Eleven days to closing and they want the retaining wall re-engineered

The part I'd want nailed down before I countered anything is whether the 18k investigation tells you cause or just condition. Displacement from drainage failure and displacement from an undersized wall built into fill are different repairs at different prices, and you're arguing over a number that depends on which one it is.

Also, the "monitor" line in your own purchase report is doing a lot of work here. If this goes back on the market you know more than you did in month one, and what you have to say about it depends on your state's disclosure rules. Worth asking your attorney that question before you decide relisting is the cheap option, because in your post it reads like the cheap option.

Dry-stacked block, two tiers, an inch and a half of rotation at the bottom tier. That bottom tier is carrying the top one and it's telling you it's done. On the jobs I've been on, that goes one of two ways: full removal and rebuild with proper drainage and geogrid, or soldier piles with tie-backs if the slope won't let you cut back. The second one is where the money is, and the driver is access. If a small excavator can't get down there, you're hand-digging or bringing in a crane pick, and 140k stops being the top of the range.

So when you counter at 60k, understand you may be offering them a credit for a third of a repair. I'd price the credit at the top of the geotech range plus 20 percent or I'd take the holdback with a hard cap and language that says the buyer selects from two contractors you both agree on. Otherwise the holdback becomes an open checkbook where they pick the platinum bid.

One more thing, the top tier probably needs to come apart to fix the bottom one, and that means the landscaping above it. Has anyone put a number on restoring the planting and hardscape? That's the line item people forget and it isn't small at this price point.

Running your own numbers back at you. All-in 2.87M against 3.395M is 525k gross, minus selling costs at say 5 percent, so 355k or so before this wall exists. Give them the 175k they asked for and you're at 180k. Relist for four months and you burn 69k of carry and still own the wall, and you're at 286k if you get the same price, which you might not.

@girder's point about the top tier and the landscaping is the one that shifts where I land. If the real repair is 140k plus 30k of restoration, the buyer's 175k ask is roughly the honest number and you're arguing to save 60k while paying 4,000 a week to argue.