Or . . . Maybe They Already Did(??)*
How unusual is it for the Buyer to skip a home inspection?
After a decade selling homes, I was just involved with my first deal — as a listing agent representing the Seller — where the Buyer waived the Inspection Addendum.
For a home that was not in multiple offers.
Extenuating Circumstances
That’s not the advice I would give my Buyers, but in this case there were extenuating circumstances that made such a decision more rational.
Such as: the Buyer did multiple showings, including at least one with their contractor(s) present*; the home was marketed — and priced — as needing updating (hence the contractors); the Buyer is sophisticated, and has experience updating other homes; the Buyer and Seller know each other socially, and the Buyer was already familiar with the home; and the home had already passed the local municipality’s point-of-sale inspection (which required, amongst other things, that the owner install a new furnace).
Unless all of those factors apply — and arguably even when they do — I don’t recommend that Buyers skip the inspection.
As a listing agent representing Sellers, however, that’s not my call.
Combined Showing/Buyer’s Inspection*
Buyers can certainly “use” a showing to have a contractor take a look at something — the convention is for Sellers to be out of the home, so they wouldn’t necessarily know.
However, at least in Minnesota, a standard Buyer showing is for one hour, whereas a thorough home inspection can take anywhere from two and one-half to four hours.
So, “squeezing” a home inspection into a showing is tight.
Of course, when the home is a vacant, bank-owned foreclosure . . . no such limitation exists (practically speaking).