How much money do I lose if I make an offer but pull out after inspection?

[Anonymous]

I really like a house but suspect it's going to need too much work. I'd like to make an offer and see what inspection comes back with, although I'm fairly sure it's going to reveal that too much needs to be done for my budget/family situation. How much money would I be losing for inspection and any other costs if I made an offer and didn't ultimately buy the house? I hate to just let it go, but I also don't want to throw away lots of money on something that most likely isn't going to work.

[Anonymous]

Just the cost of the inspection.

[Anonymous]

How much does inspection usually run?

[Anonymous]

Generally you make an offer with an inspection contingency, meaning that you get to make your inspection before being bound by the contract. So all you have to lose is the price of the inspection.

[Anonymous]

I think you lose the deposit too if you cant come up with something bad from the inspection - you give a list of repairs for the seller after the inspection that they in turn will refuse to do. Then you're free to walk.

[Anonymous]

You lose your earnest money deposit. The inspection can only be used as a reason IF the inspection reveals major issues that the owner is unwilling to either pay to repair or mitigate themselves. You cannot back out just because you suddenly think its going to be too much work. shoulda thought about that before you put the contract on the house and wrote the check for the deposit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You lose your earnest money deposit. The inspection can only be used as a reason IF the inspection reveals major issues that the owner is unwilling to either pay to repair or mitigate themselves. You cannot back out just because you suddenly think its going to be too much work. shoulda thought about that before you put the contract on the house and wrote the check for the deposit.

Pretty sure that's incorrect.

OP, this is a great question to ask your real estate agent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You lose your earnest money deposit. The inspection can only be used as a reason IF the inspection reveals major issues that the owner is unwilling to either pay to repair or mitigate themselves. You cannot back out just because you suddenly think its going to be too much work. shoulda thought about that before you put the contract on the house and wrote the check for the deposit.

What if the house requires an "as is" clause. If there are major issues at inspection can you still back out? Do you lose your earnest money deposit? How much is that typically?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You lose your earnest money deposit. The inspection can only be used as a reason IF the inspection reveals major issues that the owner is unwilling to either pay to repair or mitigate themselves. You cannot back out just because you suddenly think its going to be too much work. shoulda thought about that before you put the contract on the house and wrote the check for the deposit.

It's not as easy as that. If you can't remove the inspection contingency for any reason, the EMD is safe. If a seller sensed the buyer is trying to walk, seller would probably agree to most things on the inspection list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much does inspection usually run?

We paid $575 for our most recent one, I think

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You lose your earnest money deposit. The inspection can only be used as a reason IF the inspection reveals major issues that the owner is unwilling to either pay to repair or mitigate themselves. You cannot back out just because you suddenly think its going to be too much work. shoulda thought about that before you put the contract on the house and wrote the check for the deposit.

14:57 back again. I'm an agent and virtually none of this is correct if you have an inspection contingency. Will expound further after my open house.

[Anonymous]

None. You can pull out after the inspection, after the appraisal, or after you receive your finance package just fine.

[Anonymous]

^^ If you have those as contingencies. ^^

[Anonymous]

I made an offer with an inspection contingency and then backed out because the inspection brought up some really serious issues that I thought were unfixable or would at least be horrendously expensive. The house was already priced high, so I was concerned it would be a money pit that I would regret buying. The only money I lost was the inspection fee, about $450. Best $450 I ever spent.

I felt horribly guilty for backing out, but luckily they sold it to another interested party almost as soon as I backed out, for about $10K less. i guess their inspection didn't scare them so much.

[Anonymous]

I did the same thing two years ago. I felt a little guilty, but the inspection revealed too many problems. I disagree with the commenter who claims that you lose your EMD unless the inspection reveals serious issues. As long as the contingency period has not expired, you can back out for any reason after the inspection.

Anonymous wrote:I made an offer with an inspection contingency and then backed out because the inspection brought up some really serious issues that I thought were unfixable or would at least be horrendously expensive. The house was already priced high, so I was concerned it would be a money pit that I would regret buying. The only money I lost was the inspection fee, about $450. Best $450 I ever spent.

I felt horribly guilty for backing out, but luckily they sold it to another interested party almost as soon as I backed out, for about $10K less. i guess their inspection didn't scare them so much.