Maybe the email arrives with a repair list: a dozen or so items, a handful that sound serious, and several you'd never have thought of as defects. Before you open your wallet, ask yourself whether the contract actually obliges you to touch any of it.
That question trips sellers up in opposite directions. One group spends money on work they never owed anyone. The other stonewalls, rejects the whole list, and watches a motivated buyer leave over a trivial item. Each outcome starts with the same blind spot: not knowing how much leverage you hold. Below you'll find what Georgia expects from you, what really happens when you decline, and a way to sort the requests worth granting from the ones that aren't.
Are Georgia Sellers Legally Required To Fix What The Inspector Finds?
Short answer: no. Nothing in an inspection report, or in the buyer's follow-up request, puts you under an obligation to repair. Consider a report with two entries. An outlet in a bedroom is cracked but still works, and an electrician might charge about $150 to swap it. Flashing on the roof shows wear, and the inspector recommends a closer look, which could easily become a $4,000-plus project.
Once the buyer's agent submits a written request for both items inside the due diligence window, plenty of sellers assume they've been handed an ultimatum. They haven't. You're being invited to negotiate, and nothing legally obligates you to fix either the outlet or the roof.
Keep in mind that a repair request is a different matter from your disclosure duties, which are laid out in our post on what Cobb and Cherokee County sellers must disclose. Every contract has its own terms and deadlines, so run the details of yours past your agent or an attorney.
What Are Your Three Options When A Repair Request Arrives?
The buyer's side typically asks for repairs or credits in a written amendment, and your reply comes down to three choices: you do the repair, you refuse, or you propose a different arrangement. See also our Cobb County post on what sellers should do when a buyer wants repairs after inspection.
That third choice is the one that rarely occurs to sellers. You hand over money at closing instead of paying a contractor, either as a closing cost credit or as a lower price, and the repair becomes the buyer's job once the house is theirs.
Run the two items through that lens. Agreeing to replace the outlet is typically painless: the cost is tiny and the deal keeps its momentum. The roof is different, and a credit tends to work in your favor there. Instead of hunting for a roofer, arranging a re-inspection and crossing your fingers that the work finishes before closing, you give the buyer the money, they schedule the roof when it suits them, and your closing date doesn't shift.
Anything you concede should appear in the amendment itself. If you only say you'll handle something, the buyer has nothing to point to, and verbal assurances are what turn an apparently settled deal into an argument days before closing.
Think of a repair request as the start of a conversation. You can accept it, reject it, or answer with a credit, and whatever you settle on should be written into the amendment.
Which Repairs Are Actually Worth Agreeing To?
Here's a quick screen to apply to each item on the list:
- Does it threaten safety, or is it purely cosmetic?
- Is a different buyer's inspector likely to write up the same thing?
- Compare two numbers: the price of the fix against the price of losing this buyer.
Take a failing furnace or an electrical hazard seriously. If this buyer leaves, it will surface again with the next one, and giving up a solid buyer often costs more than the repair would have. A scuffed baseboard sits at the other end: not worth your worry, and not worth a buyer sinking a deal over either.
Rarely is a repair list a single crisis. It usually holds a few real concerns alongside a pile of small ones, and sorting the first group from the second is the whole skill.
Return to the two-item report. The outlet carries no meaningful safety risk, a later inspector probably wouldn't flag it as urgent, and the cost is negligible, which makes it an easy yes. The roof is a true functional concern. It would very likely appear in the next buyer's report if this contract dies, and losing this buyer would set you back further than the credit. So the outlet got a plain yes, and the roof got a credit.
From Ken: after reviewing plenty of these lists, he has noticed that some include very petty entries. The buyer is paying the inspector to evaluate this specific house, and Ken suspects that when a home is in good shape, a few inspectors pad the report with minor items so the buyer feels they received their money's worth. He adds that it's only his opinion.
What Happens If You And The Buyer Can't Agree?
Suppose the due diligence clock runs out and nothing has been settled. The buyer then picks one of two routes. Either they deliver written notice of termination before the window closes and leave with their earnest money, or they let it lapse and take the house in its current condition, with no repairs and no credit.
The deadline is the source of leverage for each side. A buyer who's serious about your home rarely wants to walk away over something minor, and a seller who recognizes this doesn't give in to every line simply because a list showed up.
Rejecting everything as a matter of principle carries its own cost. Say you refuse every request and the buyer exits: the house returns to the market, you sit through more showings, and the next inspector is likely to flag that same roof. The issue didn't vanish, it just cost you extra weeks. For more on how deals unravel, read the top reasons home sales fall through and what happens if a buyer backs out.
Is A Long List Of Small Repairs Really About Repairs?
Sometimes the list isn't about repairs at all. A buyer who shows up after the inspection with a long string of mostly minor, cosmetic items may not be reacting to the house. The real aim can be a lower price, with the inspection serving as the excuse.
Once you recognize that, your reply changes. You're not weighing five little fixes, you're discussing price, and a single clean credit can answer it without lining up five different contractors.
How Much Leverage Do Sellers Have In Today's Metro Atlanta Market?
How much weight you carry depends on the market around you. When inventory is thin and buyers are bidding against each other, you can stand firm on most requests, since a buyer who leaves knows the next home will probably draw competing offers. When shoppers have plenty of listings to pick from, walking is simple for them, and sellers generally have to give more ground to keep the contract alive.
Current months of supply:
- Cobb County: 4.1 months, up from 3.5 a year ago
- Cherokee County: 4.3 months, up from 4.1 a year ago
Supply has grown in both counties from a year earlier, which typically hands buyers a little extra room to push. Prices tell a different story, though, because sellers are still collecting close to full list price:
of list price: what Cobb County homes are selling for
of list price: what Cherokee County homes are selling for
Rising supply doesn't mean you should concede every request. Buyers aren't extracting steep discounts, a sign that most of them still want your house, and that's worth remembering whenever you're deciding whether to hold your ground or give something up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to make the repairs a buyer asks for after an inspection?
No. A repair request during due diligence opens a negotiation rather than issuing a demand, and in Georgia you can accept it, turn it down, or answer with a credit.
What is a repair credit?
A credit replaces the repair with money at closing, either a closing cost credit or a price reduction. The buyer decides how and when to fix the item after they take ownership.
What happens if the buyer and I can't agree?
When the due diligence period ends without a deal, the buyer either terminates in writing and recovers their earnest money, or proceeds with the home as it stands.
Should repair agreements be in writing?
Absolutely. Anything you concede belongs in the amendment. A spoken promise gives the buyer nothing to rely on and sets up a disagreement close to closing.
Should I refuse every repair request?
Rarely. If a buyer leaves over a blanket refusal, you're facing more showings, and the next inspector will probably raise the same issues, so all you've done is add weeks.
Ready To Handle Your Next Repair Request With Confidence?
Keep three moves in mind, treat the due diligence deadline as your leverage, and judge each request against the value of the entire sale rather than the single page in front of you.
For the bigger picture on handling offers, repair requests and the other decisions that arrive after you're under contract, download the free guide below.
Want A Smoother Path From Contract To Closing?
Our free guide, 7 Tips to a Fast Sale, walks through where offers and repair requests come up after you're under contract and how to come out ahead in each one.
Ken Mandich is a Realtor® and team lead at Complete Realty Team, serving Metro Atlanta with a focus on Cobb and Cherokee County. As an active real estate investor, Ken brings a rare combination of hands-on investing experience and full-service agent expertise to every seller and buyer he works with. He's built his business around clear communication and walking clients through every step of the process, from pricing a home right to closing with confidence. You can reach him at 404-410-6465 or [email protected].
