A Georgia buyer repair request usually shows up on day eight or nine, right when you had started to relax. The inspection happened, the report came back, and now there is a list. For most sellers, the first reaction is the same: this feels like the buyer is renegotiating a deal you already made.
Here is the flip. That list is not a demand and it is not binding on you. It is an offer to modify a contract you already have, and you hold more leverage than the document format suggests. Sellers who understand what the form actually does respond calmly and keep more money. Sellers who react emotionally either overpay or blow up a deal they wanted.
Nicole France is a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Center and was the number one Paulding County REALTOR® for 2025. Roughly 60 percent of her business is listings across Cobb, Cherokee, Paulding, and Bartow counties, which means she negotiates these lists constantly.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Consult a Georgia real estate attorney about your specific contract.
1. It Is a Request, Not a Demand
Nothing in a standard Georgia contract obligates a seller to make repairs. The buyer inspected the property, found things they do not like, and is asking you to change the deal. You can accept, counter, or decline.
What the buyer holds is not the power to force repairs. It is the power to walk. During the due diligence period, a buyer can terminate for any reason or no reason at all and recover their earnest money. That is the real pressure behind the list.
Understanding that distinction changes how you read the document. The question is never “do I have to fix this.” The question is “what does this buyer actually need in order to close, and what is that worth compared to putting the house back on the market.” Those are two very different conversations, and only one of them is worth having.
2. The Form Is GAR F704, and It Binds Nothing Until Someone Accepts
Most Georgia agents deliver repair requests on the Amendment to Address Concerns with Property, form F704 in the Georgia Association of REALTORS® library. It is a two-page amendment with blank space where the parties write in what they want changed.
The amendment becomes effective only when the party who accepts it delivers notice of that acceptance to the party who proposed it, following the notice provisions in the contract. Until that happens, nothing has changed about your deal.
Related forms matter too. F725 authorizes a buyer to make repairs before closing. F710 changes the due diligence period. F273, the Property Sold with Right to Request Repairs Exhibit, is sometimes used in place of a full due diligence period and narrows what a buyer can raise. Ask your agent which forms are actually in your contract before you respond to anything.
3. Check the Deadline Before You Check the List
Before you read a single line item, find out how many days are left in the due diligence period. That number determines your entire strategy.
Georgia due diligence periods have traditionally run ten to fourteen days, though in competitive situations buyers sometimes offer as few as one to three days. If you have six days left, you have room to counter, get a contractor quote, and counter again. If you have thirty-six hours left, you do not.
A buyer who sends a long list on the final afternoon of due diligence is applying time pressure on purpose. You are allowed to respond to that by asking for an extension using F710. Sellers rarely think to request one, and it is often the single most useful move available. Extra days are cheaper than concessions.
4. Repair It Yourself When the Item Is Safety, Structure, or Systems
Some items you should just fix, and fixing them is usually cheaper than crediting them.
Active water intrusion, an unsafe electrical panel, a failed HVAC system, rotted structural framing, a leaking roof, and anything a lender will flag are all in this category. These are items the next buyer’s inspector will find too. Crediting them does not make them disappear. It just means you pay for them and still have them on the disclosure for the next contract.
You also control the cost when you do the work. You choose the contractor, you get the quote, and you decide the scope. When you hand the buyer a credit instead, you are paying a number they picked, often based on a retail estimate written by someone who has never seen the house.
Fix the real problems. Negotiate the rest.
5. Offer a Closing Cost Credit When You Do Not Want Contractors in the House
A credit is often the cleanest resolution. You give the buyer money toward closing costs, they handle the work after closing, and no one coordinates plumbers around showings and a move-out.
Credits solve three problems at once. There is no dispute later about workmanship. There is no scramble to finish before the final walkthrough. And you avoid the situation where a repair gets done, the buyer disagrees with the quality, and now you are arguing five days before closing.
The tradeoff is that a credit is real money out of your proceeds and it shows on the settlement statement. It also has caps, which is the next point and the one most sellers learn about too late. Before you agree to any credit amount, ask the buyer’s lender to confirm the buyer can actually receive it.
6. Know the Credit Limits by Loan Type Before You Agree to a Number
Lenders cap how much a seller can contribute, and the caps depend on the loan.
Conventional loans are tiered by down payment: generally up to 3 percent when the buyer puts less than 10 percent down, 6 percent between 10 and 25 percent down, and 9 percent above 25 percent down. Investment property purchases are capped at 2 percent. FHA loans allow up to 6 percent of the lesser of the sales price or appraised value. VA loans allow up to 4 percent in concessions, though the seller can also pay normal closing costs outside that cap. USDA allows up to 6 percent.
Two traps follow. First, a credit cannot exceed the buyer’s actual closing costs, so a large credit can partially evaporate. Second, because FHA and conventional caps are based on the lesser of price or appraised value, a low appraisal can shrink the allowable credit after you already agreed to it. Build in room for that.
7. Reduce the Price When a Credit Will Not Work
When the number the buyer needs exceeds what their loan allows as a credit, a price reduction accomplishes the same thing.
The mechanics differ in ways that matter to you. A credit preserves the recorded sale price, which protects the comparable sales your neighbors and your appraiser will use later. A price reduction lowers the recorded number permanently and follows the property into public record. Both hit your net proceeds by a similar amount.
There is a third option worth knowing. You can split it, agreeing to a smaller credit that fits within the lender cap and a modest price reduction covering the rest. That structure closes deals that otherwise stall over a technicality, and most sellers never hear it offered because nobody explained the caps to them.
8. The Partial Counter Is the Most Common Outcome
Most repair negotiations do not end in yes or no. They end in a counter, and countering well is a skill.
Sort the list into three piles. Legitimate defects the buyer could not have seen when they wrote the offer. Deferred maintenance and age-related items they absolutely could see, like a twenty-year-old water heater on a house you disclosed as twenty years old. And cosmetic or preference items that belong nowhere near an inspection amendment.
Agree to the first pile. Negotiate the second. Decline the third, politely and without explanation. A written counter that addresses the real issues and quietly ignores the wish list resolves the majority of these negotiations in one round. Volume in the buyer’s list is not the same as strength in their position.
9. Write the Scope of Work in Painful Detail
If you agree to a repair, describe it precisely. Vague language creates disputes at the walkthrough.
GAR’s own guidance uses the roof as the example. A line that says “replace roof” leaves five open questions. Will the old shingles be fully removed? Will rotten decking be replaced? What underlayment will be used? What shingle brand, grade, and color? What warranty comes with it? Every unanswered question is a future argument.
The same rule applies to smaller items. Specify who performs the work, whether a licensed contractor is required, what documentation you will provide, and by what date the work will be complete. Then state what happens if it is not finished on time. Sellers lose money at the closing table over sentences they were too rushed to write clearly two weeks earlier.
10. Read the Bottom of the Amendment Carefully
Some buyers add language stating that if the seller does not accept the amendment before the due diligence period ends, the amendment itself serves as notice of the buyer’s decision to terminate.
That single sentence changes everything about your timeline. It converts a negotiation into a deadline with an automatic outcome, and a seller who sits on the document for two days can find the contract terminated without another word from anyone.
Also check whether the amendment states that the remainder of the due diligence period terminates upon acceptance. The F704 form includes a box for exactly that. If it is not checked, the buyer keeps their unrestricted right to walk even after you agree to everything they asked for. Never sign a repair amendment without reading how it treats the remaining days.
What Sellers Need to Know
Market conditions set the tone for these negotiations. Northwest Atlanta has shifted toward buyers, with inventory up across Acworth, Dallas, and Woodstock and a meaningful share of listings taking price reductions. Redfin data shows Woodstock homes taking noticeably longer to sell than a year ago. Buyers know it, and repair lists have gotten longer as a result.
That does not mean you concede. It means you calculate. Before responding, ask one question: what does it cost me to lose this buyer? Add the carrying costs of another thirty to forty days, the likelihood that a second inspection finds the same items, and the fact that anything material discovered here now belongs on your disclosure. Often that math justifies solving the problem. Sometimes it clearly does not.
The sellers who do best are the ones who priced and prepared correctly from the start. A pre-listing repair of the obvious issues removes the ammunition before the list ever gets written. If you are early in the process, start with an honest home value assessment and a conversation about what to fix before you list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a buyer back out if I refuse to make repairs in Georgia?
During the due diligence period, yes. A buyer can terminate for any reason and recover earnest money. After the due diligence period expires, their right to terminate narrows considerably and usually depends on remaining contingencies such as financing or appraisal. Timing is everything.
Does selling as-is mean I can ignore a repair request?
Not exactly. An as-is sale signals you do not intend to make repairs, but the buyer typically still has a due diligence period and can still terminate. As-is also does not eliminate your obligation to disclose known material defects. Many as-is negotiations end in a credit rather than repairs.
Is a repair credit or a price reduction better for me as the seller?
They cost you a similar amount. A credit preserves the recorded sale price, which helps neighborhood comparable sales and can be simpler for the buyer’s cash needs. A price reduction is permanent in public record but avoids lender concession caps. The right answer depends on the buyer’s loan, so ask before you choose.
Facing a Repair Request on Your Northwest Atlanta Home?
A repair list is a negotiation, not a verdict. Nicole France will help you sort what is legitimate, what is negotiable, and what to decline, then structure a response that keeps the deal together without giving away your proceeds.
Call or text (404) 867-3869 or reach out at nicolefrance-realestate.com/contact/. You can also see the areas we serve or learn more about Nicole.
Nicole France is a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Center serving buyers and sellers across Acworth, Kennesaw, Dallas, Cartersville, and Woodstock. Client Focused · Results Driven.