Madison Home Inspection: Repair Request or Notice of Defects?

What should you do after a home inspection in Madison, WI?

In most cases, start with a WB-40 Amendment. It lets you ask the seller for exactly what you want, whether that is a repair, a credit, a lower price or a mix of all three. Keep the Notice of Defects in your back pocket for when the seller says no or your contingency deadline is getting close, because an amendment does not stop that clock.

The inspection report just hit your inbox. It is 40 pages long, half of it is photos of things you have never heard of, and you have a few days to decide what to do about it.

This is one of the most stressful moments in a Madison home purchase, and it is also one of the most misunderstood. I see buyers lose ground here, and occasionally lose the house, not because the inspection was bad, but because they used the wrong form or waited too long to use the right one.

Here is how the process actually works in Wisconsin, and how my team and I walk our buyers through it.

Why this matters more in Madison this fall

A few years ago, plenty of Dane County buyers waived inspections or wrote "informational only" just to compete. If you spend any time on r/madisonwi, you will still find threads where buyers ask how many people are waiving inspections, and others where buyers describe what their inspection turned up, like mold hiding in the roof dormers.

The market this fall looks different. More homes are sitting longer across Madison and the suburbs, price reductions are more common, and buyers have room to negotiate on repairs and credits again. That is good news, but it also means more buyers are reaching the post-inspection decision for the first time, without having done it before.

Madison's housing stock adds another layer. A 1920s home in Vilas or Dudgeon Monroe, a 1950s ranch in Westmorland or Sunset Village, and a 2019 build in Bishop's Bay or Hawk's Landing will produce very different reports. Older Madison homes regularly turn up items like knob and tube wiring, damp basements, aging roofs and high radon levels. Knowing which of those items you can actually act on under your contract is the whole game.

Amendment vs. Notice of Defects: the difference that trips people up

Wisconsin uses state-approved forms for nearly every residential transaction. After an inspection, two of them matter most, and in practice we almost always start with the first one.

Why we start with the WB-40 Amendment

An amendment is a proposal to change your accepted offer. Its biggest advantage is that you can lay out very specifically what you are asking the seller to do. You can ask the seller to:

• Repair a specific item before closing
• Give you a credit at closing
• Lower the purchase price
• Do some combination of all three

Here is how that plays out. Say the inspection finds a defect in the roof, and the dishwasher does not work. You might ask the seller to have the roof repaired by a licensed contractor before closing, and ask for a credit for the dishwasher. If you would rather upgrade from an entry-level dishwasher to a nice Bosch, the credit lets you pick out your next dishwasher yourself instead of living with whatever the seller chooses.

I always explain an amendment as playing nice. You are not forcing the seller's hand to do anything yet; you are asking. The seller can say yes, say no, or counter. Nothing changes until everyone signs and the accepted amendment is delivered on time, and until then your original offer stands exactly as written.

That is why my team and I move quickly. We get the inspection scheduled right away and get the amendment over to the seller right away, so there is plenty of time left in the contingency period to work things out.

The deadline that catches buyers

An amendment does not pause your inspection contingency. If the seller has not accepted your amendment by the end of the contingency period (15 days after acceptance if your offer left that blank empty), the contingency expires and you are moving forward with the house as is. At that point you have no right to get anything fixed or renegotiated.

The WB-11 itself spells this out in a caution: a proposed amendment is not a Notice of Defects and will not satisfy the notice requirement. So an amendment that is still sitting with the seller on the last day does not protect you.

The Notice of Defects is our back-pocket tool

A Notice of Defects is not a negotiation. It invokes the inspection contingency you and the seller already agreed to in the WB-11 Residential Offer to Purchase. To use it, you deliver the written inspection report along with a written notice listing the defects you object to, before your contingency deadline.

We typically reach for it in two situations: the seller will not agree to the amendment, or we are running low on time to get an amendment accepted and it is really important to the buyer to have things fixed.

We never send an amendment and a notice at the same time. If the amendment isn't successful, we walk the buyer through the pros and cons of a notice, and only if they agree do we deliver it as a separate step.

It is a very different tool, so it is important to understand its limits:

• You cannot ask for credits or a price reduction. You are only listing the defects you object to.
• You cannot spell out how you want things fixed. If the seller agrees to cure, the seller decides how, as long as the work is done in a good and workmanlike manner.
• You are a little bit at the mercy of the seller, which is a big reason we like to start with the amendment.

What counts as a "defect"

Not every item in the report qualifies. Under the standard WB-11, a defect is a condition that would significantly affect the value of the property, significantly impair the health or safety of future occupants, or significantly shorten or adversely affect the expected normal life of the premises if it is not repaired, removed or replaced.

A few things that usually do not qualify:

• Cosmetic issues and routine maintenance items
• Conditions you already knew about, or received written notice of, before you signed the offer (this is why the Real Estate Condition Report matters so much)
• Items the inspector only notes as "monitor" without labeling a defect

Wisconsin home inspectors are required to identify and label defects in their reports, so the summary page is the place to start. Whether a specific item meets the contract's definition can still be a judgment call, and that is a legal question. Real estate agents cannot give legal opinions on it, so for a true gray area, a Wisconsin real estate attorney is the right call.

One more caution. I have seen buyers load up a notice with every single thing they could find in the report, defect or not, thinking the seller will just want to be done with them. That can backfire. I have seen situations where attorneys got involved and things went the seller's way, because the buyer was not seen as acting in good faith and the notice included items the seller could not reasonably cure. This is not legal advice, but it is exactly why we are careful about what goes on a notice.

What happens after you send a Notice of Defects

This is where the right to cure comes in. The WB-11 asks whether the seller shall or shall not have the right to cure. If neither box is struck, the seller has it.

Once your notice is served, the seller has a set window under your offer to respond and let you know whether they will cure. If the seller has the right to cure, they have three choices:

• Elect not to cure, which makes the offer null and void
• Elect to cure everything on your notice
• Elect to cure only the items that meet the contract's definition of a defect

If the seller agrees to cure, great. The repairs have to be done in a good and workmanlike manner, the seller provides a written report of the work, and before closing you will have the opportunity to make sure the defects were taken care of. Notice the third option, though: if you objected to a cracked outlet cover and a failing water heater, the seller only owes you the water heater.

If the seller decides not to cure and delivers notice back to you saying so, the deal becomes null and void, and your earnest money comes back to you under the contract's terms. So if you really do intend to move forward with the house and just want to renegotiate a few things, stick to an amendment. A notice can end the deal.

One more detail that catches people off guard: once you deliver a notice, you cannot take it back on your own. Withdrawing it requires the seller's written consent.

Your inspection contingency is protection, not a guaranteed out

The biggest thing I want buyers to know when they are writing an offer is this: your inspection contingency protects you, but you cannot use it as a guaranteed way out just because you do not like what is in the report. If you give the seller the right to cure, the seller has the right to cure.

Say you get through the inspection and think, "I don't want this house, no matter what." You might not have an easy out. If you deliver a Notice of Defects and the seller agrees to cure, that satisfies the inspection contingency, and you are moving forward with buying the house.

You can write an offer that does not give the seller the right to cure, and a timely notice then gives you a pretty much automatic out. In all my years doing this in Madison, I do not see buyers do that, because most sellers would have a hard time accepting an offer that takes away their right to cure.

How I help my buyers decide which way to go

The first question I ask my buyers is not "what do you want fixed?" It is "what do you want to happen?"

• You want the house and just want to renegotiate a few things. Send an amendment, and send it early. Mix repairs, credits and price however it makes sense for you.
• The seller said no to the amendment, or the deadline is close, and getting a real defect fixed matters to you. This is when we pull out the Notice of Defects, knowing you can list the defects but not the credit, the price or the way it gets fixed.
• The defects are big enough that you would not want to move forward unless they are fixed. A notice fits here, as long as you are ready for either outcome: the seller cures and you are buying the house, or the seller declines and the deal ends.
• The items are minor. Sometimes the best move is to let them go and keep your goodwill with the seller for the appraisal or the closing date.

A few practical habits make all of this easier:

• Book the inspection the day your offer is accepted, and put the contingency deadline on your calendar the same day. It is 15 days if the blank was left empty, but your offer may set a different window.
• Book follow-up specialists fast. The WB-11 allows follow-up inspections recommended in the report, but only before the deadline. Roofers, electricians and sewer scope companies in Dane County can book out a week or more in busy seasons.
• Know what you authorized. Testing (radon, well water, mold sampling) has to be separately authorized in the offer. If you are buying in rural Dane County with a private well and septic, make sure those are written in from the start.
• Get real numbers. A contractor estimate turns "the roof is old" into "the roof needs $14,000 of work," which is a much stronger basis for a credit request.
• Think about your lender. Some lenders limit how large a seller credit can be, so check before you ask for a big number.

Every one of these decisions depends on what is actually written in your offer, and that is exactly the kind of thing I walk my clients through line by line before the inspector ever shows up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I send an amendment or a Notice of Defects first?

In most cases, start with a WB-40 Amendment, because it lets you ask for a repair, a credit, a lower price or a combination. Save the Notice of Defects for when the seller will not agree or your contingency deadline is close and the repairs really matter to you.

How long do I have to object after a home inspection in Wisconsin?

Your deadline is whatever the inspection contingency in your WB-11 offer says. If that blank was left empty, the standard form gives you 15 days after acceptance. Negotiating an amendment does not pause that clock, so plan backward from the deadline.

Can I back out of buying a house in Wisconsin because of the inspection?

Not always. If the seller has the right to cure and agrees to fix the defects on your notice, the inspection contingency is satisfied and you move forward with the purchase. If the seller declines to cure, the offer becomes null and void.

Do I get my earnest money back if the deal ends after the inspection?

If you deliver a timely Notice of Defects and the offer becomes null and void under the inspection contingency, your earnest money is generally returned under the contract's terms. If you change your mind after the deadline passes, your earnest money can be at risk. Confirm the specifics of your offer with your agent or an attorney.

Is it better to ask for a repair or a credit?

It depends on the item, and an amendment lets you ask for both. A seller repair makes sense for things like a roof defect or an active leak that need to be handled before you move in, while a credit puts you in control of items you would rather choose yourself, like a new dishwasher. Check with your lender on credit limits first.

Should I waive the inspection to win a house in Madison?

With more inventory and more homes sitting longer this fall, most Madison buyers do not need to waive inspections to compete. If you are considering it on a specific home, talk through the risks first, especially on an older house.

Your next step

The inspection report gives you information, and your accepted offer decides what you can do with it. Starting with an amendment, moving quickly, and knowing when a Notice of Defects is the right tool is what keeps you in control of the deal.

If you are getting ready to buy in Madison or anywhere in Dane County, my Buyer's Guide walks through every step from offer to closing, including how inspections fit in. And if you are already under contract and staring at a report right now, call or text me at 608-576-1125. I am happy to help you think it through.

About Cait Berry

Cait Berry is the founder and team lead of Insiders Realty with REAL Broker, LLC, serving buyers and sellers across Dane County. A sixth-generation Madisonian and full-time agent since 2012, she helps relocating families, move-up buyers and sellers, and first-time buyers make confident moves in the Madison market. Cait also coaches agents as a team leader with Tom Ferry International.

Written by Cait Berry, Insiders Realty. Your local Madison real estate expert helping you live, work, and play right here in Dane County.

This article is general information about the standard Wisconsin WB-11, WB-40 and WB-41 forms, not legal advice. Your rights depend on the exact language in your accepted offer. For legal questions, consult a Wisconsin-licensed real estate attorney.