Multiple Offer Photo Finish
If you’re a home seller trying to decide among four virtually identical offers for your home (Yay!!), which one do you choose?
At least for one recent Twin Cities seller, the tiebreaker was the Inspection Contingency.
Specifically, one of the four offers included a $500 cap on any inspection requests.
Painless Buyer Concession
While simply waiving the Inspection would have made the offer even stronger (at least from the Seller’s perspective), that would have left the Buyer with no recourse if, post-closing, they discovered a material defect (or several) that the Seller was legitimately unaware of.
The virtue of a $500 cap is that the Buyer can still avail themselves of an inspection, but can walk if it turns up major issues.
Of course, if the inspection is routine, the Buyer’s fine with the $500 cap.
P.S.: In reality, notwithstanding any limiting language in the Inspection Contingency, any major defects discovered during the inspection are very likely to be negotiated and resolved — assuming the Buyer still wants the home.
The typical resolution: a price discount.
That’s because if the deal goes away, the Seller will be obliged to update their Disclosure to tell all other prospective Buyers about the issue(s).
See also, “The Difference Between a Home Inspection Addendum and a Repair List“; “Handling Issues That Come Up on Inspection: Two Options“; and “Home Buyer’s Inspection: When to Bring In Reinforcements.”
