What Happens When a Buyer's Lender Requires Repairs You Didn't Agree To?

Published by Cash Flow Deals · Last updated 2026-08-03 · Reviewed by Camilo Palacio, Licensed Florida Real Estate Professional (License #3280644, REALTOR®), affiliated with Silver Door Realty, LLC (License #CQ1064903) · 4 min read

Cash Flow Deals gives you two choices: the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, and the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. You choose. On a traditional financed sale, FHA and conventional lenders can require specific repairs before funding under applicable property standards, including HUD's minimum property standards for FHA financing, even if those repairs were never part of your original agreement. With Cash Flow Deals, the number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens.

Factor	Traditional Listing	Cash Flow Deals
Timeline	Appraisal-required repairs can add 2-4 weeks to closing while the seller lines up licensed contractors and reinspection.	You choose the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, or the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. The number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens. On Premium, only lender-required repairs get fixed, with costs covered and settled from the sale proceeds out of our share, so nothing comes out of your pocket. Lender requirements can affect timing.
Repairs	FHA and conventional lenders can require specific fixes under HUD's minimum property standards before releasing loan funds.	Fast Cash Offer: no lender-required repair list. Premium Cash Offer: we cover repair costs, and we figure out a way, so nothing comes out of your pocket. Only an undisclosed structural issue triggers the structural exception.
Fees / Costs	Seller typically pays for lender-required repairs out of pocket or negotiates a credit against proceeds.	On the Premium Cash Offer, Cash Flow Deals is paid as a separate line item on the closing statement. No listing commission to Cash Flow Deals on the Fast Cash Offer.

Why a Lender Can Require Repairs Nobody Agreed To

An FHA or conventional loan is not just a promise to pay; it is money the lender is putting behind a specific piece of property. Before funding, the lender sends an appraiser to confirm the home meets that lender's standards, not just its market value. For FHA loans, that standard comes from HUD Handbook 4000.1, which lays out Minimum Property Requirements and Minimum Property Standards an appraiser has to confirm are met. Exposed wiring in a habitable room, a water heater that won't run, or gas lines that can't be tested each produce a required repair note under that handbook, whether or not the seller and buyer discussed repairs at all when the contract was signed.

This Is a Lender Problem, Not Usually a Contract Problem

A repair the appraiser flags is a condition of that specific loan getting funded, separate from whatever the buyer and seller agreed to in the purchase contract itself. A cash buyer never triggers this because there's no lender appraisal standard to satisfy. A traditional financed buyer can run into it on any Florida property, old or new, no matter how clean the contract looked at signing. The fix on a traditional sale is usually the seller paying for the repair, the buyer paying for it, or the two sides splitting it, worked out after the appraisal comes back.

Your Fast Cash Offer and Premium Cash Offer: Agreeing on the Number Before Work Starts

Cash Flow Deals' process starts with your choice. 1. Request your written offers with Cash Flow Deals and compare your Fast Cash Offer and Premium Cash Offer. With Fast Cash, we buy your house as-is and close. With Premium, a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. You choose. 2. The number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens. On Premium, you sign with us and give us permission to bring in a buyer in our place. Your Florida home may be listed through Silver Door Realty, a licensed Florida brokerage, with a licensed agent and scheduled showings. 3. We cover repair costs, and we figure out a way, so nothing comes out of your pocket. On Premium, only what your buyer's lender requires gets fixed, with repair costs settled from the sale proceeds out of our share. With Fast Cash, you make no repairs. 4. On Premium, your buyer signs a new contract directly with you, their FHA or conventional lender funds the purchase, and title transfers once, straight from you to your buyer. We are paid as a separate line item on the closing statement. If your buyer's loan falls through, that is our problem, not yours, and you can still take the Fast Cash Offer at its own number instead of proceeding with the Premium Cash Offer.

When the Price Can Still Change: The Structural Exception

The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens. This is different from an FHA appraiser's repair list, which can flag items as minor as a missing handrail or a non-functioning outlet cover. Cash Flow Deals only revisits the number for the structural category listed above, not for the wider list of items a lender's appraisal can require.

What a Seller Can Do If a Lender's Repair List Shows Up Mid-Contract

On a traditional sale, a seller who gets hit with an unexpected appraisal repair list has a few real options: pay for the fix, negotiate a credit at closing instead of doing the work, or in some cases challenge the appraisal itself through the lender's reconsideration-of-value process. None of those options are fast, and all of them can push the closing date. A seller weighing whether that risk is worth it should look at how many repair items the home is likely to trigger before choosing a traditional financed buyer over another path.

Common questions

Can a buyer's lender really require repairs that weren't in the original contract?

Yes. FHA and conventional lenders assess the property against their own funding standards, separate from what the buyer and seller agreed to. HUD Handbook 4000.1 sets these standards for FHA loans specifically.

Who pays for lender-required repairs on a traditional Florida sale?

It depends on what the seller and buyer negotiate after the appraisal comes back; commonly the seller pays, the buyer pays, the two split the cost, or the price gets adjusted with a credit.

How does your agreed number work with the Fast Cash Offer and Premium Cash Offer?

You choose between the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, and the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. The number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens. On Premium, standard lender-required repair items do not by themselves change your agreed number. We cover repair costs, and we figure out a way, so nothing comes out of your pocket. Only what your buyer's lender requires gets fixed, with costs settled from the sale proceeds out of our share. Fast Cash is bought as-is. If your Premium buyer's loan falls through, that is our problem, not yours, and you can still take the Fast Cash Offer at its own number.

What counts as an FHA minimum property requirement?

HUD Handbook 4000.1 covers items like functioning utilities, no exposed wiring in habitable rooms, and a working water heater, among other safety and soundness standards an FHA appraiser checks.

Can I fight an appraisal's repair requirement?

A lender's reconsideration-of-value process exists for this, but it is not guaranteed to succeed and can add time to closing. Confirm the specific process with the buyer's lender.