The buyer's inspection report just landed in your inbox, and it is long. Now the buyer wants a list of things fixed before closing. As a seller, what do you actually have to repair, and what can you turn down?
Here in North Carolina the honest answer surprises a lot of people: you are not required to fix anything. But being allowed to say no and being smart to say no are two different things. In this post we walk through how repair negotiations work under the North Carolina Offer to Purchase, which repairs are usually worth making, which requests you can reasonably refuse, when a credit beats a repair, and how to handle agreed repairs so they don't come back to bite you at closing.
Table of Contents:
The Short Answer: NC Sellers Don't Have to Fix Anything
How Repair Negotiations Work in Charlotte
What You Should Usually Fix
What You Can Reasonably Say No To
Fix It, Credit It, or Lower the Price?
If You Agree to Repairs, Do Them Right
Saying No to a Repair Is Not the Same as Hiding a Problem
Your Options for Each Repair Request
Your Next Step
The Short Answer: NC Sellers Don't Have to Fix Anything
No North Carolina law and no Real Estate Commission rule requires a seller to make repairs. Under the standard Offer to Purchase and Contract (Form 2-T) that almost every Charlotte home sale uses, the house is sold in its current condition unless you and the buyer agree otherwise in writing.
The NC Real Estate Commission puts it plainly: repairs are fully negotiable. A buyer can ask for as many repairs as they like, and the seller does not have to agree to any of them. If you decide before you list that you won't make any repairs, you can market the home "as is" and tell buyers that up front. Buyers can still get inspections either way.
So why doesn't every seller just say no? Because the buyer has a powerful option of their own. During the due diligence period, the buyer can terminate the contract in writing for any reason or no reason at all, without your consent. If they do, they typically get their earnest money back. You usually keep the due diligence fee, unless you negotiated otherwise, but you lose the buyer, the days on market, and your place in line. That is the real cost of a flat "no," and it is why the question is less about what you have to fix and more about what is worth fixing.
How Repair Negotiations Work in Charlotte
In North Carolina, the buyer does their inspections during the due diligence period, a window of time set in the contract. After the inspector delivers the report, the buyer's agent usually sends a repair request on the Due Diligence Request and Agreement, Form 310-T. As the seller, you have three choices: accept the requests, counter with something different, or decline.
Timing matters for both sides. The contract tells buyers to make repair requests early enough that negotiations can wrap up before due diligence expires. You are not required to extend the deadline if talks run long. Once the period ends, a buyer who backs out over repairs is in breach, and the earnest money goes to the seller. That is why most repair negotiations get serious in the last few days of due diligence.
A buyer can also ask for repairs more than once, even after some repairs were already agreed. Keep in mind that repairs written into the Additional Provisions Addendum (Form 2A11-T) when the contract was signed are binding, while later requests on Form 310-T are optional for you to accept, counter, or deny.
Read the summary page, then the whole report
North Carolina law requires a summary page on most pre-purchase inspection reports. It must list any system or component that is not functioning as intended, plus anything that appears not to be working and needs a closer look by a specialist. The inspector may also list safety concerns there. Normal wear and tear that still works as intended does not belong on the summary. The summary itself must state that it is not the entire report, so read the full report before you respond. The summary page is where most repair requests come from, and it is a good first filter for what matters.
What You Should Usually Fix
When we sit down with sellers to go through a repair request, we sort items into a few buckets. These are the ones we usually recommend taking care of, because refusing them tends to cost more than fixing them.
Anything the buyer's lender will require. FHA and VA loans come with minimum property requirements. HUD says FHA's standards exist so that insured loans are backed by homes that are safe, sound, and secure. The appraiser notes the repairs needed to meet those standards, and the lender decides which must be done before it will fund the loan. If the lender requires it, the deal does not close without it, no matter what the buyer and seller agreed.
Items that are not functioning as intended. These are the summary page items: a system or component that does not work the way it should. Any future buyer's inspector would flag the same thing, so refusing usually just moves the problem to the next contract.
Genuine safety concerns. If the inspector calls out a safety issue, most buyers will not move forward without it being addressed, and it is the kind of item that is hard to defend saying no to.
Items flagged for a specialist that turn out to be real. When the report says a component needs further evaluation, the specialist's findings often carry more weight in negotiations than the general inspection.
A useful test: if this deal fell apart today, would the next buyer's inspector find the same problem? If the answer is yes, fixing it now, or crediting for it, usually beats starting over.
What You Can Reasonably Say No To
Every repair request is a negotiation, not a list of orders. These are the requests sellers can most often decline, or counter, without much risk to the deal.
Normal wear and tear. North Carolina's inspection law keeps wear and tear that still functions as intended off the summary page for a reason. A dated but working water heater, worn carpet, or a scuffed floor is part of buying a home that has been lived in.
Cosmetic items and upgrades. Paint colors, older fixtures, minor nail pops, and similar items are generally the buyer's to update. The buyer saw them when they toured and priced their offer with them in view.
Problems you already disclosed or priced in. If an issue was on your disclosure, in the listing, or reflected in the price you accepted, it is fair to point that out and decline.
Anything you said up front you would not fix. If you listed "as is," buyers were on notice from the start.
Vague or open-ended requests. The Real Estate Commission warns that repair agreements need to say clearly who will do the work, what will be repaired, and how. Asking for an item number from the report to simply be "fixed" leaves too much room for a dispute. Counter with specific language, or decline.
Saying no does not have to sound like no. A counter that agrees to the two items that matter, and declines the cosmetic ones with a short reason, keeps the conversation going. Remember the buyer can still walk during due diligence, so think about how strong your market and your backup interest are before you refuse everything.
Fix It, Credit It, or Lower the Price?
Making the repair yourself is only one way to handle a request. Many Charlotte sellers find it easier to offer money instead, either as a credit toward the buyer's closing costs or as a lower sale price. Buyers often like this too, since they get to choose their own contractor.
Credits have limits. On a conventional loan backed by Fannie Mae, seller contributions toward the buyer's costs are capped based on the buyer's loan to value. For a primary home or second home, the cap is 3% of the price when the buyer puts down less than 10%, 6% when the loan to value is between 75.01% and 90%, and 9% when it is 75% or less. Investment properties are capped at 2%. Those credits cannot be used for the buyer's down payment or reserves, and anything over the cap is treated as a price reduction. Other loan types have their own limits, so check with the buyer's lender before you agree to a number.
One paperwork note from the Real Estate Commission: money in lieu of repairs, like a credit or a price change, belongs in a proper contract amendment, not on the Due Diligence Request and Agreement. Signing the DDRA does not end the due diligence period or change the contract terms on its own.
Your Options for Each Repair Request
For any item on the buyer's list, you have four basic ways to respond. Here is how they compare.
If You Agree to Repairs, Do Them Right
Once you sign a repair agreement, it is a contract obligation. Under Form 2-T, agreed repairs must be completed in a good and workmanlike manner before settlement. Form 310-T adds that you must let the buyer know when the work is done and provide documentation. You do not have to finish during the due diligence period, but you do have to finish before closing.
NC REALTORS legal guidance says that materially failing to complete agreed repairs in a good and workmanlike manner is a breach of contract, which opens the door to the buyer's remedies under the contract. The buyer also has the right to verify the repairs before closing and to do a final walk-through. Refusing access for either one is itself a breach.
A few habits that protect you:
Get the repair language specific before you sign: who does the work, what exactly gets repaired, and how.
Use the kind of professional the agreement calls for. The Commission shared a case where buyers expected a moisture control contractor and the seller used a relative who was a plumber. The receipts at the walk-through started the dispute.
Keep invoices, receipts, and any warranties, and send copies to the buyer's agent when the work is done.
Schedule the work early, so an unfinished repair does not hold up closing.
Saying No to a Repair Is Not the Same as Hiding a Problem
You can refuse to fix almost anything. What you cannot do is misrepresent the home. On North Carolina's Residential Property and Owners' Association Disclosure Statement, a seller may check "No Representation" on many questions. But the Real Estate Commission warns that answering "No" when the truthful answer is "Yes" can expose a seller to civil liability for misrepresentation. Selling "as is" does not change that.
Your agent has duties too. Listing agents in North Carolina must disclose material facts about a property that they know or reasonably should know, even if the seller left them off the disclosure form. If an inspection turns up a significant defect and the deal falls through, your agent now knows about it, and that knowledge does not go away when the next buyer shows up.
That is one more reason the "would the next buyer find it too" test matters. A real defect tends to follow the house, so it is usually better to deal with it once, on your terms, than to keep negotiating it with every new buyer.
Your Next Step
The best repair negotiation starts before you ever list. Knowing your home's condition, and pricing it with that condition in mind, keeps the inspection from turning into a second round of price negotiations. If you are thinking about selling, start with our home value tool to see where your home stands in today's Charlotte market.
If you already have a repair request in hand, reach out to our team using the form below. We will go through the report and the request with you and help you decide what to fix, what to credit, and what to decline. This post is general information, not legal advice. For questions about your specific contract, talk with a North Carolina real estate attorney.
Sources
NC Real Estate Commission: Due Diligence Questions and Answers
NC REALTORS: Importance of Negotiating Repairs Before the Due Diligence Period Ends
NC REALTORS: Is a Seller's Failure to Properly Complete Agreed Repairs a Breach?
NC General Statutes 143-151.58: Home Inspection Report Requirements
Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-4.1-02: Interested Party Contributions
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