Real Estate Blog - AS-IS Contracts and Inspections...are they worth the $$$?

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AS-IS Contracts and Inspections...are they worth the $$$?

I always recommend Home Inspections to my customers. I mean, I want them to be happy with their purchase and to send me referral's so, I always err on the safe side to make sure they live "happily ever after" in their new residence.

However, I find that many people purchasing homes "AS-IS" feel that they know that nothing will be fixed on the home after they agree to buy the property, so they figure they are agreeing to "deal with what they get". I explain to them that it is important to get this Inspection with in the agreed upon Inspection period, so that if there is mold, termites, or damage not normally seen by the naked eye...that is their chance to Bolt!

I cannot tell you the amount of people that don't want to spend the money to have this done.

Do you find people are skipping over this important step in purchasing a home in AS-IS contracts?

http://www.KarenMonsour.com, cell 954-464-4194

Posted by Karen Monsour,REALTOR® Broward,Palm Beach,Miami/Dade! 954-464-4194 anytime! on 02/15/2008 10:08 PM

Comments (15)

asis contracts, inspections, real estate, karen monsour

Originally posted at: Karen@ www.KarenMonsour.com: AS-IS Contracts and Inspections...are they worth the $$$?

Post is included in group: Letters to Realtors,Attorneys,CPA's,Credit Bureaus

15 Comments on AS-IS Contracts and Inspections...are they worth the $$$?

FEB

2008

Nope, there is no such thing as as-is, if there are defects you will still get yanked into court.

Take care!

RJH

Or petulent sellers who expect buyers to receive -- and accept -- latent/hidden defects as "AS IS" conditions. No, you still need to fix or credit for a repair issue that the inspection uncovers.

Robert,

In Florida we have "AS-IS" contract's FAR/BAR contract's written by lawyers...Thank you for posting.

Karen

Not so far but I really push for the home inspection if its a foreclosure. I tell them "sure its an as is where is sale, but don't you want to know what you're buying before you buy it?' I push for one of my great home inspectors with the laser lights---I'm not saying if you don't have this technology your not great but it does give my customer that warm fuzzy feeling I want them to have before they buy. Plus, it gives me piece of mind. I had a client buy an older home last year and pushed for the laser light guy---so glad I did. His technology picks up hot wires in the walls---we found none. Right before closing we had a bad storm and they closed the next day. They called and said the house had faulty wiring--- I disagreed because my laser guy already checked that out. Sure enough I sent an electrician and all it was , was a fuse burned out on the house. No faulty wiring. Was patting myself on the back because I myself had that warm fuzzy feeling that they were okay.

Andrew,

Imagine this...the seller's actually say...no fixin', take it or leave it! It is usually 1.5% however...this occassionally an issue...not a current issue mind you...just thought I'd write about it..wink!

Candice,

Same here, peace of mind! LASER LIGHTS - can you email me info on those??? I've never seen anything like that and I've sat through my share of inspections for customers...That sounds really great!!!

Hey, thank's for posting that great info! :-)

Karen

I always though as is means as is...warts and all. That dosent mean that the seller dosent have to disclose any known defects, he does, but he dosent have to fix anything. and it dosent mean that a buyer shouldnt get an inspection , he should. But if after the disclosures, and after the inspection, the buyer chooses to go foreward, he buys the house as is

Personally Ill never hire a home inspector again...they only look at the visible (except the magic x-ray guy that Candice uses). Id rather trust my own eyes than an inspectors. Ive seen termite guys miss obvious termite damage. and one that picked up the damage passed a shoddy repair job and missed the active infestation. Ive heard inspectors say a stain in the ceiling was due to a leaky roof rather than the condensate from an air conditioner that actually caused it. As a seller I had to hire my own septic drain field inspection because the buyers inspector went to the wrong house. Again as a seller I had to hire a professional to repair the wiring (he replaced one lightbulb) and I had to hire a plumber to repair the sprinkler system (all he had to do is throw the switch to the on position. The system was off because we were in our rainy season). I could go on and on but you get the idea...Ill buy my houses as is and take my chances rather than hire a home inspector. Maybe your buyers feel the same way I do.

By the way, I always recommend that my buyers hire a home inspector, but thats just so they dont blame me when something goes wrong (and it will)

Ron,

In Florida every seller has to fill out a "Seller's Disclosure Statement" and sign that it is true. I understand your issues though. I recommend it for my "own piece of mind", and also b/c I want them to be happy with the transaction. I would rather be safe than sorry. I do have a pretty good Inspector though, I always give him my list of issues after he is done, just in case he didn't notice something I did. I did this in one circumstance a few month's ago. He didn't think it was an issue, however, after he went back up in the attic...he changed his report.

Thanks for posting,

Karen

FEB

2008

Hey Karen I sent you an email with the website for the laser lights but thought I would pass it on in your blog in case anyone else wanted to see it. http://www.homesafeinspections.us/

Thanks so much Candice

Sorry I said laser lights but its actually infra red lights. Make sure if you hire one of these guys though that you go along to watch. It is too cool. I call my guy "my superman inspector cuz he can see thru walls". Its really cool you can even see the framing in the walls and their technology shows them any leaks (it has a moisture sensor) and any hot wires in the wall. My first experience with this was actually me as the sellers agent on a brand new home and the guy detected moisture in the ceiling and sure enough the builder found a slow leak in one of the lines to the hot water tank and was able to repair it before major damage was done to the ceiling.Be prepared though, these guys are a little more expensive but for foreclosures and older homes I feel they're worth it. Peace of mind for the client and me.

Karen

I also practice in Florida. There is no law that requires that a seller fill out or sign a"Seller's Disclosure Statement"

What is required is that a seller disclose known latent facts that materially affect value. That disclosure requirement exists whether or not the seller occupied the property. There are several key words here: "known" and "latent" and "materially affect value"

known should be self explainatory, but it will be up to the buyer to show that the seller knew something (or should have known it), which is not as easy as it sounds

a latent defect is a fault in the property that could not have been discovered by a reasonably thorough inspection before the sale.

materially is to a significant degree

No doubt your broker, like mine, wont take a listing without a disclosure, but its not a requirement of law. And in my opinion these sellers disclosures do nothing for the buyer; they only protect the broker, which of course is why my broker requires one.

We sell our houses here in Virginia for the most part as is or buyer beware. The seller is still responsible for telling the buyer about known defects and ensuring the HVAC, plumbing and electrical are in good working order. On top of that you can really sell the house "as is where is" if the seller wants to do that. You see that a lot with foreclosed homes. I don't understand your statement "I explain to them that it is important to get this Inspection with in the agreed upon Inspection period, so that if there is mold, termites, or damage not normally seen by the naked eye...that is their chance to Bolt!" The purpose of the home inspection shouldn't be to get out of a contract but to give the buyer a history of the house and to see if there are any deficiencies with it. I counsel my buyers before they write a contract on what to expect from a home inspection and what they would want to accept. Seldom does a buyer of mine walk away from a contract because of faults with the home discovered during the home inspection. We almost always work it out with the seller or the buyer wants the house bad enough to accept the faults.

FEB

2008

Candice,

Thank you for sharing that information with all of us. I wonder how "expensive" they are???

Ron,

Thank you for that clarification. I thought otherwise, thanks for the info.

MAR

2008

In Texas not only is a Seller required to sign a Seller's Disclosure at the time of listing, they can be sued if they sell their home as a FSBO and they did not provide a buyer with this document. That is a big marketing point when trying to gain the listing of a FSBO. MOST aren't aware of that law. The only time a seller's disclosure is NOT required, is if the seller has not actually lived in the property during the past 7 years.

I too advise ALL my buyers to have an inspection done and point out ALL the reasons that they should. IF they still do not want to have one done, we have a form from TREC (TX REAL ESTATE COMM) that states they have been advised on all the reasons to have an inspections and that they have decided not to have one. There is the usual legal verbiage of course about holding no one responsible, etc.

One more form, YES, but it has saved many a BEE-HIND because a Realtor had this signed.

Good luck with YOUR transaction!!

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