A response from a seller

[Robert Jones]

Here is a response that the buyer received from the seller after I called for gutters to be installed on the home. Enjoy!

"5. The house was built in 1921. There have never been gutters on the back of the house. There is no need of them. The eaves on the house deposit the water approximately a foot away form the house, which is further than a downspout would, and there is no erosion problem due to the fact that the water is not all coming out in one place. Nobody walks under these areas, and nothing here needs to be protected by water dripping off the roof. Gutters are not needed in these areas."

[Jim Katen]

This is why I recommend against asking sellers to make repairs to the house. Why would you do such a thing? What possible motivation does the seller have to do a good job?

If you were buying a used car, would you say, "Ok, I'll buy the car, but only if you install a new head gasket on it?"

Of course not. You'd say, "OK, I'll buy the car, but at a reduced price because I have to have a new head gasket installed on it." If the seller refuses to reduce his price for any reason, then you have to decide whether or not to buy the car.

I simply don't understand why buyers want sellers to make repairs to houses. It's one of the great stupid paradigms of real estate transactions.

[allseason]

Putting on the gutters is not a repair, it is an upgrade or improvement, like asking the owner of a stock 1932 Ford to install hydraulic brakes. It is not a repair because it was never there to fail.

[Jim Katen]

Putting on the gutters is not a repair, it is an upgrade or improvement, like asking the owner of a stock 1932 Ford to install hydraulic brakes. It is not a repair because it was never there to fail.

Perhaps, but I have yet to see a 1920s house in this area that never had gutters.