What should I do after a bad home inspection?
Separate the serious findings from the noise, get repair estimates for the serious ones, and then choose between asking the seller for repairs, asking for a price credit, or walking away within your inspection contingency period. A long report is not automatically a bad one; what matters is the cost and risk of the top few items.
First, sort the findings
Go through the report and put every item into one of three groups: safety or structural, expensive or urgent functional problems, and cosmetic or routine maintenance. Most reports are dominated by the third group. Your decision should rest on the first two.
Get numbers before you negotiate
For each serious item, get an estimate from a contractor or a specialist evaluation if the inspector recommended one. Negotiating with real repair costs is far stronger than negotiating with a list of adjectives.
Your three options
With costs in hand, you usually have three paths.
- Ask the seller to make specific repairs before closing, with proof of completion.
- Ask for a price reduction or a closing credit and handle the repairs yourself.
- Exercise your inspection contingency and withdraw, if the contract still allows it.
Verify before closing
If the seller agrees to repairs, confirm they were done. A final walk-through is the usual check. For a specific repaired area, an Askitect photo-based report gives you a second, written condition judgment within one hour without booking another site visit.
