What is a Home Inspection Contingency?

Published On: December 15, 2021|Categories: Blog, Buyers, Home Buyers|Tags: Home Inspection Contingency, What is a Home Inspection Contingency|

Real estate agents often build home inspection contingencies into their clients’ contracts. But what are they, and how does this type of contingency affect you?

What is a Home Inspection Contingency?

A home inspection contingency is a condition that real estate agents often include in their clients’ real estate purchase contracts. This condition says that if a home inspector discovers major issues with a home, the prospective buyer can change their mind about the deal and walk away.

Most buyers do hire a home inspector. It’s just smart to do so, because without a professional opinion on a home, buyers can’t really know what they’re getting into.

What Happens if the Home Inspector Finds Major Issues With the Home?

An inspector’s job is to examine all the major components of a home and look for issues that may affect the buyer’s enjoyment of the space, cost the buyer money to fix, or make the home uninhabitable. After an inspection, the inspector turns in a detailed report to the prospective buyer.

Buyers usually use these home inspection reports to negotiate with sellers. Whether the issues on the report are minor or major, buyers can ask sellers to lower the price, repair the issues, or offer them a credit so they can repair the issues themselves.

If an inspection report shows major issues that a buyer considers to be deal Breakers, the buyer can walk away from the transaction without penalty.

What Happens to a Buyer’s Earnest Money Deposit?

If the buyer’s real estate agent has built a home inspection contingency into the real estate purchase contract, the buyer can walk away with their earnest money deposit. In this case, the seller does not get to keep the earnest money.

$785,000

410 Riverside Drive Jasper, Indiana

7 Beds 6 Baths 5,132 SqFt 1.13 Acres

Listing courtesy of Brenda Welsh from SELL4FREE-WELSH REALTY CORPORATION.

$624,000

39 Hannah Lane Jasper, Indiana

4 Beds 4 Baths 4,834 SqFt 1.65 Acres

Listing courtesy of Nathan Hanselman from SELL4FREE-WELSH REALTY CORPORATION.

$509,700

3289 St. Charles Street Jasper, Indiana

4 Beds 4 Baths 3,906 SqFt 0.595 Acres

Listing courtesy of Brenda Welsh from SELL4FREE-WELSH REALTY CORPORATION.

$425,000

1376 N Hayland Drive Jasper, Indiana

3 Beds 3 Baths 2,500 SqFt 0.85 Acres

Listing courtesy of LarryCarpenter III from Carpenter Realty LLC.

$349,900

1749 W 1st Street Jasper, Indiana

4 Beds 3 Baths 2,011 SqFt 0.35 Acres

Listing courtesy of Gary Schnell from SELL4FREE-WELSH REALTY CORPORATION.

$349,700

464 Kluemper Road Jasper, Indiana

3 Beds 2 Baths 1,851 SqFt

Listing courtesy of Brenda Welsh from SELL4FREE-WELSH REALTY CORPORATION.

$339,900

394 Saint Charles Street Jasper, Indiana

3 Beds 4 Baths 2,806 SqFt 0.3 Acres

Listing courtesy of Gary Schnell from SELL4FREE-WELSH REALTY CORPORATION.

$294,900

4114 Lee Drive Jasper, Indiana

4 Beds 3 Baths 2,588 SqFt 0.26 Acres

Listing courtesy of SteveLukemeyer from F.C. TUCKER EMGE.

$289,700

4229 New Birch Drive Jasper, Indiana

3 Beds 2 Baths 1,429 SqFt 0.24 Acres

Listing courtesy of Brenda Welsh from SELL4FREE-WELSH REALTY CORPORATION.

$279,700

813 Dorbett Street Jasper, Indiana

2 Beds 2 Baths 1,331 SqFt 0.3 Acres

Listing courtesy of Brenda Welsh from SELL4FREE-WELSH REALTY CORPORATION.

Are You Thinking of Buying a Home in Dubois County?

Use our site to search homes for sale in Jasper, Dubois, Spencer, Martin and Davis counties, as well as all the surrounding communities. Unlike the “big name” sites out there, at Sell 4 Free Welsh Realty, our site is directly connected to our local MLS. We update it with new homes every hour.

Sign up for new listing alerts so you can stay on top of the newest homes for sale – and get price change alerts so you can stay ahead of other buyers and beat them to the hottest deals!