As a mortgage banker in Wayne County, MI as well as Oakland and Washtenaw Counties I tend to work closely with a lot of real estate agents.  I keep tabs on the process for my clients as they get pre-approved for a mortgage in Michigan clear through to closing – it helps me know my clients are happy and find the homes they love.

When I’m working with first-time buyers, I try to encourage them to make sure they work with the best agents and avoid skimping on the process to save.  That means working with a reputable home inspection company.

Given the age of a lot of homes in the Metro-Detroit area, it’s not uncommon to see homes that are more than 40 years old or more.  When you pass that age milestone you start to see the need for a lot of little repairs and sometimes some bigger ticket items.  A common mistake that first-time buyers make is that they want the seller to fix just about everything before they buy the home.

Of course the other end of the spectrum – asking for virtually no repair work – is also a mistake.  In order to get the most out of your mortgage (especially if you get a 203K loan) you need to find the right balance between what you want the seller to do and what you’re willing to absorb and handle on your own.

There’s no really no checklist that sellers must complete in order to make a home saleable that buyers can run through, and there’s no list of things that a buyer should ask specifically for.  It often comes down to the individual home and what sticks out as a necessary item to cover.

For example:  Buying a craftsman-style home built in the early 1900’s and asking to have every window replaced is a bit over the top – especially if the windows are still performing to some extent (in terms of insulation).  On the other hand, an older home like that with zero GFI outlets, heavily damaged trim and doors or a few leaky pipes has some things that should be tackled by the seller.

Can Do, Cannot Do and Unwilling To Do

Some things are just out of the questions, but as a buyer you can’t be afraid to make a list of the things you want the seller to cover and ask them to handle them.  Once you have a pre-approval for a mortgage in Michigan you’ll find that sellers are far more motivated to work with you if you show interest in the home.

Unless you’re making outlandish requests, they’re not likely to say no completely.  In many cases, sellers will be happy to negotiate with a likely buyer and chose multiple items from your list that they can take care of.

Keep in mind that if a seller can’t or seems unwilling to tackle some of the necessary updates, it may not be because they’re stingy or hard-nosed – they may just not have the funds to tackle specific updates or repairs while buying a new home for themselves at the same time.

If that’s the case, you can sometimes work out a deal to reduce the buying price on the home based on the repairs you know (from the inspectors report) that you’ll need to make in the future.