme is for a landscaping company to come in and spend thousands - even tens of thousands, removing everything, grading and replacing the plantings. You will still need to make adjustments down the road -- maybe more if the soil does more settling.

Even homes with good drainage can have mosquito issues and there are any number of ways to address them. I've added a link below for a place I've purchased from to give you some ideas. The garlic oil really works too.

I wouldn't expect the relo company to do much on these issues, and I wouldn't expect them to upgrade hoses that are not failing. That's one of those things a good agent here would remind you that (1) the washer and dryer are not usually sold with the home and if you are getting them it is a plus so take the plus and pay for the hoses, (2) most folks suggest you replace the hoses each time you move , so if you brought your own W&D you would be buying new hoses anyway and (3) you are asking for an upgrade when you are entitled to repairs. Relo companies are often adverse to doing anything they don't have to if there is a chance it could come back and bite them -- and they may see buyers who expect too much to be exactly the kind who will come back and bite them.

Also, keep in mind that when they respond, you will have to decide to take the house with what they agree to -- even if it is nothing, or move on. They are more likely to negotiate the size of price adjustments for repairs than they are to change their minds on the yes or no factor.

Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mosquito control ideas

We are dealing with a relocation company our selves with two inspection reports one from a whole house inspection and one from a appraiser that we had to have due to a fha loan our realtor sent out both reports to the relocation company and the kicker is that the sellers never told there realtor that the house was being sold by a relocaton company