I made an offer on a lake home a little over a week ago. We countered back and forth a few times and finally agreed upon a purchase price of $109,900 and the seller to give $2,000 in closing costs. She even countered back over a measly $900, which we found odd. We have a signed copy of the purchase agreement. The seller is a real estate agent by the way (newer agent as of about 8 months ago).

I had called the seller directly and asked a number of questions (things like how old the furnace and water heater were, etc.) She told me the house was a foreclosure property and it had water/mold damage. It had been through mold remediation and was certified when she bought it (looking at the history we found out she got it for $65K at auction and I estimate she has done under $12-13K in repairs to flip the house). It had been on the market for one year when she got it, and she has had it listed for over a year as well.

My real estate agent had the normal clauses in the purchase agreement regarding the need to obtain financing, and doing a complete home inspection, etc.

After the inspection a number of repair items were discovered. I included only the major items like no ventilation at all in attic, bathroom vents terminating in attic, water leaks in windows and garage walls, gutters missing, drainage and crawl space issues, leaks in furnace vent on roof, some wiring issues, and no hot water in the shower, which totaled to $4,900 in repairs (if I fix most myself). I had many other things on my list that needed to be addressed: all major systems (furnace, AC, all appliances) were really 16 years old, no lighting at all in living room, ducts needed cleaned for residual mold, etc --- which totaled over $13K.

My realtor sent an "Independent Inspection Response" that I signed saying we would accept the property provided the seller compensate me for $4,900 in repairs. She was sent a full copy of the certifed inspectors report and my detailed estimates for all of the repairs.

One of the lines in this read, "If a response is required the Seller shall respond on or before 1:00pm Feb. 10, 2008. IF SELLER FAILS TO RESPOND OR FAILS TO REQUEST AN EXTENSION OF TIME TO RESPOND, SELLER ACCEPTS BUYERS INSPECTION RESPONSE ABOVE."

Well, the deadline passed and no response at all from her. My agent called to let me know she didn't respond and that she knows she got it because she took it to her office personaly on Friday and then phone called her to discuss our position for the repairs. The seller has been VERY difficult to deal with through this whole process. She doesn't want to give an inch on price (and we know she has major profit in it still ... she paid cash and didn't even have interest payments the past year).

My question is this: is she now legally bound to sell me the house minus the $4,900 in repairs? What steps do I take if she will not respond to us?

I need sound legal advice please. My agent says she thinks she has to pay the repairs now, but I want to know the law (I am in Indiana).

Thank you.

Mark

i can not give you a answer on your proplem but i know when you send a letter it should go through the mail and be ceritfied and need to be signed for
as in most cases you will need to prove she got the letter and your realitors word is not enough.