The seller agreed to fix the roof leak, the panel, the rotted deck post. Great. Now you're standing in the house two days before closing and the only evidence any of that happened is the listing agent saying "yep, it's done." That's not verification — that's a vibe.

Here's the short version: don't take anyone's word for it. Get paid invoices from licensed contractors, get permits and inspection sign-offs for any work that legally required them, and physically confirm the work yourself (or pay a specialist to) before you sign anything. If the seller can't produce proof by the time you're supposed to close, you have real leverage — delaying closing, an escrow holdback, or a price cut — but only if you use it before you close, not after. Once the money moves, your leverage evaporates.

This article picks up after the negotiation is already done — you asked for repairs or a credit, the seller agreed to specific items, and now it's time to confirm they actually happened. If you're still deciding what to ask for in the first place, that's a different article. This one is just about proof.

"The seller says it's fixed" is not proof of anything

A seller telling you (or their agent telling your agent) that a repair is done is not documentation — it's a claim. Sellers have every incentive to say yes, because "yes" gets them to closing. That doesn't make them liars; it makes them a party with an obvious conflict of interest, which is exactly why you don't rely on their word alone.

What counts as actual proof:

  • A paid invoice or receipt from a licensed contractor, itemizing labor, materials, and the specific work performed — not a handwritten note or a text message that says "all fixed!"
  • Before-and-after photos, ideally date-stamped, especially for anything that gets covered up once it's done (drywall closed over new wiring, a patched roof section, a buried drain line)
  • Permits and final inspection sign-offs for any work that legally required one (see below)
  • A reconciliation showing how the money moved if the repair was paid for out of a credit rather than done directly

Real estate and title-industry guidance is consistent on this: buyers should get detailed invoices, permits/approvals, contractor receipts, and before/after photos as proof work was completed to code — not just a seller's assurance (HAR.com). Your repair addendum should have specified this up front, but even if it didn't, you can — and should — ask for it now. A seller who actually did the work has no reason to refuse; a seller who's stalling on producing receipts is telling you something.

One more thing worth specifying in writing when you first negotiated the repair (or now, if you didn't): who is allowed to do the work. "Repaired" by a licensed plumber and "repaired" by the seller's brother-in-law with a truck full of tools are not the same repair, even if both technically stop the leak.

When a permit matters — and why "it's fixed" isn't the same as "it's legal"

Some repairs need more than a receipt. Electrical panel upgrades, structural work, roofing (in many jurisdictions), plumbing re-pipes, water heater replacements, HVAC system swaps, and anything touching load-bearing framing typically require a building permit and a final inspection sign-off from the local building department — not just a contractor's word that it's done right.

Why this matters beyond "did they do it": unpermitted work can follow you, the new owner, not the seller who cut the corner. It can complicate a future sale, cause insurance headaches, and in some cases mean redoing the work correctly (and paying for the permit and inspection you should have gotten the first time) out of your own pocket. If the repair item involved anything on that list, ask specifically: was a permit pulled, and did it pass final inspection? Most local building departments let you look up permit status by address online for free — check before you take anyone's word for it.

A completed repair with no permit, on something that needed one, isn't actually done. It's a problem wearing a costume.

Visual walkthrough vs. bringing in a specialist

Not every repair needs a professional to re-verify it. But some absolutely do, because the failure mode is invisible from the outside.

A visual walkthrough is usually enough for: - Cosmetic fixes (patched drywall, repainted trim, replaced flooring) - Simple, visible replacements (a new faucet, a replaced window screen, a new outlet cover) - Anything a reasonably observant non-expert can confirm just by looking at and operating it

Bring in a specialist for: - Electrical work — a contractor can "fix" a bad outlet by swapping the cover plate instead of the actual receptacle, and you'd never know by looking at it - Roofing — a patch can look fine from the ground and still leak the first hard rain - Plumbing re-pipes or gas line work — cross-threaded fittings and incorrect valve installs are invisible until something fails - Structural or foundation repairs - HVAC, water heater, or panel replacements — verifying the nameplate, the permit card, and actual install workmanship, not just that a new box is sitting where the old one was - Anything the seller (or a relative) fixed themselves rather than hiring a licensed pro

One inspection-industry rule of thumb worth borrowing: "a receipt is not the same as verification" (Inspection Professionals). A specialist re-inspection typically runs in the low-to-mid hundreds of dollars — cheap insurance against a repair failure that costs thousands after you own the house. For a bigger, multi-system repair list, you generally don't need to hire a different specialist for each item; a licensed general contractor familiar with code can often assess several trades at once, referencing your original inspection report as the checklist (JustAnswer real estate law). Bringing back your original home inspector for this is common, but worth noting: if a specific item genuinely worries you, a contractor licensed in that trade will catch things a generalist inspector might not.

Red flags that a repair was done to check a box, not actually fixed

Some warning signs that you're looking at a rushed, cheap, or cosmetic-only fix rather than a real one:

  • Sloppy, visibly amateur work — uneven flooring, exposed wiring, gaps around new fixtures — the kind of thing that suggests whoever did it wasn't a licensed pro, whatever the seller told you (Full Circle Home Inspectors)
  • No permit on file for work that clearly needed one
  • The repair addresses the symptom, not the cause — a fresh coat of paint over a water stain instead of finding and fixing the leak; a patched section of roof instead of addressing the underlying flashing issue
  • The receipt doesn't match the work — an invoice for "electrical repair" with no itemized detail on what was actually replaced
  • It was done suspiciously fast or suspiciously cheap relative to the estimate you or your inspector had in hand
  • The seller (or their agent) is reluctant to produce documentation or keeps deflecting when you ask for it directly

None of these prove bad faith on their own — sometimes a seller genuinely found a good, fast contractor. But stacked together, they're worth paying attention to, and they're exactly the kind of thing a specialist re-inspection is designed to catch that a walkthrough alone won't.

What leverage you actually have if it's not done (or not done right)

This is the part that matters most, and it comes down to one hard rule: your leverage is at its maximum right before you close, and drops to close to zero the moment you do. Once funds transfer and you own the house, the seller has been paid and has essentially no remaining incentive to fix anything, whatever they promised. Real estate guidance is blunt about this: don't close on a promise that repairs will happen "after" — get it resolved, credited, or escrowed before you sign (HomeLight, Agent Millennial).

Worth knowing going in: the final walkthrough itself is not a separate contract contingency in most standard purchase agreements — it's a condition check, not a renegotiation window (ListWithClever). Your actual leverage comes from the repair addendum or credit agreement you already signed — if the seller didn't hold up their end of that document, you have grounds to act. If they held up their end and you're just having second thoughts, that's a different conversation.

If repairs weren't done, weren't done properly, or can't be documented by the time you're supposed to close, your realistic options are:

  • Delay closing. The most direct option — push the closing date back to give the seller time to actually finish and document the work. Requires a signed amendment, and can complicate a rate lock or a moving timeline, but it keeps your leverage intact because the seller still hasn't been paid.
  • Escrow holdback. The seller's proceeds (or a defined portion of them) get held by the title company or lender, released only once the work is completed and verified. Lenders generally require the holdback amount to exceed the repair estimate — commonly cited figures run around 120% to 150% of the estimated cost, with VA loans typically requiring the higher end — precisely because repairs tend to run over, not under, budget (Quicken Loans, LegalClarity). This still requires lender/underwriter sign-off on the arrangement, so loop in your loan officer early rather than surprising them at the closing table.
  • Price reduction or additional credit. Instead of waiting for the seller to fix it, negotiate a lower price or bigger credit reflecting the cost of you handling it yourself post-closing — gives you full control over who does the work and when, at the cost of you now being the one managing a contractor.
  • Have the seller pay you directly for you to handle it. A variant of the credit approach — useful when your moving timeline is tight and you'd rather just hire your own contractor immediately after closing than wait on the seller's guy.
  • Walk away, in the rare case the seller flatly refuses to resolve a significant, previously-agreed repair. This is the nuclear option and depends entirely on what contingencies you still have alive at that point in the timeline — worth a conversation with your agent or attorney before you invoke it, not after.

Whichever route you take, get it in writing, and get contractor estimates in hand before you negotiate the number — a specific dollar figure backed by a quote is a much harder thing for a seller to argue down than a vague "this will cost me something."

The bottom line

A repair that can't be documented isn't a repair — it's an unverified claim standing between you and a house you're about to own for years. Ask for the paperwork, bring a specialist in for anything you can't verify by looking, check for permits on anything that needed one, and don't let closing happen until you actually have proof, not a promise. The leverage you have today is worth more than any assurance about tomorrow.

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