Should The Seller Reimburse Buyer For The Inspection Costs - Fixer Not Move-in Ready!

[Lorraine Hadden]

My business partner and I made an offer on an out-of-state (OOS) single family property in October 2024. The lender required that the property be tenant occupied/cash flowing. We (the buyers) notified our agent that the property must also be move-in-ready.
We received images of the interior and exterior which showed the property in move-in ready condition/what appeared to be minimal to no deferred maintenance issues, the listing said "property inmove-in condition/turn-key". We made an offer (which was accepted) and ordered a home inspection. Needless to say the 95 page home inspection revealed that the property is in less than move-in-ready conditioned.

We cancelled Escrow and requested our deposit back. My partner also wants reimbursement of the funds paid for the home inspection. The seller's refused to reimburse our LLC the home inspection costs.

Under these conditions, since our purchase contract includes an "inspection contingency," CAN WE GET OUR MONEY BACK FOR THE HOME INSPECTION THAT REVEALED A PROPERTY IS A FIXER WHEN THE LISTING AND PHOTOS SHOWS THE PROPERTY IS IN MOVE-IN CONDITION?

[Russell Brazil]

No

[Caleb Brown]

No. Inspections are done at the buyers expense. Situations like this I would have done a WT before offering. Being OOS you don't want to send blind offers or you'll be out a lot of $$

[Patricia Steiner]

Noooooooo.  It's a cost of vetting a property.  An inspection contingency allows you to walk away with escrow but not recoup expenses.

Best...

[Bruce Lynn]

Quote from @Lorraine Hadden:

My business partner and I made an offer on an out-of-state (OOS) single family property in October 2024. The lender required that the property be tenant occupied/cash flowing. We (the buyers) notified our agent that the property must also be move-in-ready.
We received images of the interior and exterior which showed the property in move-in ready condition/what appeared to be minimal to no deferred maintenance issues, the listing said "property inmove-in condition/turn-key". We made an offer (which was accepted) and ordered a home inspection. Needless to say the 95 page home inspection revealed that the property is in less than move-in-ready conditioned.

We cancelled Escrow and requested our deposit back. My partner also wants reimbursement of the funds paid for the home inspection. The seller's refused to reimburse our LLC the home inspection costs.

Under these conditions, since our purchase contract includes an "inspection contingency," CAN WE GET OUR MONEY BACK FOR THE HOME INSPECTION THAT REVEALED A PROPERTY IS A FIXER WHEN THE LISTING AND PHOTOS SHOWS THE PROPERTY IS IN MOVE-IN CONDITION?

#1. No to getting your inspection money back.
#2. Inspection is almost never required.  Your option to inspect or not.
#3 Your profile says iu are a real estate broker?  Licensed?
#4 Who's definition of move in ready?  I have seen plenty of of people live in homes I would never live in.  
#5. Are you looking at the homes that you make offers on, or having a trusted advisor do so?.
#6 What loan type  requires the home to be occupied at closing?  If it was occupied does that not mean it was move in ready?
#6 Where are you buying and where do you live?  What price range? 
#7 I almost think you are trying to get a perfect property with no work or effort on your part, that is easy to manage and will be hands off passive investment.   Rare that happens.  Of course it does in seminars but rarely in real life.
#8 I would consider your inspection cost a very cheap crash course in buying long distance investment properties.  You just got a super cheap education 
#8 I would seriously consider a bond fund etf vs real estate based on your post.  Real estate is often full of unexpected and expensive potholes and you don't really sound geared up for that.




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[Bruce Woodruff]

Nope. 'Move-in-ready' can mean almost anything. You're only talking about, what, maybe $500? Cost of doing business.

Next time maybe you could have someone do a video walk-through for you.

OOS is risky as heck.....