Termite Infestation Should Seller pay or not?

Question

Question to all RE professionals, I'm selling my investment property in Philadelphia, PA and Buyer elected Wood Infestation Inspection and inspector found termites in a property, but report has no photos just a schematic drawing so Buyer and his agent pushing me to pay $1050 for termite treatment. Do I have to pay for it as a Seller?
Thanks

Ryan Normand · Answer

As Herb and Eunice said, you do not HAVE to pay. It depends on how badly you want to sell the house. Understand that the buyer might walk away if you don't get it corrected.

What you CANNOT do is turn around and sell the house to the next interested buyer without disclosing the termite infestation. Here in AZ and many other states, sellers are required to disclose any known history of termites. I would assume PA has similar laws. Now that you know about the problem, you can't just brush it under the rug.

Eric Greenberg · Answer

Id be curious if you had any other offers, how long its been on the market, and if the original offer met/exceeded your goals. It all matters the selling price but I doubt id lose a deal over $1k. That being said Id probably push back and offer to split it with them and see what they say.

Chris Herrera · Answer

@Vasily Gydov as others have said you don’t have to pay it, but you will have to disclose it to the market if this doesn’t work out. You should be able to negotiate this a bit so it’s not all on you in this market though

Eunice Villarroel · Answer

Wow recently happened to me with a PROPERTY I PURCHASED. This is a very hot market in Florida not sure if you’re experiencing the same thing where you’re at. I as a BUYER was desperate to buy and the property had other offers So I was willing to pay for the termite repairs. Main thing for me was that the property pass FHA inspection, get insurance and pass appraisal. The property also needed a couple more fixings so we were able to split the cost between me and the seller. Might be something you might want to do, see if you can split the cost. You are the seller though, you do not have to do anything specially if you’re selling the house and as is condition. However depends on how important it is for you to sell, understand that the buyer might back down if this is a dealbreaker for them.

Termite Infestation Should Seller pay or not?

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