If a home seller says "home is sold as is" is that a good thing? (Phoenix: days on market, for sale)

[James Brown]

what are your thoughts on this?

I think its great to protect the seller, but i think that become a red flag to the buyer.

[PhoenixRT]

I dont think its a red flag in most of the homes today for sale in phoenix. Just like days on market.....it use to be an indicator something might be wrong but now homes for sale for 200+ days are a dime a dozen (they seem to just be priced too high to sell now and thats why they sit). Almost every foreclosure is as is and there are so many it doesnt really matter. I would think a REAL seller (not a bank foreclosure) very silly to say "as is", because there is so much on the market that if you wont fix anything from my inspection then i can probably go to your neighbors with homes for sale and find someone who WILL fix things. It's different when you get the same model 40K less from a bank foreclosure vs paying more to someone who still lives there and says they refuse to fix anything.

[santos]

I thought "as is" basically meant there was no disclosure information (property history), i.e., the home owner is deceased.

[sablebaby]

As is means they do not want to do ANY fixing when things come up on the inspection report which there will be. I don't like as is properties as you don't know if there's anything major to fix until you pay $300 for an inspection, although in this market you can have them pay for it (hopefully, that is).

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by James Brown

what are your thoughts on this?

I think its great to protect the seller, but i think that become a red flag to the buyer.

To me it means I won't touch it with a 10-foot pole , but that's just me.

[AzDreamer]

Arizona is one of the states where sellers are required to complete a disclosure form listing known defects. I don't think there is a way around this.

A seller can market a property "As Is", but if they know of any defects they still have to disclose them. When the seller is an heir or a bank (repo) the disclosure is minimal.

[wit-nit]

As-Is Seller Only Liable to Buyer for Fraudulent Activities
May 17th, 2007 · Comments Welcome
by Phoenix attorney Christopher A. Combs, partner with Combs Law Group, P.C.

Question:
At a foreclosure sale my wife and I purchased a home in the town of Maricopa. The purchase agreement with the foreclosing mortgage lender provided that the home was being sold as-is. After we moved into the home, we learned that the home had been treated for termites by the previous owner of the home. No one disclosed this prior termite treatment to us. If we would have known of the prior termite treatment we would not have purchased the home without a satisfactory termite inspection. Does the foreclosing mortgage lender have any liability to us?

Answer:
Probably not. In the sale of a home as-is, the seller only has liability if the seller knew of a material defect in the home and fraudulently concealed this material defect from the buyer. This principle is not limited to homes or real property, for example, if a used car dealer knows that a used car sold as-is has a defective carburetor, the used car dealer is liable to the buyer if the carburetor breaks down. In your situation the foreclosing mortgage lender has no liability to you unless you have some evidence that the foreclosing mortgage lender knew of the termite problem.

[AlleyTD]

AS-IS means that the seller does not want to pay to fix anything.

We just sold our home AS-IS ... It needed some work (nothing major) and we did not have the time or the money to fix it. We had to relocate our family in 3-weeks due to a job transfer. We disclosed everything, so the buyer was aware of things (like a cracked sprinkler head in the backyard) ... WE PRICE THE HOUSE TO SELL ... we priced it 50K lower than anything else in our neighborhood.

It was not a dump in anyway, we just need to sell it fast and we did. Don't be so quick to judge and AS-IS full of problems ... our buyer got a great deal on our house and she is a happy camper. By purchasing our house AS-IS she can put 10K or so into it, buying new carpet or painting ... she will already have 30K in equity.

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by AzDreamer

Arizona is one of the states where sellers are required to complete a disclosure form listing known defects. .

I'm sorry but, the above is not correct. There is no statutory requirement to do so. Don't misunderstand, a property owner has an affirmative obligation to disclose MATERIAL defects but, there is not form requirement

[GirlinAZ]

Originally Posted by James Brown

what are your thoughts on this?

I think its great to protect the seller, but i think that become a red flag to the buyer.

This means (likely) that the home is either in foreclosure, already owned by the bank or has issues they do not want to fix. It is not a good thing.