De facto "as is"

[Anonymous]

I know. But there seem to be stubborn sellers with shitty houses on this thread and they might be from MD.

We looked for a house for a few months and found most older homes to be very poorly maintained and smell (looked at very expensive homes). Not a function of wealth, function of being house blind or miserly or ignorant or worse yet, criminally minded (rules for the but not for me)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This happens sometimes, it’s why you have an inspection contingency that lets you get out of the deal. There is zero requirement that they fix anything, or that they negotiate on repairs. I realize this is your fourth home purchase, but you sound pretty naive about the process.

I realize re requirement to negotiate.

I was curious to see if this approach to inspection addendum was common in NoVa. I got my answer. It is not consistent with my past experience, but the post has been helpful to me.

[Anonymous]

Can’t quite get away with anything in VA either although it’s pretty close as buyer beware state. But:

However, the seller cannot deliberately conceal any defects, refuse or fail to disclose known latent (hidden) defects, or divert the purchaser away from the defect(s) with the condition of the premises. For example, in Armentrout v. French, 220 Va. 458, 258 S.E.2d 519 (1979), the purchaser of the property inquired about the condition of a septic system, which the seller reported as being “fine.” In reality, the system was defective and emitted a strong odor in the house, which the sellers concealed through various means. The Virginia Supreme Court held that the purchaser of the property was relieved of their duty to inspect further.

Accordingly, if the seller violates these prohibitions, then the buyer may have viable causes of action for breach of contract, rescission, and/or fraud in the inducement. Furthermore, punitive damages stemming from fraudulent activity are permitted upon a showing of willful, wanton and reckless material misrepresentations or omissions of material facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is our first home purchase in NoVa, and I am trying to see if this experience is typical.

We went under contract for an older home in NoVa, for a reasonable price. While the overall condition of the home is good, some issues came up in inspection that we submitted to the sellers. The inspection addendum returned from them as fully denied, de facto making the home "as is" purchase.

Items included repairing a badly cracked driveway, replacing a 25+year old furnace, reinforcing the deck with rotted out supports, doing electrical work in the attic, and bringing an old chimney up to code. The chimney repair was estimated as expensive, so we asked for 15k with an estimate submitted, expecting to get somewhat less, meeting somewhere in the middle.

Is this bait and switch behavior typical in NoVa? I just wanted to adjust my expectations and go in prepared. I am somewhat taken aback.

Cold feet?

Not at all. House is fine, but not unique or irreplaceable. Worse deal than expected because sellers will not negotiate inspection addendum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This happens sometimes, it’s why you have an inspection contingency that lets you get out of the deal. There is zero requirement that they fix anything, or that they negotiate on repairs. I realize this is your fourth home purchase, but you sound pretty naive about the process.

Condescending arse. What you all fail to realize is that the new generations are not willing to accept the embarrassing conditions most of you call homes ready for sale. OP is smart and is just testing the market by polling dcum-ers who are predictably stubborn.

If this was a house in prime DC I’d say suck it up, but VA? For what? There are houses and houses and so much new built inventory.

I’d walk if they won’t give closing costs. Even then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before you made an offer, you could see the driveway was cracked and the furnace was old, no? Is the chimney a safety hazard? Lots of old houses are not up to current code. You sound like a typical first time home buyer!

Inspection states that chimney is a safety hazard, especially since a wood burning stove was installed instead of a regular fireplace.

I’ve never seen an inspection that didn’t say the chimney was a safety hazard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This happens sometimes, it’s why you have an inspection contingency that lets you get out of the deal. There is zero requirement that they fix anything, or that they negotiate on repairs. I realize this is your fourth home purchase, but you sound pretty naive about the process.

Condescending arse. What you all fail to realize is that the new generations are not willing to accept the embarrassing conditions most of you call homes ready for sale. OP is smart and is just testing the market by polling dcum-ers who are predictably stubborn.

If this was a house in prime DC I’d say suck it up, but VA? For what? There are houses and houses and so much new built inventory.

I’d walk if they won’t give closing costs. Even then.

No one is saying OP is paying the right price. We’re just explaining to her that her perception of “normal” re: inspection contingencies seems to have been based on her limited personal experience and doesn’t reflect reality. Will some buyers and sellers negotiate repairs and cash after an inspection. Yes. There’s no requirement to do so and many won’t for a host of reasons, especially for some of the things OP identified in her post. That’s not MD vs VA or even Covid vs pre Covid. OP just had a misunderstanding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dcum always bashes smart and demanding buyers. Mostly presumably because they know the horrors their houses hide come sale time. Don’t pay them any mind. Who cares? May the best negotiator win.

No worries, actually, the topic has been helpful.

This deal may not stand because I negotiated it anticipating typical concessions on the inspection, and my agent also expected the same. Now we will know better and negotiate more aggressively upfront.

OP, you negotiated in bad faith because you never intended to pay the purchase price that you offered. You're pulling the bait and switch, not the sellers.

Like other posters stated, you don't understand the terms and what the seller is or isn't obligated to do. You seem to be making up a lot of "rules" that don't have any legal basis. Your inspection contingency allows you to back out of the deal based on the inspection. You can try to negotiate, but it never obligated the sellers to pay for anything. You can still back out, which is all the inspection contingency ever guaranteed you. Stop being petty and vengeful with trying to stick it to the sellers with disclosable defects. They didn't try to conceal the age of the furnace or cracks in the driveway. You risked the cost of the inspection when you made an offer that you never intended to fulfill. You're dishonest and looking for ways to justify it.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand what conclusion you're drawing about NoVa sales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand what conclusion you're drawing about NoVa sales.

That I should not rely on inspection for normal minor fixes prior to the sale, but only as a way to back out of a deal if a big problem is found.

In the past, both I as the seller and other sellers would do minor fixes in the house based on inspection report.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dcum always bashes smart and demanding buyers. Mostly presumably because they know the horrors their houses hide come sale time. Don’t pay them any mind. Who cares? May the best negotiator win.

No worries, actually, the topic has been helpful.

This deal may not stand because I negotiated it anticipating typical concessions on the inspection, and my agent also expected the same. Now we will know better and negotiate more aggressively upfront.

OP, you negotiated in bad faith because you never intended to pay the purchase price that you offered. You're pulling the bait and switch, not the sellers.

Like other posters stated, you don't understand the terms and what the seller is or isn't obligated to do. You seem to be making up a lot of "rules" that don't have any legal basis. Your inspection contingency allows you to back out of the deal based on the inspection. You can try to negotiate, but it never obligated the sellers to pay for anything. You can still back out, which is all the inspection contingency ever guaranteed you. Stop being petty and vengeful with trying to stick it to the sellers with disclosable defects. They didn't try to conceal the age of the furnace or cracks in the driveway. You risked the cost of the inspection when you made an offer that you never intended to fulfill. You're dishonest and looking for ways to justify it.

This has not been my experience over the last 4 sales, but OK, good to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand what conclusion you're drawing about NoVa sales.

That I should not rely on inspection for normal minor fixes prior to the sale, but only as a way to back out of a deal if a big problem is found.

In the past, both I as the seller and other sellers would do minor fixes in the house based on inspection report.

I think this has been case for at least 20 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dcum always bashes smart and demanding buyers. Mostly presumably because they know the horrors their houses hide come sale time. Don’t pay them any mind. Who cares? May the best negotiator win.

No worries, actually, the topic has been helpful.

This deal may not stand because I negotiated it anticipating typical concessions on the inspection, and my agent also expected the same. Now we will know better and negotiate more aggressively upfront.

OP, you negotiated in bad faith because you never intended to pay the purchase price that you offered. You're pulling the bait and switch, not the sellers.

Like other posters stated, you don't understand the terms and what the seller is or isn't obligated to do. You seem to be making up a lot of "rules" that don't have any legal basis. Your inspection contingency allows you to back out of the deal based on the inspection. You can try to negotiate, but it never obligated the sellers to pay for anything. You can still back out, which is all the inspection contingency ever guaranteed you. Stop being petty and vengeful with trying to stick it to the sellers with disclosable defects. They didn't try to conceal the age of the furnace or cracks in the driveway. You risked the cost of the inspection when you made an offer that you never intended to fulfill. You're dishonest and looking for ways to justify it.

+1. Also, OP's story has changed from things being old/needing updates to being critically dangerous safety issues. They're trying to use the inspection contingency to manipulate and strong-arm on the purchase price, which is poor form and not the purpose of the inspection. I can't imagine what their agent is thinking.

[Anonymous]

When we sold our house in MD last year, we specifically had the realtor tell interested buyers that any inspections would be information only. Buyers could back out after the inspection, but we made it clear from the outset that we would not be making any repairs. Our house was completely remodeled and updated and we didn’t want to nitpick on inspection items. Yes, we did sell it.

Maybe the buyers felt like OP’s list of inspection findings was too long and they didn’t feel like they could come to agreement on that many items. Who knows? I’ve purchased several homes in the past and we always used inspection reports to try to negotiate on the price. I feel like that strategy is becoming less popular now. Anyone else feel that way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When we sold our house in MD last year, we specifically had the realtor tell interested buyers that any inspections would be information only. Buyers could back out after the inspection, but we made it clear from the outset that we would not be making any repairs. Our house was completely remodeled and updated and we didn’t want to nitpick on inspection items. Yes, we did sell it.

Maybe the buyers felt like OP’s list of inspection findings was too long and they didn’t feel like they could come to agreement on that many items. Who knows? I’ve purchased several homes in the past and we always used inspection reports to try to negotiate on the price. I feel like that strategy is becoming less popular now. Anyone else feel that way?

If the seller realtor related that to us, we would have been better informed. I have the same experience as you regarding inspection negotiation.