Inspection for informational purposes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to keep in mind that there is quite a bit more benefit to the buyer than the seller on this one so your negotiation may need to reflect that. Some/most sellers may not want to have an inspection, informational or otherwise, without a contract. They may fear that if they learn of significant deficiencies then they will be compelled to disclose to other buyers if your potential sale falls through. Of course they can always change the sale status to "as is"; however, that makes their product significantly less market desirable even if the house is in an area that is a sellers market. As in all things, $ talks.

just another way to say sellers can get all contingencies waived in a sellers market.

I kind of wish the states would make inspections non-waivable. the idea that you'd buy something as big as a house without an inspection is nuts!

I know, right! I mean we're paying our hard earned money to buy a home which we're going to live in for many years, and foregoing inspection seems like too much of a gamble.

[Anonymous]

It's called a pre-inspection. We did it before making our offer and removing the inspection contingency. We won the house.

If I was a seller, no way in hell would I allow an "informational" inspection. What's the upside for me?

[Anonymous]

as my asian buyer told me "you take check you get out"

That is what you are up against.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks everyone for your comments. We left the inspection and agreed to up the offer price, waived appraisal too. But we lost our bid (third bid we lost)...sigh...Looks like we may have to go the pre-inspection route for the next battle. First time buyers in a hot sellers' market don't have much hope or options, do we?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's called a pre-inspection. We did it before making our offer and removing the inspection contingency. We won the house.

If I was a seller, no way in hell would I allow an "informational" inspection. What's the upside for me?

Please can you educate me more about the "pre-inspection." It may be a useful tip for our next bid. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just submitted an offer with the "Inspection with Option to Void" box checked. PP is right that it means you can back out based on the results of the inspection but can't ask the seller to make repairs. There was no time for us to do a pre-inspection and we weren't going to waive it entirely. Our agent has communicated to the listing agent that we are wanting the inspection for the purpose of discovering major issues like a cracked foundation, but will not back out over a minor issue. Who knows if it will work, but we're giving it a shot.

How is "inspection with option to void" different from "informational purposes?" Asking because I'm new to all these and would love to be more knowledgeable. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's called a pre-inspection. We did it before making our offer and removing the inspection contingency. We won the house.

If I was a seller, no way in hell would I allow an "informational" inspection. What's the upside for me?

Please can you educate me more about the "pre-inspection." It may be a useful tip for our next bid. Thank you!

You inspect the property before making your offer. If there are no major issues, you submit your offer without an inspection contingency. This way the seller knows you're serious about buying the house, that you're not going to back out due to inspection issues, and that you're not going to nickle and dime the inspector.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think informational inspections can happen either before or after a ratified contract. People do pre-inspections so they can waive home inspection contingency on their offer to make it more attractive. In my opinion, the seller doesn't have anything to lose by allowing the pre-inspection as long as he/she does not know the results. Seller does not need the know the results, only the buyer does, since there's no contract. In the same vein, if a buyer does an informational inspection after the contract is ratified with the option to void checked, then he/she can back out for any reason or no reason. Again, seller does not need to know the results, so nothing to divulge. It's actually better for the seller to have the buyer do the pre-inspection because the house doesn't get stigmatized if buyer cancels...you don't need to go back on the market because it was never off the market.

The whole disclosing defects to the next buyer thing is totally based on the honor system by the way. No one ever makes the previous buyer's home inspection report available for the next buyer's reference (and for good reason), so you more or less have to take the seller's word for it. That's why you have your own inspection of course.

Thank you, this is really useful. But how long do pre-inspections take? 'Cos the market here is insane, it doesn't even take 2 days for houses to be sold. I'm wondering what we are up against, or whether the fall/winter market is going to be as ruthless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's called a pre-inspection. We did it before making our offer and removing the inspection contingency. We won the house.

If I was a seller, no way in hell would I allow an "informational" inspection. What's the upside for me?

Please can you educate me more about the "pre-inspection." It may be a useful tip for our next bid. Thank you!

You inspect the property before making your offer. If there are no major issues, you submit your offer without an inspection contingency. This way the seller knows you're serious about buying the house, that you're not going to back out due to inspection issues, and that you're not going to nickle and dime the inspector.

Thanks! (OP here again), how long does it usually take to do a pre-inspection?