Darci Marchese, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Buying or selling a home? Better get used to the concept of “as-is.”
The Greater Capital Area Association of REALTORS (GCAAR) and the Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS (NVAR) issued a revised contract for many home sales in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, starting Jan. 1, 2012.
UPDATE: WTOP has learned that not all homes in Maryland will be sold as-is from now on.
The change only impacts homes sold in locations which use the regional contract: Northern Virginia, D.C. and much of Montgomery County.
However, the rest of Maryland falls under the Maryland Association of REALTORS (MAR) contract, so counties such as Prince George’s or Charles won’t have to abide by the new rules which say homes are sold as-is.
It will be business as usual, meaning sellers will have the obligation to ensure that everything mechanical and electrical in the home is in proper working order.
It means assumptions a buyer once could make no longer exist.
Up until now, a buyer could assume that the heating, cooling, washer/dryer and anything mechanical or electrical was working in the home properly when it’s time to move into it.
Not anymore.
“The entire house is sold as-is,” explains Eldad Moraru of Long and Foster. “The seller has no obligation to ensure that anything is in normal working condition. Now it’s all negotiable.”
What does that mean?
Moraru says it puts a greater pressure on the buyer to determine what they want fixed in the home prior to a sales contract. And Moraru says more importantly than ever, buyers “need a good home inspector.”
Buyers will use the home inspection to determine what they want addressed or fixed in the home. Sellers then have the option of agreeing to the fixes, negotiating some of the fixes or offering money to the buyer to make the improvements themselves.
Does the change put the ball in the court of the seller?
“One would argue it benefits the seller — I’m not convinced,” says Moraru. He thinks the change will make things clearer and more transparent for both buyers and sellers of homes.
There will be less surprises. Or at least that’s the goal.
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(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
