I saw a listing that says “as is.” What does this mean?

An “as is” real estate sale means the seller will not pay for any property repairs but must disclose all known defects.  Many sellers of older homes sell “as is” because they don’t want to be inconvenienced with repairs realizing the buyers may want to remodel to their own preferences.

Often the sellers can not afford to make repairs.  This is common when the contract is a short sale.  Or in a bank owned situation, they may not have the where with all.

“as is” Does not mean you forgo getting an inspection.  As Buyers Agent REALTORS® in St. Louis, we encourage everyone to rely on a professional inspection.

“as is” usually means that the owner of the property has an older house or a foreclosed on house or they are a person that doesn’t want to do any repairs so they adjust the price to reflect that and they say it’s an as-is sale which means that they are not going to do any repairs regardless of what the results of the inspection are.

It does not mean as a buyer you should forego inspections because you always want to protect yourself. It means that you have to take into account that the seller is not going to agree to do any of those repairs necessary therefor you are either going to want to ask for a credit for the cost of the repairs or negotiate that in the sales price.

Have more real estate questions?

LET’S TALK

Posted in: Q&A

Back to: Real Estate Questions