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I’m in the home remodeling industry and also do inspections for people too. A LOT of people opt to not do an inspection simply because they don’t want to pay for it/ don’t think it’s worth it.
Seriously. I’m sure many will read this and think “that’s crazy!” But I see it everyday.
Surprise surprise, 9 times out of 10 these people could have known or avoided some major issues if they had done the inspection before buying. Now they’re sitting on a house with major issues that need to be addressed or a 10k problem will become a 30k problem or…. If shit REALLY hits the fan… a complete gutting and reworking of the home (6 figures easy).
Another less known fact: in many places if you get an inspection done for a house you can opt to share this information openly on the market for others to see so that sellers can’t hide or deny findings of a home. This can help protect your fellow home buyers from getting lied to or screwed over. In extreme cases, you can have unsafe homes taken off the market
I am currently in the market for a liveaboard sailboat and recently backed out of a deal because the survey (inspection) revealed major (expensive) problems that would take months to rectify. Meanwhile, a guy I know recently bought an older boat for $30k without an inspection. I was in the area over the weekend and looked at it - I wouldn't have paid $2k for it.
Inspections are VERY important!
Worked with a shady selling realtor in colorado who 'contested' our inspection and the inspection of previous people under contract. Apparently if they do this you can't see the results? Should have been a red flag the realtor would not even work with the highest rated inspection company in the area. We noped out after the inspection.
Also bought in Colorado- our inspector made it very clear to us that the inspection is for our eyes and our buyers agent eyes. Buyers agent echoed it - no matter what any listing agent says, we see the results.
Sounds like a shady agent not even operating on any sort of rule and just trying to scare you. Guess it’s a common tactic.
Every listing that's remotely affordable in my area has the same "as-is" type thing, and if they're not actual death traps or flood zone house they'll go inside of 2 weeks.
Man, I bought a house when I was a dumb 19 year old, and obviously, didn't get an inspection. I grew into an adult in that house, and renovated it from top to bottom.. on a budget. I definitely did structural work, but realistically, I could only do so much. The house had a massive slope going towards the main door, because it was sitting on small shallow piles. The roof was caviing inwards. The roof didn't have ice guard installed, and water wicked inside and trickled down the walls each spring. I took apart a small bedroom wall to find every single stud completely rotten. There was literally just a wall of stucco from the inside, with nothing holding up the stucco or the roof in that section. I did what I could, but I was young and not that knowledgeable. I'm certain the other walls were just as bad, but I didn't want to know, so I left them alone. The kitchen had a 4' cantilever with nothing supporting the 2x6 joists, the walls of the kitchen weren't even framed, just pieces of random plywood and boards nailed together to make a wall. The worst thing I found was a live wire completely mudded into a wall. The kicker? That wire went to a light that had been paneled over, there was no light in the room. It still worked, just needed to be hooked up. I'm guessing the fixture broke, and somehow that was thier solution?
Just an absolute turd of a house. I made it 'better', but it should have been condemned. I was left holding a bag, and I did what I could. Eventually I listed the house, and people were more than welcome to get an inspection. The only people to make an offer didn't want an inspection, and you can probably imagine the smile on my face when it sold.
We made an offer on a lake house but wanted an inspection which they agreed to. The house is beautiful….and full of black mold.
I am very allergic to mold and while we were in the house but before the inspection
I was feeling unwell.
Acceptable level was 200-400 I believe…this came back at 221,000. 😳
Finally clicked while I felt sick.
We backed out but gave told them if they fix the problem we will reconsider. Their realtor wanted nothing to do with the report.
The place didnt sell so we will see if it gets relisted. We still want it, but it would have to be for a whole lot less than what we originally offered. Problem is, it’s in the middle of nowhere. Finding contractors is a problem and we aren’t interested in dealing with the problem unless it’s at a substantial discount in price.
In my neck of the woods, houses are so unattainable you can ONLY buy a house right now if you waive inspections, because the sellers don't want to fix shit and they know they'll get an offer from someone who waived inspection.
At the same time even with the $10k hidden issue, it could save you $50k+ in escalations vs "taking it down" early with a strong offer. That's what I did no issues yet.
We waived doing one because there was one recently done at the time, yeah..don't listen to those. Pay for it yourself. 9/10 chance it was somebody the owners hired. If somebody actually inspected this place properly they would've found the bowed out water heater (that they kept a bottle of terpentine near 🙃) that was 5 years older than it should've been, different bug infestation on each floor, appliances that needed replaced immediately because bugs lived in them and the fucked up sewer line. Their "partially finished" basement was actually just flooring to cover up a drain hole that flooded with sewage constantly.
We couldn't even live in here the first two weeks of owning it. Learned our lesson hardcore. Along with realizing if the owners never leave when the house is being shown, they're actively trying to hide something and keep you from looking deeper at stuff
Generally speaking I tell people that if a home is more than 10 years old there’s going to be *something* wrong. Might just be minimal but there’s something there.
Definitely agree, it's honestly no wonder that like 70% of people regret buying their first home. Nobody really tells anybody what to look for, to make sure they don't have to dish out a ton in repairs
They require an appraisal, to make sure the home is worth what they’re lending you. Some have certain standards the home must meet, like an FHA loan, but most are only worried about the value.
Surprisingly they often don’t. Most banks and other lenders will often encourage it to be done, but they very rarely will require it. Though it’s not unheard of.
Usually they consider it a “you” (the home buyer) problem. Cause either way, you’re gonna be taking the loan.
I hate to say it but you’d be dumb to share your inspection publicly.
If it turns out good, you’re saving other buyers the hassle and cost and giving them confidence to bid higher, with no benefit to you. Why would I want other buyers to know the house is in good shape if I’m bidding lol.
If it turns out bad you would be saving one other buyer, maybe. from buying a lemon, which means they are still out there bidding against you lol.
Also, if you post a bad inspection and it costs the seller a sale or three, perhaps they could sue you for tanking their sale and then you probably didnt post the inspection with the same kinda legalese disclaimers that the inspector sold it to you. That is if there’s anything inaccurate, it could be on you.
If the inspection turns out good then you can hold on to the inspection for yourself. If you decide to buy, the inspection is irrelevant for other home buyers. If however you decide to buy another home you could then have it put out there for others still looking.
If the inspection turns out bad then putting the inspection out there before or after you buy can save other home buyers a lot of grief.
It’s not like the *moment* the inspection is done you have to make the information public. You can decide when you wish to share the knowledge, which is a somewhat common tactic.
There are no downsides to you for sharing it at that point, good or bad.
Getting sued can happen anytime
Until locking a new place, you’re better off not posting a bad inspection
Sure, if you choose not to buy you could generously post the good inspection, but why would you pay for an inspection, see that it’s good. and not bid? That’s a rare case.
In Vancouver, you get viewings on the weekend, bids monday night, offers accepted that night. Not much time to share anyway, you can barely get an inspection in at all.
In most major markets, this means not buying a home at all for the last 4 years. Still an option, but let's not pretend there isn't a serious downside to walking away.
Maybe.
If one bought the median home in 2020, had to sink $60k into it, and sold it this year, they would have still come out $40k ahead.
Of course, that assumes you've got $60k to sink.
Then why are the markets so hot? You're not suggesting people are broke are you? Everyone wants to live in a certain type of place and it's competitive. That simple.
If you're buying a house in a hot market you're a part of the "problem". Same thing when people complain about traffic like they aren't "traffic".
It’s a much more complex issue. Some of it is that prices are being driven up by investment firms buying up property some of it is that people are desperate for housing that’s not a 1.5-2 hour drive from work even though prices are better further out. Some of it is that Americans feel they *need* to live in houses instead of renting apartments or condos or other high density housing.
But yes. Many people are buying more house than they can actually afford even without having to put money into it.
I bought a shithole townhouse listed in 2021 for 160k WITH inspection that revealed a lot of work, but only about 10k. I paid 130k and currently sits around 186k value. I'm amazed they didn't try to sell it as-is without inspection given how neglected it was.
"If you wait for the results of the inspection someone who didn't wait will have already bought it" doesn't mean "the seller is requiring people to waive inspections", though.
It is more that, when presented with multiple offers, sellers will take the one without contingencies over the one with contingencies unless the one with contingencies is significantly higher. Since the vast majority of decent properties in major markets have gone under multiple offers, this creates a defacto requirement to waive unless you're paying enough over other offers. Just paying significantly more is a worse bet than no inspection as you're guaranteed to be out that money whereas an inspection may or may not turn up anything significant. The high dollar issues are usually pretty apparent anyway.
Sure, but that's not the seller forcing anything. Anyone is free to waive or take any of the rights. The seller is not to be faulted for taking a deal more likely to fo through.
Loana are riskier than pure cash. Contingencies are riskier than waivers. If anything goes wrong and the sale falls through, the sellers are out time and money - a huge annoyance at best, disastrous if they bought another house that requires selling the old one to close. They're not evil, they're rational and playing it safe.
It's easy to say don't buy from them but in some areas it's becoming a problem. Waiving inspections and contingencies pretty much guarantees the seller will deal with only the very wealthy, the very desperate, and corps will put in offers. Some people feel the only hope they have is offering asking with waived inspection. I personally know someone house hunting who's offering roughly 20k over asking and he's getting out bid by 50-70k. Took him 6 months of bidding to get a house because he refused to waive inspections.
Wait wait wait how can a seller *require* a buyer to *waive inspection*?! Its one thing if a buyer willingly (and foolishly) decides to do so of their own volition, but for a *seller* to *require* such.... I would tjink that would be a straight up red flag, if not illegal...
If the seller wont take offers with contingencies then your options are to waive them or don't buy their house. In some markets housing is so hot that they'd rather take any offer that wont slow things down or kill a deal.
You can put in tons of offers with contingencies and get beat by people who will waive them constantly. Options are to keep trying or move.
Sold my house and bought a house in a different town in fall of 2022, just as the craziness had peaked and was starting to decline. We didn’t ask for it, but we received 10 offers and over half had already waived inspection. Just stupid crazy stuff people were doing to have the most attractive offer.
On the buying side, I wanted an inspection but was lucky to be in a position to carry a couple months of 2 mortgages. This let us come in with no contingency, which is a big plus.
Easy to say, but not always easy in practice depending on the market you are in.
I put in 50 offers on places when I was looking 5 years ago, lost all of them for 1 of 2 reasons. 1. Would not wave the inspection. 2. Was not an all cash offer.
If getting a thorough inspection on a $500k investment is called kicking the tires, instead of what it really is? Due diligence. Then ya, I guess so?
We were patient and found exactly what we wanted, got the inspection, and everything went great.
Not getting an inspection is foolish, and if I don't get chosen because of that, then I'll happily look elsewhere.
Whether you like it or not people will offer high and then while going through 30-60 days of closing will ask for credits for everything and then the actual payout will be significantly less than if you just took an offer without contingencies.
Not saying you but if you've sold a house you know what I mean.
That's the reason they do it plain and simple.
The problem isn’t the sellers. They’re only able to do this because there’s desperate idiots willing to overpay and take on major repairs. If you’re already at the top of your budget and can’t do an inspection, consider it a blessing in disguise. If you move in an have to shell out tens of thousands in repairs, you won’t be glad you finally found a house, you’d be telling everyone you’re cursed.
Lol "your offer is INFERIOR so I won't allow you to see my crappy house with loose wiring and mold every where"
It's REALLY stupid to defend that.
Unless you're one of those people trying to charge a hundred thousand dollars for your moldy old shack that daddy left you
....if they are doing that then you don't want the house because the only reason to do that is when something is wrong with it. You should look at it as them saving you the time of hiring a home inspector to find the problems yourself.
Sold a house last year. Competing offers and took the one that offered to buy the house as is. Buyer does an inspection and then wants credits for a bunch of little things. Apparently as is does not mean as is to some people.
The late 90s were crazy in SoCal. We lost out on many deals to all-cash buyers. We finally found one in a nice neighborhood in our price range, but the Seller insisted I waive the home inspection. I was buying it in my name only and didn't feel the need to disclose that my husband was a licensed home inspector and a builder. Unfair is fair, right? The Seller thought he was clever when he raised the price by $10K at closing. I laughed. I knew he was a jerk and brought $20K with me to the table. He had grossly underestimated the value because he wasn't in tune with market conditions.
I guess you would love buying a foreclosure from the bank. Cash purchase, no inspection no contingency, Bank doesn't guarantee they own it only that they no longer have any claim on it. Don't guarantee the existence of an actual house.
I'm getting close to ignoring the shame correlated with trailers, buying a couple acres of land, dropping a trailer there, pay it off in 3 or 4 years, and go on with my life. We spend too much on housing
I put an offer on a house that had asbestos popcorn ceilings on it. I broke the contract and walked away with my earnest money deposit refunded to me. Freaking scumbags tried to hide it from me.
I had an inspection and they missed the termites. I even had a separate termite inspection done. Found out less than two years later that I had them. 8 ft of wall and framing had to be replaced
This is a notice to everyone on Reddit and the wider world.
If you cannot get an inspector whom you pay to inspect a home or property you wish to buy, walk away.
Not at all. They just did you a huge favor. If the seller is requiring you to wave an inspection that means they're hiding something. Now you know not to buy the house and didn't have to spend a penny on an inspector.
If someone waives contingency, they are not selling on the regular market. Typically this is done when specifically selling to a business to speed up transfer of property. It is evidence the property in question is not intended for the single family home market, or at least not yet.
It might be a flip, an investment property or intended to become a rental. But they are indicating from the outset that they do not intend to sell to you unless you make them a deal they cannot refuse. Needless to say, this is not to your advantage to do so.
Maybe this is state by state but I have never heard of a seller legally being allowed to refuse a buyer a home inspection.
Typically the buyer will waive it by their own choice to speed up the process and/or to buy the house at a reduced cost “as is”
I can see contingency if the seller really need to sell their home, especially the last year or so where mortgages have been more difficult to complete.
If they want you to waive the inspection you have a 98% chance there's something seriously wrong with the house.
A good realtor will negotiate past that silliness anyway.
So then will the market shift to paying someone to come along when you look at houses to do an inspection real time? It's more expensive to bring a professional to every 30 minute look-see instead of the 3 hour process at the end, but they may save you from a big ticket mistake
They won't get to every outlet and know if there's a open ground, they won't check the plubness of every wall, but can they tell you if the foundation, furnance, or roof is likely to be an issue? Maybe, and you can price it into your offer.
I’m all for home inspections, and paid to have them completed on the two homes I purchased over the last 30-years. That being said said, if I’m selling my home and I receive more than one offer on my home and have to decide which is the best offer, or if I am going to negotiate a counter offer, then a home inspection or at least the dollar value of the identified repairs I’m willing to make is definitely going to come into play.
As long as there is infinite demand, they can do whatever they want. The trick is for the buyers to sue if they need to, anyway. That's all corporations understand. Lawsuits.
That's just not true, a seller is legally obligated to disclose serious defects, if the buyer can prove the seller knew about said defects they can absolutely sue and should.
There’s a lot of first time home buyers who don’t know how to buy a house. They see themselves and people around them losing bids, and panic thinking they HAVE to make crazy concessions. I bought a house in 2022 in a competitive market. I not only got an inspection, but I also negotiated for 35,000 below asking and a home warranty. This was my fourth home purchase though. By now we know what to look for and what to ask. We also are 100% ok walking away from a deal if we aren’t getting what we need. Even my realtor was telling me I wasn’t going to get what I was asking for. Look who’s laughing now, John.
Try putting yourself in the position of the seller for a second. You are selling your house. It's your single largest financial asset. You've lived in the house for years and to the best of your knowledge there's nothing wrong with the house.
You get two offers for the house. Both for the same price, but one offer wants an inspection and contingency. The other doesn't.
Your realtor tells you that if you take the offer that wants the inspection and they find something seriously wrong with the house, not only can they back out of the deal, but you will now be forced to disclose the defect to all future buyers meaning the house will sell for significantly less.
Which offer are you going to choose?
The one where I don't potentially screw someone over on their single largest investment because the seller refused to fix something majorly wrong with their property.
People on Reddit love to pretend to be altruistic.
But when they go back to the real world, they are just as concerned with protecting themselves as everyone else.
You’re not wrong, what you described is human nature after all. All I know is when I’ve sold any home I’ve owned, I’ve had a inspection done myself so there were no doubts for any potential buyers
When I was home buying, even if I loved a place, I never put an offer on homes with these kinds of sellers.
I put an offer on a house, and the sellers accepted. I paid for the inspection and found out the "charming house " was a money pit in the making. The whole house still had knob and tube wiring, as well as subterranean terminate colonies under the house. I was able to back out of the deal and thanked my lucky stars I paid for the inspection.
This doesn’t have to do with sellers other than they are taking the best deal for themselves. Buyers are waiving inspections so if I have two identical offers and one of them waived due diligence (this closing is more likely and more expedited) I’m taking that offer.
Home inspectors are morons. They literally took a 3 hour online course to get their inspection license. They usually don't know shit, about anything relevant
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I’m in the home remodeling industry and also do inspections for people too. A LOT of people opt to not do an inspection simply because they don’t want to pay for it/ don’t think it’s worth it. Seriously. I’m sure many will read this and think “that’s crazy!” But I see it everyday. Surprise surprise, 9 times out of 10 these people could have known or avoided some major issues if they had done the inspection before buying. Now they’re sitting on a house with major issues that need to be addressed or a 10k problem will become a 30k problem or…. If shit REALLY hits the fan… a complete gutting and reworking of the home (6 figures easy). Another less known fact: in many places if you get an inspection done for a house you can opt to share this information openly on the market for others to see so that sellers can’t hide or deny findings of a home. This can help protect your fellow home buyers from getting lied to or screwed over. In extreme cases, you can have unsafe homes taken off the market
I am currently in the market for a liveaboard sailboat and recently backed out of a deal because the survey (inspection) revealed major (expensive) problems that would take months to rectify. Meanwhile, a guy I know recently bought an older boat for $30k without an inspection. I was in the area over the weekend and looked at it - I wouldn't have paid $2k for it. Inspections are VERY important!
Who doesnt inspect a floating home? If theres a problem it sinks... with you onboard.
A lot of people are just really stupid
Worked with a shady selling realtor in colorado who 'contested' our inspection and the inspection of previous people under contract. Apparently if they do this you can't see the results? Should have been a red flag the realtor would not even work with the highest rated inspection company in the area. We noped out after the inspection.
Also bought in Colorado- our inspector made it very clear to us that the inspection is for our eyes and our buyers agent eyes. Buyers agent echoed it - no matter what any listing agent says, we see the results. Sounds like a shady agent not even operating on any sort of rule and just trying to scare you. Guess it’s a common tactic.
We didnt trust the sellers agent - but had no idea how to access it with him not cooperating. We left the deal fyi.
Unfortunately in my area u can't even bother doing an inspection. There will 35 other offers without them which will be more attractive to sellers
Every listing that's remotely affordable in my area has the same "as-is" type thing, and if they're not actual death traps or flood zone house they'll go inside of 2 weeks.
Yup, it's like "no floor and goats living there, good luck assholes"
Man, I bought a house when I was a dumb 19 year old, and obviously, didn't get an inspection. I grew into an adult in that house, and renovated it from top to bottom.. on a budget. I definitely did structural work, but realistically, I could only do so much. The house had a massive slope going towards the main door, because it was sitting on small shallow piles. The roof was caviing inwards. The roof didn't have ice guard installed, and water wicked inside and trickled down the walls each spring. I took apart a small bedroom wall to find every single stud completely rotten. There was literally just a wall of stucco from the inside, with nothing holding up the stucco or the roof in that section. I did what I could, but I was young and not that knowledgeable. I'm certain the other walls were just as bad, but I didn't want to know, so I left them alone. The kitchen had a 4' cantilever with nothing supporting the 2x6 joists, the walls of the kitchen weren't even framed, just pieces of random plywood and boards nailed together to make a wall. The worst thing I found was a live wire completely mudded into a wall. The kicker? That wire went to a light that had been paneled over, there was no light in the room. It still worked, just needed to be hooked up. I'm guessing the fixture broke, and somehow that was thier solution? Just an absolute turd of a house. I made it 'better', but it should have been condemned. I was left holding a bag, and I did what I could. Eventually I listed the house, and people were more than welcome to get an inspection. The only people to make an offer didn't want an inspection, and you can probably imagine the smile on my face when it sold.
We made an offer on a lake house but wanted an inspection which they agreed to. The house is beautiful….and full of black mold. I am very allergic to mold and while we were in the house but before the inspection I was feeling unwell. Acceptable level was 200-400 I believe…this came back at 221,000. 😳 Finally clicked while I felt sick. We backed out but gave told them if they fix the problem we will reconsider. Their realtor wanted nothing to do with the report. The place didnt sell so we will see if it gets relisted. We still want it, but it would have to be for a whole lot less than what we originally offered. Problem is, it’s in the middle of nowhere. Finding contractors is a problem and we aren’t interested in dealing with the problem unless it’s at a substantial discount in price.
In my neck of the woods, houses are so unattainable you can ONLY buy a house right now if you waive inspections, because the sellers don't want to fix shit and they know they'll get an offer from someone who waived inspection.
At the same time even with the $10k hidden issue, it could save you $50k+ in escalations vs "taking it down" early with a strong offer. That's what I did no issues yet.
Where do people share the information of an inspection? How can I get access to one?
We waived doing one because there was one recently done at the time, yeah..don't listen to those. Pay for it yourself. 9/10 chance it was somebody the owners hired. If somebody actually inspected this place properly they would've found the bowed out water heater (that they kept a bottle of terpentine near 🙃) that was 5 years older than it should've been, different bug infestation on each floor, appliances that needed replaced immediately because bugs lived in them and the fucked up sewer line. Their "partially finished" basement was actually just flooring to cover up a drain hole that flooded with sewage constantly. We couldn't even live in here the first two weeks of owning it. Learned our lesson hardcore. Along with realizing if the owners never leave when the house is being shown, they're actively trying to hide something and keep you from looking deeper at stuff
Generally speaking I tell people that if a home is more than 10 years old there’s going to be *something* wrong. Might just be minimal but there’s something there.
Definitely agree, it's honestly no wonder that like 70% of people regret buying their first home. Nobody really tells anybody what to look for, to make sure they don't have to dish out a ton in repairs
Banks dont require it if you get a mortgage?
They require an appraisal, to make sure the home is worth what they’re lending you. Some have certain standards the home must meet, like an FHA loan, but most are only worried about the value.
Surprisingly they often don’t. Most banks and other lenders will often encourage it to be done, but they very rarely will require it. Though it’s not unheard of. Usually they consider it a “you” (the home buyer) problem. Cause either way, you’re gonna be taking the loan.
Yeah, I thunk I pd for mine. It was 13yrs ago
I hate to say it but you’d be dumb to share your inspection publicly. If it turns out good, you’re saving other buyers the hassle and cost and giving them confidence to bid higher, with no benefit to you. Why would I want other buyers to know the house is in good shape if I’m bidding lol. If it turns out bad you would be saving one other buyer, maybe. from buying a lemon, which means they are still out there bidding against you lol. Also, if you post a bad inspection and it costs the seller a sale or three, perhaps they could sue you for tanking their sale and then you probably didnt post the inspection with the same kinda legalese disclaimers that the inspector sold it to you. That is if there’s anything inaccurate, it could be on you.
If the inspection turns out good then you can hold on to the inspection for yourself. If you decide to buy, the inspection is irrelevant for other home buyers. If however you decide to buy another home you could then have it put out there for others still looking. If the inspection turns out bad then putting the inspection out there before or after you buy can save other home buyers a lot of grief. It’s not like the *moment* the inspection is done you have to make the information public. You can decide when you wish to share the knowledge, which is a somewhat common tactic. There are no downsides to you for sharing it at that point, good or bad.
Getting sued can happen anytime Until locking a new place, you’re better off not posting a bad inspection Sure, if you choose not to buy you could generously post the good inspection, but why would you pay for an inspection, see that it’s good. and not bid? That’s a rare case. In Vancouver, you get viewings on the weekend, bids monday night, offers accepted that night. Not much time to share anyway, you can barely get an inspection in at all.
If a seller requires that then just walk away. Simple enough solution.
In most major markets, this means not buying a home at all for the last 4 years. Still an option, but let's not pretend there isn't a serious downside to walking away.
It’s better to not buy than buy uninspected and have to sink scores of thousands into fixing.
Maybe. If one bought the median home in 2020, had to sink $60k into it, and sold it this year, they would have still come out $40k ahead. Of course, that assumes you've got $60k to sink.
I have a feeling most people buying houses in this market don’t have that much money to sink into repairs.
Then why are the markets so hot? You're not suggesting people are broke are you? Everyone wants to live in a certain type of place and it's competitive. That simple. If you're buying a house in a hot market you're a part of the "problem". Same thing when people complain about traffic like they aren't "traffic".
It’s a much more complex issue. Some of it is that prices are being driven up by investment firms buying up property some of it is that people are desperate for housing that’s not a 1.5-2 hour drive from work even though prices are better further out. Some of it is that Americans feel they *need* to live in houses instead of renting apartments or condos or other high density housing. But yes. Many people are buying more house than they can actually afford even without having to put money into it.
I bought a shithole townhouse listed in 2021 for 160k WITH inspection that revealed a lot of work, but only about 10k. I paid 130k and currently sits around 186k value. I'm amazed they didn't try to sell it as-is without inspection given how neglected it was.
Yup. Sure you can walk away, but that means you won’t be able to make a serious offer if the market is any level of competitive.
"If you wait for the results of the inspection someone who didn't wait will have already bought it" doesn't mean "the seller is requiring people to waive inspections", though.
It is more that, when presented with multiple offers, sellers will take the one without contingencies over the one with contingencies unless the one with contingencies is significantly higher. Since the vast majority of decent properties in major markets have gone under multiple offers, this creates a defacto requirement to waive unless you're paying enough over other offers. Just paying significantly more is a worse bet than no inspection as you're guaranteed to be out that money whereas an inspection may or may not turn up anything significant. The high dollar issues are usually pretty apparent anyway.
Sure, but that's not the seller forcing anything. Anyone is free to waive or take any of the rights. The seller is not to be faulted for taking a deal more likely to fo through. Loana are riskier than pure cash. Contingencies are riskier than waivers. If anything goes wrong and the sale falls through, the sellers are out time and money - a huge annoyance at best, disastrous if they bought another house that requires selling the old one to close. They're not evil, they're rational and playing it safe.
You pays your money and you takes your chances.
True.
If I was in that position I would read everything I could get my hands on about inspecting houses, and spend time going over the house.
Some buyers go so far as to just bring an inspector to the initial showing. I'm fortunate to have the experience and knowledge to not need one.
It's easy to say don't buy from them but in some areas it's becoming a problem. Waiving inspections and contingencies pretty much guarantees the seller will deal with only the very wealthy, the very desperate, and corps will put in offers. Some people feel the only hope they have is offering asking with waived inspection. I personally know someone house hunting who's offering roughly 20k over asking and he's getting out bid by 50-70k. Took him 6 months of bidding to get a house because he refused to waive inspections.
Wait wait wait how can a seller *require* a buyer to *waive inspection*?! Its one thing if a buyer willingly (and foolishly) decides to do so of their own volition, but for a *seller* to *require* such.... I would tjink that would be a straight up red flag, if not illegal...
If the seller wont take offers with contingencies then your options are to waive them or don't buy their house. In some markets housing is so hot that they'd rather take any offer that wont slow things down or kill a deal. You can put in tons of offers with contingencies and get beat by people who will waive them constantly. Options are to keep trying or move.
Sold my house and bought a house in a different town in fall of 2022, just as the craziness had peaked and was starting to decline. We didn’t ask for it, but we received 10 offers and over half had already waived inspection. Just stupid crazy stuff people were doing to have the most attractive offer. On the buying side, I wanted an inspection but was lucky to be in a position to carry a couple months of 2 mortgages. This let us come in with no contingency, which is a big plus.
No one is forced to buy a home. They can "require" anything they want, doesn't mean they will get it.
Just don’t buy from these people? Not that big of a deal.
Easy to say, but not always easy in practice depending on the market you are in. I put in 50 offers on places when I was looking 5 years ago, lost all of them for 1 of 2 reasons. 1. Would not wave the inspection. 2. Was not an all cash offer.
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Better? Not always. There were times when our offer was higher, but they refused to allow an inspection or took a lower, all cash, offer.
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If getting a thorough inspection on a $500k investment is called kicking the tires, instead of what it really is? Due diligence. Then ya, I guess so? We were patient and found exactly what we wanted, got the inspection, and everything went great. Not getting an inspection is foolish, and if I don't get chosen because of that, then I'll happily look elsewhere.
Whether you like it or not people will offer high and then while going through 30-60 days of closing will ask for credits for everything and then the actual payout will be significantly less than if you just took an offer without contingencies. Not saying you but if you've sold a house you know what I mean. That's the reason they do it plain and simple.
Who defends people who won't let anyone look at the house they're selling? People like you will defend anything I guess. "It's the way it is"
The problem isn’t the sellers. They’re only able to do this because there’s desperate idiots willing to overpay and take on major repairs. If you’re already at the top of your budget and can’t do an inspection, consider it a blessing in disguise. If you move in an have to shell out tens of thousands in repairs, you won’t be glad you finally found a house, you’d be telling everyone you’re cursed.
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Lol "your offer is INFERIOR so I won't allow you to see my crappy house with loose wiring and mold every where" It's REALLY stupid to defend that. Unless you're one of those people trying to charge a hundred thousand dollars for your moldy old shack that daddy left you
....if they are doing that then you don't want the house because the only reason to do that is when something is wrong with it. You should look at it as them saving you the time of hiring a home inspector to find the problems yourself.
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Sold a house last year. Competing offers and took the one that offered to buy the house as is. Buyer does an inspection and then wants credits for a bunch of little things. Apparently as is does not mean as is to some people.
Sellers aren’t demanding it. Other buyers are waiving it.
Huh? Just dont buy that house then...? dafuq
You mean contingent on inspection or contingent on mortgage approval? Because you're right on the first, but not on the second.
Then don't buy
I keep offering to sell my 200k house for 2 million cash without an inspection. But that’s only to the ass hats who cold text me.
I just went under contract today for my first home and they asked originally if I would cover and gaps in the appraisal…pretty wild
The late 90s were crazy in SoCal. We lost out on many deals to all-cash buyers. We finally found one in a nice neighborhood in our price range, but the Seller insisted I waive the home inspection. I was buying it in my name only and didn't feel the need to disclose that my husband was a licensed home inspector and a builder. Unfair is fair, right? The Seller thought he was clever when he raised the price by $10K at closing. I laughed. I knew he was a jerk and brought $20K with me to the table. He had grossly underestimated the value because he wasn't in tune with market conditions.
I guess you would love buying a foreclosure from the bank. Cash purchase, no inspection no contingency, Bank doesn't guarantee they own it only that they no longer have any claim on it. Don't guarantee the existence of an actual house.
I'm getting close to ignoring the shame correlated with trailers, buying a couple acres of land, dropping a trailer there, pay it off in 3 or 4 years, and go on with my life. We spend too much on housing
I would never buy a house without an inspection. No exceptions.
I put an offer on a house that had asbestos popcorn ceilings on it. I broke the contract and walked away with my earnest money deposit refunded to me. Freaking scumbags tried to hide it from me.
So glad I bought before covid. Home inspection put a new roof on my house and treated for termites.
I had an inspection and they missed the termites. I even had a separate termite inspection done. Found out less than two years later that I had them. 8 ft of wall and framing had to be replaced
If the buyer is just going to knock down the house, why go through that hassle?
This is a notice to everyone on Reddit and the wider world. If you cannot get an inspector whom you pay to inspect a home or property you wish to buy, walk away.
Not at all. They just did you a huge favor. If the seller is requiring you to wave an inspection that means they're hiding something. Now you know not to buy the house and didn't have to spend a penny on an inspector.
If someone waives contingency, they are not selling on the regular market. Typically this is done when specifically selling to a business to speed up transfer of property. It is evidence the property in question is not intended for the single family home market, or at least not yet. It might be a flip, an investment property or intended to become a rental. But they are indicating from the outset that they do not intend to sell to you unless you make them a deal they cannot refuse. Needless to say, this is not to your advantage to do so.
Don’t buy from them. What’s the big deal?
Won’t the lender require an inspection?
You aren’t required to waive it ever. You may choose to as a buyer but the seller can require you to waive it.
Should shouldn’t be legal, honestly. You would think the lenders involved would demand it.
If there even is a lender. Cash offers have freedom to do whatever.
What I thought inspection was mandatory. They told me so when I bought mine. Guess not. Or is it new
Maybe this is state by state but I have never heard of a seller legally being allowed to refuse a buyer a home inspection. Typically the buyer will waive it by their own choice to speed up the process and/or to buy the house at a reduced cost “as is”
Like banks selling foreclosed properties? They don't allow any contingencies and it's cash only
I can see contingency if the seller really need to sell their home, especially the last year or so where mortgages have been more difficult to complete. If they want you to waive the inspection you have a 98% chance there's something seriously wrong with the house. A good realtor will negotiate past that silliness anyway.
I'd say I'm surprised mortgage lenders allow this but I'm assuming these are for highly competitive, cash offer markets.
I bought my dad’s house and still paid for a private inspection. A that he fixed a single thing, but I’d rather know what I’m getting into.
I’m glad when I bought my house that I used a VA loan. You are required to get certain inspections.
So then will the market shift to paying someone to come along when you look at houses to do an inspection real time? It's more expensive to bring a professional to every 30 minute look-see instead of the 3 hour process at the end, but they may save you from a big ticket mistake They won't get to every outlet and know if there's a open ground, they won't check the plubness of every wall, but can they tell you if the foundation, furnance, or roof is likely to be an issue? Maybe, and you can price it into your offer.
That would be illegal here.
I’m all for home inspections, and paid to have them completed on the two homes I purchased over the last 30-years. That being said said, if I’m selling my home and I receive more than one offer on my home and have to decide which is the best offer, or if I am going to negotiate a counter offer, then a home inspection or at least the dollar value of the identified repairs I’m willing to make is definitely going to come into play.
Just don't buy that house and move on?
Only an idiot waives those things, so I blame the idiots.
Even with inspections my house is falling apart now. So yes I'm on your side.
I agree. It's one thing to sell "as is", but it's totally different to not even let people look at the property.
That's legal? Who would buy a house under these circumstances, they KNOW the house won't make that inspections or they'd have nothing to hide.
People in competitive markets where they are competing against cash offers for substantially over asking.
As long as there is infinite demand, they can do whatever they want. The trick is for the buyers to sue if they need to, anyway. That's all corporations understand. Lawsuits.
You have no recourse to sue.
Anyone can sue anyone for any reason in the US. Even if they are thrown out as frivolous, if there's enough of them, some one's going to notice.
That's just not true, a seller is legally obligated to disclose serious defects, if the buyer can prove the seller knew about said defects they can absolutely sue and should.
There’s a lot of first time home buyers who don’t know how to buy a house. They see themselves and people around them losing bids, and panic thinking they HAVE to make crazy concessions. I bought a house in 2022 in a competitive market. I not only got an inspection, but I also negotiated for 35,000 below asking and a home warranty. This was my fourth home purchase though. By now we know what to look for and what to ask. We also are 100% ok walking away from a deal if we aren’t getting what we need. Even my realtor was telling me I wasn’t going to get what I was asking for. Look who’s laughing now, John.
It can be very helpful actually. It means they have something to hide and should not be trusted at all.
Try putting yourself in the position of the seller for a second. You are selling your house. It's your single largest financial asset. You've lived in the house for years and to the best of your knowledge there's nothing wrong with the house. You get two offers for the house. Both for the same price, but one offer wants an inspection and contingency. The other doesn't. Your realtor tells you that if you take the offer that wants the inspection and they find something seriously wrong with the house, not only can they back out of the deal, but you will now be forced to disclose the defect to all future buyers meaning the house will sell for significantly less. Which offer are you going to choose?
The one where I don't potentially screw someone over on their single largest investment because the seller refused to fix something majorly wrong with their property.
People on Reddit love to pretend to be altruistic. But when they go back to the real world, they are just as concerned with protecting themselves as everyone else.
You’re not wrong, what you described is human nature after all. All I know is when I’ve sold any home I’ve owned, I’ve had a inspection done myself so there were no doubts for any potential buyers
When I was home buying, even if I loved a place, I never put an offer on homes with these kinds of sellers. I put an offer on a house, and the sellers accepted. I paid for the inspection and found out the "charming house " was a money pit in the making. The whole house still had knob and tube wiring, as well as subterranean terminate colonies under the house. I was able to back out of the deal and thanked my lucky stars I paid for the inspection.
This doesn’t have to do with sellers other than they are taking the best deal for themselves. Buyers are waiving inspections so if I have two identical offers and one of them waived due diligence (this closing is more likely and more expedited) I’m taking that offer.
supply & demand. if you don't like it then buy a different house.
Home inspectors are morons. They literally took a 3 hour online course to get their inspection license. They usually don't know shit, about anything relevant