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Real Estate Attorny and Home Inspector are a complete waste of money, if the condition of the property and the contract are all perfect. But, if anything is not right, they are worth every penny you spent to protect your investment. i know many people who poo-pooed using attorneys and inspectors and they saved that money, i also know some some who had something not right and they wished now they used those people. Inspectors and attorneys are not there to help you when everything is right, they are there because things are not always right.
Right, but the OP said it was being sold by a flipper.
"I know the home was bought a year ago by a flipper."
I should learn to read better. No way would I buy a flipper home without an inspection and more importantly 90% of the time I would not buy a flipper home period.
Usually a flipper home has been updated as cheaply as possible, not always but usually.
Why can't you just counter with a clause that you will keep the home inspection contingency but you won't ask for repairs? I just did that for a contract. The sellers don't want to be nit picked over repairs. My buyers don't want to nit pick so we just reassured the sellers with a clause that they wouldn't ask for repairs...BUT they keep the right to walk away with their earnest money if they don't like what they see. Inspection went just as we planned (issues with the house are pretty obvious), and are moving with no repairs done. Just like we agreed.
And no...I'm not aware of any state where it is standard for a seller to strike the clause. The seller has a concern. Your agent needs to deal with their concern and solve the problem in a way that protects you.
As for folks that insist on using an attorney...each state is different. Oregon has a 9 page attorney written contract that is great. I don't know we have access to a couple hundred pages of attorney written contracts for our use. The real estate attorneys in town will tell you that hiring them to look it over for a regular real estate transaction is a waste of money because it is a well thought out and relatively fair contract. If something goes wrong, then we bring in the attorneys, or agents like myself have a real estate attorney on retainer and I just call him directly as part of my service to my clients. If I need clause help, or something weird is happening I'll talk with him. I chat with my attorney 3-4 times a year over something that is happening in a transaction.
As an alternative, consider requesting a pre-offer home inspection. This way you know going into the offer what if any issues will require mitigation and factor this into the price you offer.
If the inspection shows unacceptable issues, you are of course free to walk away or use them to negotiate price and terms. If it does not work out, you are out of pocket the cost of the inspection, no different than if the contract had the customary home inspection clause and you decided to walk.
A buyer willing to pay for a home inspection before an offer is a serious buyer.
It's not something you have to agree to - it's part of the seller's counter offer. Usually when we think of a counter offer we think only about the sales price. In fact the seller can make a counter offer that changes terms (just like what you are talking about).
For your deal - I'd have reservations about taking the entire inspection clause out. Your idea is not bad, (making the $1,000 + repairs an out), another is to make the inspection deadline VERY quick (that way the seller knows if the deal is moving forward or not & has not had the property off market for very long).
I am a licensed home inspector in Illinois. For someone to back out of a contracted based on the small maintenace or repair items that can be taken care of easliy for a few dollars is not unrealistic. I always suggest to my clients that they will need to budget for the small items that need maintenace or repiar when they move in and that they should coontinue to budget for future repairs or maintenance. If there is a major concern that will cost $1,500 or more then they need to get a qaualified contractor in that field of expertise to evalate and make a proposalto repair or replace. Common sense and logic need to come into the process inspection process when relating it to the over all cost of the house.
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