More often than not the horror stories we here about realtors, builders, mechanic etc.....It's often rooted in folks doing business with the cheapest possible folks.

The root of your problem: The Patriot Act.

Hey Jerry, thank you so much for answering the root of my question.

I hope I'm wrong because I'm rooting for you, but most seller's are going to balk at things you should have noticed during your initial walkthrough especially if you are asking for something big like the roof (which probably also visually has buckled shingles or other indicators that it's at or close to end of life)A credit at closing is the same as cash to you because it's money you don't have to put into the title company.You will ONLY get a cash return doing it yourself.Exposed Romex is $25 to replace with conduit and a surface mounted box if you do it yourself.

I'm not a doctor, so I have no business trying to diagnose someone, but I think it's seems very likely that mental illness is the root of this issue and that he must be hallucinating.

If you close on the property and then discover the roof is leaking, the main sewer line is nothing but tree roots, really any major expense, that can easily put a borrower in a position where they do not have enough actual cash to solve the problem, so the property loses value due to deferred maintenance, or the borrower digs themselves into more debt, making it even harder to get another loan to cash me out of the equation at that upper 20% of equity.

If the roots have pushed up the sidewalk that is a redflag.

I would recommend you do an inspection to include a "smell test" and find out the root cause.

Since I’m pretty slow, it still didn’t help me to fully understand “behind the curtain” or the root of the issue.

We root for each other and learn from our wins, losses, etc.