When Should You Walk Away After a Squamish Home Inspection—and When Should You Negotiate?

You've had an accepted offer on a Squamish property, completed the home inspection, and the inspector has found problems.

Now what?

Do you ask the seller to fix everything?

Do you renegotiate the price?

Do you accept the deficiencies and move forward?

Or are the problems significant enough that you should consider walking away from the property?

There's no single answer, because an inspection has to be considered in the context of what you thought you were buying in the first place.

That's the starting point I use when helping a buyer work through an inspection.

The inspection isn't about finding everything that's wrong with the house and automatically subtracting it from the purchase price. It's about determining whether the property you're buying is materially different from the property you thought you were buying when you negotiated the offer.

What Condition Did You Think the Property Was In?

Before we talk about deficiencies, we need to go back to the original offer.

What did we think we were buying?

If you're buying a relatively new home that appears to be in excellent condition, your offer is going to reflect that.

You're expecting a relatively new home.

If the inspection then reveals substantial problems that weren't apparent when you made the offer, that's new information.

On the other hand, suppose you're buying an older Squamish house that clearly needs work.

Maybe the finishes are dated.

There is visible wear and tear.

The landscaping needs attention.

The appliances are old.

And everyone involved understands that this isn't a turnkey property.

Your offer should already reflect some of that condition.

If the inspection subsequently identifies a collection of minor deficiencies consistent with what we already knew about the house, it's difficult to treat every one of those items as a new reason for a price reduction.

You negotiated the original price based on the property you could reasonably see and understand at the time.

The inspection helps determine whether that understanding was accurate.

Expected Deficiencies and Unexpected Deficiencies Are Different

This is probably the most important distinction.

Every house has deficiencies.

Even relatively new properties can have issues.

What matters during the inspection is whether those deficiencies are reasonably consistent with the property's age and apparent condition—or whether we've discovered something materially different.

A dripping faucet in an older house is very different from discovering a significant problem with the roof.

And even the roof has to be considered in context.

Think About the Roof You Thought You Were Buying

Let's say we're buying a house with an older roof.

When we negotiated the offer, we knew the roof wasn't new.

Maybe, based on its apparent age and condition, we thought it had roughly ten years of useful life remaining.

Our offer was based partly on that assumption.

Then the inspection raises concerns, and after appropriate further investigation we determine the roof may only have another two or three years.

That's new information.

The buyer thought they were purchasing one thing and has now discovered they're purchasing something different.

That can create a legitimate opportunity to renegotiate.

But here's where I think buyers need to be reasonable.

If we already knew the roof was halfway through its expected life, we weren't paying for a brand-new roof.

So it may not make sense to discover a problem and immediately say:

“A new roof costs $40,000, so we want $40,000 off the purchase price.”

The buyer wasn't buying $40,000 worth of brand-new roof in the first place.

The better question is:

How much value did we reasonably believe remained in the roof when we negotiated the offer, and how has the inspection changed that assumption?

That's a much more useful basis for a negotiation.

An Inspection Finding Isn't Always a Final Diagnosis

There's another important point here.

A home inspector may identify something that deserves further investigation.

That doesn't necessarily mean the inspector is giving us the final repair scope or an exact cost.

If something potentially significant comes up, we may want the appropriate specialist to look at it.

A roofer.

An electrician.

A plumber.

An engineer.

A drainage contractor.

Or another qualified professional depending on the issue.

If we're going to renegotiate a substantial amount of money based on a deficiency, I want to understand what we're actually dealing with as well as we reasonably can.

There's a big difference between:

“The inspector thinks we should investigate this.”

and:

“We've had the appropriate specialist assess it, and here's what appears to be required.”

Not Every $50 Problem Needs a Negotiation

Technically, you can try to negotiate almost anything.

And when I'm representing a buyer, part of my job is trying to get the best possible outcome for that client.

But we also have to keep perspective.

If we're buying an older home and discover a $50 problem with a faucet, spending significant negotiating capital on that item may accomplish very little.

Now suppose the washer and dryer that were expected to be functioning don't work.

That's different.

Replacing appliances could involve several thousand dollars.

But even there, we need to remember what was originally negotiated.

If the home contained a used washer and dryer, the buyer negotiated for used appliances, not brand-new replacements.

That doesn't prevent us from asking the seller for a solution.

It simply informs what a reasonable negotiation might look like.

A Nearly New Property Creates Different Expectations

Now take the opposite extreme.

Suppose you're buying a virtually new property that appears to be in excellent condition.

The expectation is completely different.

A leaking faucet, damaged finish or other deficiency that might be insignificant in a 30-year-old renovation project could deserve more attention in a nearly new property.

That's because condition is part of what you're paying for.

The newer and better-presented the property, the more the negotiated price may depend on the expectation that major systems and finishes are in correspondingly good condition.

That doesn't mean the seller automatically owes the buyer money for every inspection finding.

It means unexpected deficiencies may create an opportunity for further negotiation.

That's an important distinction.

The Inspection Doesn't Automatically Reopen the Entire Deal

Buyers need to understand this.

Finding a deficiency doesn't automatically entitle you to a price reduction.

The seller can say no.

Depending on the terms and conditions of the contract, the buyer may then have decisions to make about whether they're satisfied with their due diligence and prepared to proceed.

So before I go back to the seller, I want to understand what my buyer actually wants.

Do they want the problem repaired?

Would they rather receive an appropriate price reduction and handle it themselves?

Are they comfortable proceeding without any adjustment?

Or is this issue significant enough that they would no longer want the property if we can't reach an acceptable resolution?

Those are very different negotiating positions.

Should You Ask the Seller to Repair It or Reduce the Price?

There isn't one answer here either.

Sometimes having the seller repair something makes sense.

Other times, the buyer may prefer to negotiate the price and control the work themselves after completion.

That can be particularly relevant with larger repairs.

If I'm the buyer and there's important work to be done, I may care about:

Who does it?

What materials are used?

What exactly gets repaired?

Is there a warranty?

Am I getting the long-term solution I want?

A seller preparing to move out may have a different incentive. They may reasonably want to solve the problem adequately and economically.

So sometimes the cleaner negotiation is around money rather than asking the seller to manage a substantial project before completion.

But it depends entirely on the circumstances.

The Buyer's Personality Matters More Than People Think

This isn't purely a mathematical decision.

Two buyers can read exactly the same inspection report and reach completely different conclusions.

One buyer might be very handy.

They understand houses.

They're comfortable managing trades.

They have money set aside for improvements.

They may look at several deficiencies and say:

“That's fine. I'll deal with it.”

Another buyer may want a property requiring virtually no immediate work.

They may have a tight budget after closing.

They may have no interest in managing contractors.

For that buyer, exactly the same inspection report could materially change whether the property works for them.

Neither buyer is necessarily wrong.

The question isn't simply how bad the inspection report looks. It's how those findings affect this particular buyer.

Sometimes a Small Issue Changes a Buyer's Confidence

There's also a psychological component.

I've seen buyers react strongly to something that isn't particularly expensive.

It may not really be about the $50 repair.

Their thinking is:

“If the seller wouldn't take care of this obvious little problem, what else haven't they maintained?”

Sometimes that's reasonable evidence to investigate further.

Sometimes it's simply how that particular buyer feels about the property after receiving more information.

Either way, we need to understand it.

A home purchase is a large commitment. If an inspection materially changes the buyer's confidence in the property, that matters.

How Hard Should We Negotiate?

This is where representing the buyer becomes more nuanced.

Once we've identified the important deficiencies and have some understanding of their implications, I need to assess the negotiating situation.

How significant are the issues?

How unexpected were they?

What's a reasonable adjustment?

How badly does my buyer want the property?

How likely is the seller to agree?

What is the seller's Realtor telling me about their position?

Are there other interested buyers?

How long was the property on the market?

And most importantly:

What is my buyer prepared to do if the seller says no?

There's not much point making an ultimatum unless you're genuinely prepared for the answer.

Sometimes we push hard.

Sometimes we make a reasonable request and accept that the seller may decline.

Sometimes the buyer decides the issue isn't worth jeopardizing a property they really want.

That's a strategy decision we make with the buyer based on the circumstances.

So When Should You Actually Walk Away?

I don't think there's a useful list of inspection deficiencies that automatically means a buyer should walk away.

A bad roof doesn't automatically mean walk away.

An electrical problem doesn't automatically mean walk away.

Drainage doesn't automatically mean walk away.

Even a large repair can potentially be dealt with if the buyer understands it, the economics make sense and the buyer is comfortable assuming the work.

For me, the bigger question is:

Has the inspection changed the deal enough that the buyer no longer wants the property on the terms available?

Maybe we've discovered one very large unexpected problem.

Maybe there are numerous smaller problems and the total future cost has become uncomfortable.

Maybe we can't determine the extent of an issue with enough confidence during the due-diligence period.

Maybe the seller won't negotiate and the buyer simply doesn't have the resources to absorb the newly discovered costs.

Or maybe the buyer realizes that this property is going to require considerably more work than they want in their life.

Those can all be legitimate reasons to reconsider the purchase, subject to the terms of the contract and the buyer obtaining any appropriate professional advice.

The Inspection Is Really About New Information

That's ultimately how I look at home inspections.

The objective isn't to get an inspection report and then add up every deficiency as though we're creating an invoice for the seller.

We're trying to learn something.

Is the property materially different from what we reasonably believed we were buying?

If the answer is no, perhaps we proceed knowing a little more about the maintenance we'll eventually need to do.

If the answer is yes, then we determine the significance of that new information.

Maybe we investigate further.

Maybe we negotiate.

Maybe the seller repairs something.

Maybe we negotiate a better price.

And in some circumstances, the buyer may decide they no longer want to proceed.

The answer depends on the property, the contract, the deficiency and the buyer.

But the principle remains the same:

An inspection shouldn't be judged by how many things the inspector finds. It should be judged by how much the findings change your understanding of the property you agreed to buy.

That's what tells us whether we're dealing with normal home ownership, an opportunity to negotiate—or a reason to reconsider the purchase altogether.