Handling the Buyer's Repair Requests After Inspection on a San Antonio Home Sale

The buyer's inspection report is not a list of demands. It is a negotiation opener, and you control more of the response than most San Antonio sellers realize. Under a standard TREC 20-17 One to Four Family Residential Contract, the buyer paid for an unrestricted option period (Paragraph 23) that lets them walk for any reason. What they cannot do is unilaterally force you to repair anything. Everything that happens between the report landing and the option period expiring is a negotiation, and you have leverage if you read the contract correctly.

This is where a sale in Bexar County most often falls apart or gets renegotiated. The house passed appraisal risk, the buyer is qualified, and then the inspector finds 42 items. What you do in the next 72 hours determines whether you close at your contract price, give up $8,000 in concessions you didn't need to give, or lose the buyer entirely.

What the inspection report actually is

A TREC-licensed inspector follows TREC's Standards of Practice (Texas Administrative Code Title 22, Chapter 535) and produces a report using REI 7-6. That report flags every item that is Deficient (D), Not Inspected (NI), or Not Present (NP). The key word is deficient — which in inspector-speak can mean anything from "foundation has differential movement" to "missing cover plate on a light switch."

Do not read the report as a punch list. Read it in three buckets:

• Safety and lender-required items. Active gas leaks, exposed wiring, missing GFCIs in wet areas, non-functioning smoke detectors, major roof defects. FHA and VA loans have their own minimum property requirements, and if the buyer is using either, the lender will flag some of these independently of the inspector.
• Material defects. Foundation movement, HVAC not cooling, active roof leaks, failing water heater, sewer line issues. These affect value and habitability.
• Cosmetic and maintenance items. Caulking, minor drywall cracks, a loose toilet, an outlet that tests reverse polarity, missing weatherstripping. These are negotiation padding.

A savvy buyer's agent separates these. A less experienced one hands you all 42 items and asks you to fix everything. Treat those two situations very differently.

The option period is a clock, not a weapon

Paragraph 23 gives the buyer the unrestricted right to terminate during the option period — typically 5 to 10 days in Bexar County — for a negotiated fee (often $100–$500 as of recent cycles). If they terminate, they get their earnest money back. If the option period expires and they have not terminated or gotten you to sign an amendment, the contract continues as written, with no repair obligation on your part beyond what's already in the contract.

That last sentence is the one most sellers don't internalize. If the buyer misses their own deadline, your exposure on repairs drops to the contract's baseline, which on a standard TREC 20-17 is essentially nothing unless you checked a box agreeing otherwise.

So the question is never "do I have to fix this." The question is: what does the buyer need to see in writing before the option period ends to stay in the deal at a price that still works for me.

The TREC Amendment (39-9) is how repairs actually get negotiated

There is no separate "repair request form" in the TREC system. Everything gets memorialized on TREC 39-9, Amendment to Contract. Your buyer's agent will typically send one of three things:

1. A 39-9 listing specific repairs for you to complete before closing.
2. A 39-9 with a sales price reduction or seller contribution to closing costs in lieu of repairs.
3. A notice of termination under Paragraph 23 with the earnest money release.

You can counter any of these. You can strike items, substitute a credit for a repair, cap your dollar exposure, or refuse entirely and let the buyer decide whether to terminate. Nothing is binding until both sides sign.

Repair vs credit vs price reduction

As a seller, a closing-cost credit or price reduction is almost always cleaner than agreeing to do the work yourself. Reasons:

• You control no timeline. If the HVAC tech can't come until three days after closing, you've breached.
• The buyer can reject your contractor's work at the final walkthrough and delay closing.
• You're paying retail for labor during a contract you've already signed.
• Lender-required repairs are the exception — those must be completed and re-inspected before funding, so a credit doesn't solve the problem.

If the buyer is financing through a conventional loan and the issue isn't safety/structural, counter with a credit. If it's FHA, VA, or USDA, confirm with the buyer's lender what must be physically repaired versus what a credit covers.

The San Antonio items that come up again and again

Foundation movement

San Antonio sits on expansive clay soils, particularly on the north and northwest sides — Stone Oak, Helotes, parts of Alamo Ranch. Differential movement is normal. A general inspector will almost always recommend "evaluation by a structural engineer." Do not pay for a foundation company's free estimate as your rebuttal — those are sales calls and they will always recommend piers. Pay $450–$700 for a licensed professional engineer's letter. If the engineer says monitor, you have a document that kills the issue. If the engineer says repair, you now have a defensible scope instead of a $22,000 opening bid from a pier contractor.

HVAC not cooling to spec

In San Antonio, a system that can't pull a 20-degree differential in August is a real problem, and buyers know it. If your unit is 15+ years old and the inspector flags low refrigerant or weak cooling, expect a request for replacement or a substantial credit. Counter with a licensed HVAC tech's diagnostic — sometimes it's a $400 capacitor, not a $9,000 system.

Roof

Bexar County hail events (the 2016 and 2021 storms especially) mean roof age matters to insurers, not just buyers. If your roof is over 15 years old on composition shingle, most buyers' insurance carriers will ask questions. Have your insurance declarations page and any prior roof claim documentation ready.

Wood-destroying insects

VA loans require a WDI report (Form NPMA-33) in Texas, paid for by the seller. Termites and carpenter ants are common in older South Side and near-East Side homes. Treatment is cheap ($200–$400 as of recent cycles); arguing about it isn't worth the friction.

Sewer lateral

Older homes inside Loop 410 — Monte Vista, Beacon Hill, Mahncke Park, parts of 78209 — often have cast iron or clay sewer laterals tied into SAWS mains. A sewer scope is increasingly common in the inspection package. If the camera shows bellies or root intrusion, get your own plumber's bid before accepting the buyer's number.

What most sellers get wrong

• Treating the full report as the ask. The inspection report goes to the buyer, not to you. What matters is the amendment the buyer sends. Respond to that document, not to the 80-page PDF.
• Agreeing to "repair per inspector's recommendation." Never sign this language. It's open-ended and hands the buyer's inspector unilateral authority over your wallet. Always negotiate specific scope, specific dollar cap, or a flat credit.
• Hiring the cheapest contractor to rush a repair. If you agree to repairs, the work must be done by licensed tradespeople (TDLR for electrical and HVAC, TSBPE for plumbing) and you must provide receipts and permits at closing. A handyman fix on a panel will get rejected at final walkthrough.
• Forgetting the Seller's Disclosure Notice (TREC OP-H) obligation. Under Texas Property Code § 5.008, once you know about a defect, it becomes disclosable to this buyer and every future buyer. If you refuse to fix a foundation issue and the deal falls apart, you now have to disclose it on the next contract. That calculus should inform what you concede.
• Panicking on day one of the option period. Buyers often front-load the ask to test you. A calm, itemized counter on TREC 39-9 — with a credit number instead of a repair list — kills most of the noise.
• Ignoring the re-inspection. If you do agree to repairs, expect the buyer to pay for a re-inspection before closing. Schedule your work to finish at least five days before the closing date so there's time to address anything flagged.

Your response playbook, in order

1. Read the buyer's amendment, not the inspection report.
2. Separate lender-required, safety, material, and cosmetic items.
3. Get your own bids on anything over $1,500 before responding.
4. Counter with a credit instead of repairs where possible.
5. Cap dollar exposure explicitly on anything you agree to fix.
6. Confirm the option period expiration date and respond inside it.
7. Schedule any agreed repairs with licensed, permitted trades and keep receipts.

If you are selling on your own and want to list without a commission while keeping control of responses like this, you can post your property free at /list-your-home, or browse /agents if you'd rather hand the negotiation to a local pro who has written a hundred of these amendments. More seller-side guides are at /resources.