How to Save a Home Sale After a Bad Inspection

An inspection report isn't a bill — it's a list of requests, and not all requests cost the same. The way to save a sale that's shaky after inspection is to go through the list line by line, separate what's actually structural or mechanical from what's cosmetic, and find solutions where both sides come out ahead instead of treating every item as a cost to fight over.

Prefer to watch? Ben walks through a real deal that almost fell apart — watch here, or keep reading below.

A deal that almost died

I had a deal that almost died at the inspection. I was representing the seller on a house well over a century old — nothing square, nothing standard, the kind of thing you expect with a house that age. We'd been on the market a while before going under contract, and then the buyer came back from inspection with a long list.

My seller was in a position where he needed to sell. He took the list to a contractor, got a quote back, and the number was bad enough that he'd have been upside down — paying money just to sell his own house.

Instead of forwarding him the bill, I went through the list line by line and asked: what's actually structural or mechanical, and what isn't? "Cut the grass" was on that list. Fine to do, but it has nothing to do with whether the house is sound.

The insulation fix

Then there was the insulation. The buyer wanted the attic insulated — a legitimate ask. When that house was built, insulation wasn't standard; if there was anything up there, it was probably newspaper. I wasn't going to call that request unreasonable. But I also wasn't going to let my seller eat that cost.

So I found a program the buyer could sign up for themselves — energy rebates and tax credits for handling the insulation on their own end. That flipped the whole conversation. Instead of telling the buyer no, I was telling them they actually wanted to be the one paying for it: they'd get money back, get exactly the insulation they wanted instead of the cheapest bid, and save on their energy bill every month after. We landed on that plus a few other repairs everyone was good with, and the deal closed.

Why this comes up so often in Baltimore

Insulation gaps like this one are extremely common in Baltimore's housing stock, not the exception. Many of the city's rowhomes and older properties are 100+ years old, built well before any insulation code existed. Unless a home has gone through a full renovation, it's unlikely to have adequate insulation — which means it's one of the inspection items sellers here run into again and again.

Requests, not bills

Every line on an inspection report is a request. Some are worth real money. Some are worth about ten minutes of a Saturday. If those get treated the same, that's money walking out the door unnecessarily.

There's also a timing cost to consider. A deal that blows up over a repair list doesn't just disappear — it means going back on market with no guarantee the next contract is two weeks out or four months out. Most repair negotiations don't have to be a win for one side and a loss for the other. There's often a version where everyone walks away better off — it just takes someone willing to look for it.

What this means if you're selling in Baltimore

Before you panic over an inspection list, sort it first: what's structural or mechanical, and what's cosmetic. For something as common as missing insulation in an older home, ask whether there's a program, rebate, or credit that changes the math for either side — not every repair has to become a standoff over who pays.

FAQs

What should I do if a buyer's inspection list seems too long?

Go through it line by line. Separate structural and mechanical items from cosmetic ones — not everything on the list carries the same weight or cost.

Can repairs be negotiated instead of just paid for?

Yes. Sometimes the better move is connecting the buyer to a program, rebate, or credit that makes handling a repair themselves worth more to them than a credit from the seller would be.

What happens if a deal falls through over inspection items?

The home goes back on market, and there's no guarantee of how long it takes to get a new contract. That timing cost is worth weighing before walking away from a negotiable issue.

Why do so many older Baltimore homes lack proper insulation?

Many Baltimore rowhomes and older properties are 100+ years old and were built before insulation codes existed. Unless a home has had a full renovation, it's unlikely to have adequate insulation — making it one of the most common items that come up at inspection.

Ben Garner, Owner, GARNER+CO. 830+ homes sold personally, $310M+ in volume. Top 1% of REALTORS® nationwide by transaction volume (NAR, 2025). Baltimore Magazine Top Agents 2026. Live Baltimore City Expert. MD license #659786. Selling since 2015.

If you're getting ready to sell and want someone in your corner who'll dig for the answer instead of just handing you the bill, call or text 443-212-8005.