If the house has been on the market for 2 weeks, you do not have to eliminated inspections. That window has passed. If there are still multiple offers, your parents may lose to a no-inspection offer, but after 2 weeks, the need for waiving contingencies is passed. Waiving contingencies is what you put when you are trying to beat other competing offers. Those offers generally come in the first week. If it makes it to 2 weeks, there is going to be less active competition.

Pre-offer inspections are something I'm comfortable with. If you're not comfortable, you don't make an offer. If you are comfortable, you make an offer, and you base the offer on what you learned in the inspection. It doesn't eliminate the inspection, it eliminates the back and forth (based on inspection...you might still negotiate overall price).

My parents are interested in putting offer on a house. The real estate agent said that people often waive inspections or do pre-offer inspection, vs negotiation or having a contingency to back out if something is really wrong.

I know a year ago when interest rates were lower in 2022 and before, it was bonkers like this, but is this still the case? Even on a house that has been on the market for two weeks?

My parents have owned a home out of state for 40 years, so coming from a very different real estate market than the last time they bought!