Why Get a Home Inspection Even on “As-Is” Houses?
April 26, 2008
Always get a home inspection; without exception. “As-Is” does not mean, “No Inspection Allowed.” Insist on one, and the “Why” is answered in better detail in this article. If you need contact info for any excellent inspectors, your real estate pro should be able to produce that within minutes.
April 30, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Hi, I’m Stan Audette of AAD Inspection Corp. I’ve been helping Buyers evaluate propety conditions in the Treasure Valley area of Idaho for over 14 years.
Professional home inspectors realize that property condition information can be an important part of calculating value. Even if the property is offered for sale “As Is”, a savvy buyer should do market comparisons, right?
What about inspections, though?
I suggest adjusting any market analysis with “cost to cure” type of information that can be gleaned from a good home inspection.
If that additional, new inspection information significantly alters the overall value of a buyer’s perception of the property, he (or she) may be in a good position to renegotiate the price even if the Seller has indicated their firm stance regarding “As Is” conditions.
When you think about it, truly “material” information brought to the attention of the Seller by any Buyer must be disclosed to all future prospective Buyers, anyway … even if the Seller is tempted to just say “next buyer, please”.
The Seller may need to be gently reminded that any significant (especially non-obvious) property condition information would probably have the same effect on those “next buyers”.
Therefore, the strategy for a Buyer having obtained an inspection on an “As Is” property is to remind the Seller of these new disclosure facts and then negotiate for an adjustment in the price.
At that point, I suggest reminding the Seller that the Buyer is still just as interested in the property and is still actively involved in the process of taking the property off the Seller’s hands.