So, when you find the home you like, you make an offer. The owner will say no. (Ha ha.)

Then, after the owner counter-offers and you counter-offer and the seller counter-offers and you agree on a price, you'll usually have ten days to

(This is written in the original offer - there are several contingencies - a home inspection contingency, a mortgage loan contingency, a condo docs contingency, and a couple others ... your agent can help fill you in on them - what, buying without a buyer's agent? Whoa.)

Often, you'll find additional problems with the property that you didn't know about when you first saw it. An old water heater, water in the basement, a roof that leaks.

What you do at that point is up to you.

Depending on how the contract is written, the buyers may be able to simply withdraw from the contract without penalty if they no longer want to buy the property. But if the buyers want to pursue the sale even in light of the inspection findings, there are several options.

If the defects are minor, they might simply remove their inspection contingency without asking the sellers to repair or pay for the defects. Or they could ask for a price reduction and agree to purchase the property "as is" with respect to the defects. Or they could ask the sellers to repair the problems. Or they could ask for a monetary credit at closing to offset some or all of the repair costs.

Complete story: Best way to buy home that needs repairs - By Dian Hymer, Inman News, by way of The Boston Globe