Home Owners Claim while house is in contract to sell

[mrbasinger]

What is the name of your state? What is the name of your state? What is the name of your state? Ohio

There was hail damage to my roof and siding back in April of this year, and I am now in the process of selling my home (it is already in contract). I knew there was the roof damage and I stated this on my disclosure form when selling my house. I contacted my insurance company and some roofing contractors. I was unaware of any damage to the siding until a contractor pointed it out. Also as expected, the buyers have requested the roof be fixed following their home inspection. My insurance company adjuster came out and wrote up a claim for hail damage to the roof AND also the house siding, but only on 2 sides of the house. He allowed money to powerwash and paint the other 2 sides. I am concerned of the legal ramifications of any of the following options.

1) Have the repairs made as paid by the insurance, meaning the roof is replaced, two sides of the house are re-sided, and the other two sides are powerwashed and painted. My concern about painting aluminum siding though is that this might alter the house enough that the buyer could pull out of the deal.

2) Have just the roof repaired (at the moment I have contracted with the roofer to fix just the roof, which was the only thing I had on my disclosure form and the only thing found by the buyer's inspector). Then, sign over the remaining insurance money to the buyers at closing and leave it up to them as to how to remedy the siding. I believe that this way they could not come back on me or my insurance for any damages to the siding since the claim was filed and settled, and the new owners was compensated as such.

3) Adjust the sale price of my house to reflect the dollar amount of the damages to the siding (remember, no matter what, I AM getting the roof repaired). In this scenario, then I would just keep the insurance money earmarked for the siding and the buyers would be getting the home at the reduced price.

Perhaps there are other possible remedies as well that I have not considered. I would appreciate anyone's EDUCATED opinion regarding this matter.

Thanks

 

[Bigfoot]

Your greatest responsibility is to disclose everything, which it sounds like you've done. If you read the contract, it's doubtful that the scenario you've described will allow the Buyer to simply opt out at this time. To keep the peace, however, why not negotiate all 3 scenes with the Buyer so that you'll have less hassle after the sale.

Remember, there are thousands of houses on the market. Something about your house and location attracted this Buyer to yours. Good luck!