You are in the market to buy your dream house but every time you find a home you like and put in an offer, you get outbid. Thus is the life of a buyer in 2021. There are too many buyers and not enough homes. Buyers are resorting to desperate measures to secure the home of their dreams.  From writing letters to waving inspections, buyers are doing everything they can to make their offer stand out. I have even heard of a couple who is offering sellers season tickets for a year to one of the local sports teams. That is insane!

Tickets and letters are a stretch but so is waving an inspection. It is a bad idea for a variety of reasons. Waving the inspection benefits the seller but it is setting the buyer up to fail. Especially if the home is over 20 years old.

You need to know how sound a property is structurally. From the inside to the outside of the home, it is imperative that you know as much about the property as possible. Remember, this is the most purchase of your life. You cannot just buy a home without ensuring that there are no physical issues with it.

There is no such thing as a “new” house. Unless the home was built from the ground up, all homes on the market are aged and used. You need to do the inspection to ensure the home you are buying isn’t flawed and needs work. In this era of inflated offers, the last thing you want is to go over asking on a house and then to discover that it needs work. You wouldn’t have put in the offer if you knew that prior. But you didn’t because you waved the inspection.

Of course, there are some ways around that. You can negotiate that you will wave the inspection but the seller has to repair any disclosed issues with the home. Depending on the interest in the home and the number of potential offers, a seller may opt not to do that if they know they will have a multi-offer situation.

Surprisingly, waving an inspection is common in some parts of the country. Unless the lender requires it, you are not obligated to have a home inspection. It is done often for peace of mind by the buyer. Typically, contractors, property managers and realtors wave inspections because they know what to look for and what questions to ask.

Waving an inspection only benefits the seller. It does not benefit the buyer unless they feel secure about the home they are purchasing. Sellers want to close in 30 days or less. Waving the inspection cuts a week out of the transaction process so of course they want you to wave it. Going straight to P&S makes their lives easier.

In the end, you would have to feel really confident about the home you are buying in order to wave the inspection. If you think you are willing to roll the dice, do it. I have stayed away from recommending it to my buyer clients because I cannot justify putting them at risk financially in the future. Buyers already have to go over asking in order to secure a property. Incurring future debt because of repairs being made after they moved in is the last thing they need.