What to ask for after a home inspection
Updated 2026-08-12
Two buyers can receive identical inspection reports and get completely different outcomes. The difference is almost never the report — it is which items they asked about and how the request was written.
This page is the shortlist: what belongs in a request, what to leave off, and the wording that keeps a seller in the conversation instead of triggering a flat refusal.
Always ask about these
These are the categories sellers most often accept, because they are objective, verifiable, and not a matter of taste. Each is either a safety issue, an active failure, or a third-party requirement.
- • Safety hazards: exposed or open wiring, gas leaks, missing GFCI protection near water, no railings on stairs, blocked egress from a bedroom, a failed carbon monoxide or smoke detector layout
- • Active water intrusion: a leaking roof, plumbing leaks, water entering the basement, or a failed shower pan
- • Structural findings confirmed by an engineer, with the engineer's scope attached
- • A failed rather than aging major system: a boiler that will not fire, a compressor that does not run, a water heater already leaking from the tank
- • Anything your lender or insurer has said in writing must be corrected before closing
- • Sewer lateral defects confirmed by camera, and chimney liner defects confirmed by a Level 2 inspection
- • Permitting gaps: finished space or major systems installed without permits, which become your problem at resale
Ask for these as a partial credit, not a full fix
These are real costs arriving on a known schedule, but the house was priced as a house that has them. Full-replacement requests on functioning systems are the most common reason a negotiation stalls entirely.
The wording that works: "The roof is nineteen years into a typical twenty-to-twenty-five-year service life. We are asking for a credit reflecting the remaining life rather than full replacement." That is a proposal a seller can say yes to.
- • A roof, furnace, water heater, or AC late in service life but currently functioning
- • An undersized but safe electrical panel with no immediate defect
- • Original single-pane windows in sound frames
- • Deferred exterior maintenance — paint, minor rot at trim, worn deck boards
Leave these off
Every item on this list is legitimate for the inspector to note and counterproductive for you to ask about, because including them makes the whole request read as a price renegotiation.
- • Cosmetic wear: paint, worn carpet, dated fixtures, scuffed floors
- • Missing outlet covers, loose cabinet hardware, sticking doors, caulking
- • Landscaping, fencing, and outbuilding condition unless there is a safety issue
- • Code items that were compliant when built and are not hazards — handrail heights, stair rise variations, older receptacle spacing
- • Anything you knew about before you made the offer and priced in
How to word the request itself
Keep it to one page plus attachments. For each item: what the report says and where, what the specialist confirmed if applicable, what it costs with the quote attached, and what you are asking for. Then a single total and a single form of remedy.
Ask for a credit expressed as a dollar figure rather than a percentage, name the deadline you need a response by, and keep the tone factual. The seller's agent is your ally in getting a yes — a request that agent can defend in one sentence is the one that gets accepted.
Ask for these documents, too — they cost the seller nothing
Requests that are not about money are the easiest to get granted and are worth real money later. Ask for the permit history on any work done, the manuals and warranty documents for appliances and systems, the names of the contractors who did major work, the septic pumping records, well test results, and any transferable warranties on the roof, siding, windows, or an HVAC system.
A transferable roof warranty alone can be worth thousands, and it commonly lapses simply because nobody asked for the paperwork at closing.
Estimated repair cost ranges
What the commonly requested items cost, so your ask is sized to reality. Estimated ranges only — attach a contractor quote for anything significant.
| Repair item | Low | Likely | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water heater replacementone 50-gallon tank unit, installed | $1.2k | $2.1k | $4.2k |
| Furnace or boiler replacementone unit, installed | $4.5k | $7.0k | $12k |
| Roof repair (localized)one repair area — flashing, valley, or a section of shingles | $450 | $1.1k | $2.8k |
| Window replacementper window, standard double-hung insert | $550 | $950 | $1.8k |
| Electrical panel upgradeone 200-amp service upgrade | $1.8k | $3.2k | $6.0k |
| Mold remediationone affected area, contained and removed | $800 | $2.8k | $9.0k |
| Radon mitigation systemone sub-slab depressurization system | $900 | $1.7k | $3.2k |
| Sump pump and perimeter drainageone basement system | $1.2k | $3.5k | $12k |
Estimated range — based on BLS OEWS national average wages and BLS PPI material indexes applied to Our Haus baseline unit costs, as of June 2026. Estimates are shown as a range and help set expectations. They are not a quote, a verified price, or an appraisal of what a contractor will charge.
- Water heater replacement: A like-for-like tank swap is the low end. Code upgrades — expansion tank, new venting, pan and drain, a gas-to-heat-pump conversion — set the top.
- Furnace or boiler replacement: Straight swaps sit near the middle. Chimney-vented to direct-vent conversions, new gas line, or a boiler with indirect hot water go to the top of the band.
- Roof repair (localized): Most inspection roof findings are flashing and valley issues, not the field of the roof. A repair is legitimate when the roof has meaningful life left.
- Window replacement: Insert replacement into a sound frame is the low end. Full-frame replacement, rot repair, or historic-district requirements push it up sharply.
- Electrical panel upgrade: Utility coordination, a new mast and meter socket, or moving the panel out of a bathroom or closet are what separate a $2k job from a $6k one.
- Mold remediation: The remediation is usually the smaller cost. The water source that caused it, and the finishes torn out to reach it, are the real number.
- Radon mitigation system: A slab-on-grade basement with one suction point is straightforward. Fieldstone foundations, crawl spaces needing membrane, and multiple suction points cost more.
- Sump pump and perimeter drainage: A pump and a discharge line is the low end; an interior French drain around the full perimeter with a sealed sump is the high end. Regrading and gutter extensions often fix the problem for far less.
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Free and no account needed. We turn the PDF into a prioritised list of findings, the questions worth asking your inspector and your agent, and estimated repair cost ranges for the items that were flagged — using the same cost engine behind these tables.
Read my inspection reportFrequently asked questions
What repairs should a seller be expected to make?
Safety hazards, active leaks and water intrusion, confirmed structural defects, failed major systems, and anything a lender or insurer requires before closing. Beyond that there is no standard obligation — everything else is a negotiation, and shorter requests do better than long ones.
Should I ask for cosmetic repairs after an inspection?
No. Cosmetic items dilute the request and are the most common reason a seller responds to the whole list with a refusal. Fix them yourself after closing; they are cheap and you will want them done to your taste anyway.
What documents should I request at closing?
Permit history for any completed work, appliance and system manuals, warranty paperwork including anything transferable on the roof, windows, siding, or HVAC, contractor names for major work, and septic or well records where applicable. These cost the seller nothing and are worth real money later.
How do I word a repair request so the seller says yes?
One page, four or five items maximum, each with the report reference, the cost with a quote attached, and the specific remedy you want. End with a single total and a response deadline. Factual, short, and documented is what gets a counter-offer instead of a refusal.
Is it worth asking for anything on a house sold as-is?
It can be. As-is means the seller is not promising to make repairs; it does not remove your inspection contingency if your contract has one, and it does not prevent you from asking. Sellers of as-is homes still frequently grant credits for safety items and for findings that would derail the buyer's financing.
Keep reading
- What should be in a contractor's estimateThe eleven things a complete contractor estimate spells out — scope, allowances, exclusions, payment schedule, change-order markup — and how to spot the gaps that turn into change orders later.
- How to read a home inspection reportA 40-page inspection report is not a repair list. Here is how to read one in order, separate safety and structure from cosmetics, and turn it into a short list you can act on before your contingency expires.
- What to do after a home inspectionThe inspection is done and the contingency clock is running. Here is the order of operations for the next seven to ten days — what to chase, what to price, what to ask for, and when to walk.
- Home inspection red flags that actually matterWhich inspection findings are genuinely serious, which are routine for older homes, and what the serious ones cost to fix — with estimated ranges from the same cost engine used across Our Haus.
- How to negotiate repairs after a home inspectionHow to turn an inspection report into a repair request a seller will actually accept — what to include, what to leave out, whether to ask for repairs or a credit, and how to price the ask.
- Inspection contingency, explainedWhat an inspection contingency actually protects, how long you get, what happens if the deadline passes, and how waiving it changes your risk — in plain English for buyers under contract.
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