Inspection Reports and Requests - Why your Buyer is Losing the Conversation
And If This Really Worked?
Inspection Reports and Requests – Why Your Buyer Is Losing the Conversation
And If This Really Worked?
🎙️ Real Conversation (yep, all too often) – What We Get Too Often as Listing Agents:
Buyer Agent:
“Hey, just a heads-up—we sent the inspection report over to you. Let us know what the seller’s going to do.”
Us:
“…Uh, sorry—was that a request?”
Because what we received…
❌ wasn’t a summary.
❌ wasn’t prioritized.
❌ wasn’t explained.
❌ wasn’t even a sentence.
It was just a PDF with 73 pages and no cover note. Why?
They think that’s negotiation.
It’s not.
It’s a paper bomb—and a professional dodge.
Detour to Instagram
👎 BLOWHARD STRATEGY
Forward a report and think it’s a done deal.
Say nothing.
Hope the other side does the work—without collaborating.
Now with all due respect—yes, the seller is the one that has to go and collect estimates and do the repair work once requested, under the more typical contract arrangement in Florida. And we would, of course, get to that.
However, you don’t get to that without making a formal, clear, and precise request.
Moreover, if you have goodwill and trust between the buyer and seller, you know that making rational requests is important. Making a request to paint a bedroom because you don’t like the color (like they do in Costa Rica, where the industry is amateurish at best) is not the thing to ask for.
Still, there is a way to let the seller know where you are and give them a clear picture of findings—even before the valid requests are made.
🎯 Now here’s what we do instead. Always:
Us (as Buyer’s Agent):
“Hey—this is not a request for repairs. We’re still reviewing and evaluating these items with our client. I just wanted to get the report over to you so you could stay informed about where we are in the process. Ok?”
✅ Clear.
✅ Collaborative.
✅ Professional.
✅ Keeps the deal calm.
Then—after our buyer finishes their evaluation—we send a clean, organized request (if needed), with a short summary and a few bullet points of what matters. Most times, because we have experience ourselves and with clients building luxury homes here on 30A in Florida, we even add our ideas about pricing or real vendor quotes from our vast network of contractors and tradespeople.
And we’re nice about it. Always.
When a request goes to the seller, it is very precise. Because we also guide our buyer clients before making offers—on what is warranted, what is not, what is wood destroying organism-related, what is not, and what constitutes open permit work—our buyers are always engaged in a realistic conversation.
🧠 REAL STRATEGY
Don’t make the listing agent guess. Be a helper.
Why? Because it gets a much clearer and better result for your client.
Don’t hide behind the report. Eventually, you’ll become the “boy who cried wolf,” and your approaches will become known in the industry. Your offers will be seen as less credible—with more backend work than necessary. You will be seen as not having prepared clients.
Don’t throw grenades and call it “leverage.”
Negotiation is communication.
If you don’t talk like a professional, you won’t be treated like one.
💡 Pro Tip:
A smart agent says:
“Here’s where we are.”
“We’re still evaluating.”
“We’ll follow up with specifics if needed.”
That’s how you keep the temperature low… and the deal alive.