Occupancy inspection woes

[Preston Gealy]

So I have a great fix and flip deal under contract in a hot area in Pittsburgh. The contract states that we must obey municipal requirements to transfer the property at closing. The municipality required an occupancy inspection and they found some downspouts that need rerouted away from the sewer. The seller is unwilling to do the work or pay to have it changed. We got a quote for $1600 to remedy the issue. Should I force the seller to pay full, half, or jump ship and look for another deal?

[Grant Loeffelbein]

Well said, @Kenneth Garrett .  If you really think you can get the $1,600 out of them go for it, but if it's a property you liked prior to the $1,600 hit that is a pretty small deviation to blow up a deal in today's market.  If it was a "great deal in a hot area" before, $1,600 would not be enough to sway me, personally.

Also, part of my construction business in South Dakota happens to be seamless gutter installation...$1,600 seems like a lot to re-route some downspouts (though there are certain scenarios where it could be accurate).  If you're talking all new gutters and downspouts in order to meet that end-goal then that sounds about right, but if you're ok with "good enough" and not wanting to pay for all new gutters, there may be ways around it.  If you want you can post some pictures of the job and I can see if there's a way you can request the work done that could save you money.  Even if the $1,600 quote is accurate, if you're going to spend that much money re-sloping and capping existing gutters I would certainly ask what all all new gutters would cost.  It may not be that much more expensive (labor for the re-route is probably pretty high since it can be a PIA), and at least then you'd have it to list as another "new" item when you sell.  You'd be surprised how much nicer a simple thing like new gutters can make a house look, especially if they started out in rough shape.