Termite Damage, Old Wiring, Moisture: Walk or Negotiate?
Three findings on one inspection report is not automatically a reason to walk, but it is a reason to get real repair numbers before you decide.
Walking is one choice. Many buyers negotiate a credit or a price cut instead, because sellers in New York are rarely required to fix anything and most will not agree to do the work themselves. Sellers are not legally required to make repairs in most standard transactions, but if your contract has an inspection contingency you keep the right to renegotiate the price, request credits, or walk away if the seller refuses to address your concerns.
The real question is not whether the seller agreed to repairs. It is whether the agreed number covers what these three problems actually cost, and whether any of them point to something bigger than a repair bill.
What each finding actually costs
Termite damage repair is usually not the budget buster people fear. The national average cost of termite damage repair is $3,000, with most homeowners paying between $1,000 and $10,000 depending on how long the infestation went undetected. Early detection means minimal damage, a small cleanup with limited wood replacement running $250 to $1,000, while damage left alone for years can mean structural work at the high end of that range. Also worth knowing: termite damage is usually not covered by homeowners insurance, so whatever the seller does not cover becomes your cost alone after closing.
Old wiring is the pricier item, and it is the one most likely to follow you to your insurance quote. If the inspector flagged knob and tube, a full rewire typically runs $12,000 to $36,600 depending on home size, number of circuits, and accessibility. It also matters to your insurer before it matters to your contractor: carriers treat knob and tube as a heightened fire risk, with responses ranging from higher premiums to inspection requirements to outright refusal to write the policy. If your lender or insurer will not sign off with that wiring still in the walls, this stops being a negotiating point and becomes a closing condition.
Moisture issues are the one to look at hardest, because the dollar figure depends entirely on whether it is a damp spot or a chronic leak. A basement mold inspection alone runs roughly $300 to $1,000, and remediation for a basement typically lands between $500 and $3,000 for a small to moderate cleanup, but a finished basement that has to be gutted and rebuilt can pass $10,000. The number you need before you negotiate is not the mold cost, it is the cost of fixing whatever is letting water in, since treating the mold without fixing the source just buys you a repeat inspection in a few years.
What to actually ask for
Ask your inspector or a specialist to put a number on each of the three items before you respond to the seller. Document all findings and prioritize major structural problems over cosmetic issues during negotiations. A credit at closing usually beats a seller repair, because a credit gives you cash to handle the repair yourself, on your own timeline, with a contractor you trust, rather than trusting the seller's contractor and timeline during an already tight escrow.
Check your timing too. On Long Island the inspection usually happens before you sign the contract, while the attorneys are drafting it. If a wiring or moisture specialist needs more time, tell your attorney now so you do not sign before the numbers are in.
Does the math still work at $750,000
Run the seller's proposed credit against the high end of each repair estimate, not the low end. If the credit covers a full rewire and a real moisture fix with room to spare, this is a house with paperwork left to do, not a house with a hidden problem. If the credit only covers the cheapest outcome on all three, you are the one absorbing the risk if any of them run long.
That math also changes what the house can comfortably cost you each month once repairs are out of the way. If you want to see how a revised price or a repair credit shifts your monthly number, run it through what you can afford before you countersign anything.
If you want a second pair of eyes on a specific inspection report, ask at /askmuds.