Is it time to wave goodbye to home inspections as a negotiation tool?

Boston Globe

a day ago

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In recent years, some home buyers who waived their home inspection contingencies have discovered surprising and sometimes
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purchase inspections for homeowners who waived their right to have their house inspected before they bought and later regretted it.
'We've done post
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purchase inspections where we've found [dangerous] knob and tube wiring and others with underground oil tanks,' he said. 'One of my colleagues inspected a house that was clearly built on a concrete foundation that contained
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Presumably, if those homes had been inspected prior to purchase, an inspector would have flagged them. The buyer could then have withdrawn the offer or negotiated a price that reflected the need for vital, expensive repairs.
A contingent from the
that was
folded into the Massachusetts'
'The
y
inspectors approached me with concerns that home buyers felt pressure to sacrifice their home inspection, and we talked about the liability that someone could incur by not having the home inspection,' Moore said. 'I'm happy that the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities established some regulations that the home inspectors are happy with. This is going to benefit potential homeowners. It will protect their quality of life and their future financial security.'
While home buyer advocates applaud the intention of the law — to level the playing field in what has been a years-long seller's market because of lack of inventory — one concern that came up in every interview for this story was the difficulty to enforce it. A buyer's agent could find a way to communicate that their client will forgo an inspection if their offer is accepted. As long as nothing is in writing, who would know?
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'We've seen our veteran and first-time home buyer clients get shut out of the market for almost a decade because of inspection contingencies. It's a huge problem, so I'm all for this change,' said attorney Scott Kriss of
There are consequences for agents found violating the new law. The regulations read, 'A violation or failure to comply with the provisions of
Agents and brokers found violating Chapter 93A can be liable for triple the cost of the actual damages.
'At least it'll put agents in the mindset,' Kriss said. 'They can't lead with, 'We're only taking offers with no inspections.' And whether that will happen or not, they're going to be in the frame of mind that this is something that they can't do.'
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Rich Rosa, cofounder and co-owner of Haverhill-based
'This doesn't seem like an unreasonable consumer protection, especially when the things that could be wrong with a house could have catastrophic financial consequences, especially for first-time home buyers and for more moderate-income home buyers,' he said. 'If you're buying a $3 million house and there's a $50,000 problem, it's probably not a big deal. But if you're buying a $550,000 house and there's a $30,000 or $40,000 problem, that is a big deal for a lot of people.'
'The truth of the matter is, when we get into frenzied markets where buyers who have made five or six offers and lost out, they do things out of desperation that could be really harmful in the future,' he said. 'They could waive an inspection contingency out of desperation. Then, there could be something really wrong with that house that could cost them an enormous amount of money and heartache.'
Nemetz said if a lawsuit arises from a situation like that, the real estate agents involved are almost always named in the suit. So, a thorough home inspection actually protects agents and sellers, as well as home buyers.
A six-page,
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'These regulations, as currently drafted, present sweeping changes that will fundamentally disrupt the real estate market, and pose serious legal, logistical, and ethical concerns for our members,' the letter reads. 'The compressed implementation timeline, overbroad liability language, and the introduction of inequitable exemptions, to name a few, will not only create immediate and irreparable harm to real estate professionals and consumers alike, but also undermine the very intent of the statute.'
Jim Morrison can be reached at
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