When you shop for a home to buy, you will find all types available. Some will be big and some little, while some may be in perfect shape and others will need work. If you find a great home that you really love but find out it has a problem of some kind, you may wonder what your options are. Here are several things you should know before you make an offer on a house if this happens.

Find Out the Severity of the Defect

The first step you will want to take is finding out how severe the defect is. For example, if the roof has issues, you might want to hire a roofing company to find out what work will be needed. In addition, you should ask for a quote to have the roof fixed.

You should take this step with any type of defect you find; and if you are not sure if there are defects, you could hire a home inspector to look for you. Knowing the severity of the defect and the cost to fix it will help you choose how to handle the situation.

Choose Which Option to Use

There are three main options you could choose from if you are in this situation:

Walk away from the deal—If the defect is too major, you could always look for a different home to buy. If you really want this house, though, you might want to choose one of the other options.

Negotiate with the seller—A good place to start is by asking the seller if they would negotiate. If the cost to make the repairs will be $10,000, you could ask the seller to reduce the house price for this amount. If the seller does not agree, he or she might agree to split the costs with you, and this would save you $5,000. With this option, you would buy the house and be responsible for doing the work, but you might only have to pay for a portion of it.

Request that the seller do the work—The third option involves putting a contingency on the offer that states that the seller must pay for the work and get it done before you will buy the house.

If you are ready to shop for a home for sale or if you are in this situation, you should talk to your real estate agent about how to handle it.