Request for Repairs Strategy in a Seller's Market?

[Jeff Pollock]

Hey everyone! I'm in Escrow on my first home that I plan to buy and hold onto while I improve the condition of the house while I'm living there before either renting or putting on AirBnB. Where I'm located is very much a seller's market right now (Tahoe, CA), and the seller has expressed up front that he's not willing to pay for the cost of any repairs. Being under contract I am doing due diligence and have an opportunity to submit the Request for Repairs asking for the seller to give on some of the larger health and safety things I'm finding need to be done before I move into the house after I conducted an inspection and uncovered lots of baggage associated with an insurance claim for a fire at the property.

My questions: 

- Does anyone have experience negotiating at this point in a seller's market when bigger ticket health and safety items have come back on the inspection report?

- Are there common/effective strategies for negotiating as the buyer in this situation when you have inspection report and official quotes as leverage?

My agent told me that if I ask for a price reduction in line with everything I've uncovered I may risk sounding greedy because the seller feels the house is already priced well below market to "account for current condition." I was advised that we should show the full amounts of quotes we've received, then ask for a portion of what the total fixes are to compromise, and we may have a better chance of him reducing the price. What does the group think about this path forward?

Thanks in advance from a rookie trying to make this first step into real estate more of a leap!