Waiving the Home Inspection

With the increase in buyer activity and lack of inventory in housing stock, more and more buyers are getting creative with their offers to purchase. In many cases this includes higher than list offers, appraisal gap coverage, no seller concessions, and waiving an inspection contingency.

This may be the most expensive thing many buyers ever buy and they often make a huge life decision during a 45 minute tour of the property and now they are even waiving a professional home inspection to find out if the home has any defects.

Here are some helpful tricks if you do want to waive your home inspection contingency on the purchase agreement:

1. Hire a home inspector to tour the property with you and your Realtor. In most cases sellers don’t mind this.

2. If you are comfortable, waive the contingency, but still get a home inspection. In Minnesota, this is an option on the standard MNR purchase agreement form.

3. Bring professionals with you. You may have to pay for this, but perhaps have a roofer, plumber, etc come with you during your initial tour.

Home inspections are an important part of the home buying process. While we understand the need to waive them, it is important to be creative to ensure you get the answers you need.