Is As-Is as As-Was was?

Dear Pat,
Our neighbors, good friends for many years, sold their house last year. They had no apparent problems in their basement, and never mentioned any water damage to us. Yet now we hear the buyers want to sue because water has seeped into a corner. This seems like a frivolous and greedy attempt to avoid normal house repair. We are planning to sell next year, and don't want this to happen to us. Can't we sell the house "as-is?" ---- Old Fashioned

Dear Old Fashioned,
I read into your letter a certain wistful longing for the "as-was" days, the days when "personal responsibility" was more a value than a self-improvement phrase; when your word, and your handshake, counted for something; when you could close the sale of your property with six forms instead of thirty. (OK, maybe it's just my own wistful longing!) But I fear an "as-is" offering nowadays will only cloud your honorable intentions and create an atmosphere of suspicion, resulting in ever-so-picky inspections and a possibly lower price.

An "as-is" sale typically occurs when the seller has not lived in the house, and thus cannot be expected to warrant its condition. Common examples: a property is sold by heirs, or by a third-party relocation company. In these cases buyers need to rely on their own powers of discovery, as well as a good professional home inspection. The inspection contingency allows the buyer to make objection to defects, and to cancel the purchase agreement or renegotiate, if the seller is willing.

"As-is" purchase agreements are no different than seller-warranted agreements in this respect. After the inspection contingency is removed (often repairs are agreed upon, or the contract renegotiated) the property is sold in "as-is" condition, meaning the buyer has no recourse after closing. In my experience, the seller usually ends up paying for the privilege of an "as-is" sale.

So my advice to you, Old Fashioned, is to go forth bravely into a seller-warranted sale and take your chances, just like the rest of us. The odds are good, by the way, if you answer the seller's disclosure honestly and thoroughly: in nearly a thousand transactions, I'm aware of only four instances when buyers sought compensation after the sale. Truth is, most people still live by "as-was" values.