What you should know about buyer’s home inspection waiver?

Home inspection

Are you in a market to buy an old home? Are you going order a property inspection before you close?  Well, you have some decisions to discuss with your Real Estate agent or broker since in some silicon valley markets the homes are still selling so fast that there is no time to order inspections.

But let’s see what your option are when it comes to inspection prior to buying a home.  Buyers are protected by California law which allows a buyer to order their own inspection prior to close of escrow.  However, if the seller has already performed any inspection you as the buyer are entitled to get copies of such inspections.    As a matter of law, the seller’s agent has to provide you with copies of all the reports on the property.

So, you have a choice to accept the seller’s inspections or order your own which would mean you have to pay for them since the seller has already furnished their inspection reports to you.

The challenge you will face is that if you sign the buyer’s inspection waiver as the buyer, if you discover any material problems after you have closed on the property, you might not have much recourse to seek remedy.   For instance, if you discover after you have moved into the property that you indeed have foundation problem then you are on your own if you accepted the seller’s inspections and no such defects were discovered on that inspection.

Bottom line is requiring inspection contingencies make your offers much weaker in a seller’s market.  In fact, we just lost on a $1.5M offer this past weekend even though we have no inspection requirements and were offering cash to close in 1 week!  This property was in Los Gatos fixer upper and we will lost it.    Just imagine if we insisted on a 10 day inspection period.

So, evaluate the need for inspections strategically.  If you are buying a home that’s 60 years old, odds are that there are tons of deferred maintenance issues that you will discover.   Do you need an inspection then if it will make your offer weaker and removes any chance of you buying the house?

Tell us what you think.

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