For Home Sellers

Maybe you are looking to buy a house or you want to sell one. You have heard of buying or selling “as is”. It just means that what you see is what you get and that the seller will not make nay repairs or changes.

It doesn’t mean that the buyer can not have an inspection. A complete home inspection is necessary and part of the home buying process. In the case of “as-is”, it is even more important.

Buyers have the right to know what they are purchasing as-is. Sellers will not make repairs but if the purchase is inspection contingent the buyer can cancel the purchase.

If buyer inspections are not allowed my advice is to pass on the house because it may need expensive repairs. Government entities and corporations sometimes sell houses and will not turn the utilities on so that the house can be inspected.

Selling “as-is” does not give the owner permission to deliberately hide property defects, nor does it protect them from lawsuits.

Corporations and government entities that sell real property do not always fully understand what “as-is” means and may prohibit inspections or hide material facts.

Several municipalities including St. Paul require truth in housing or tie of sale inspections. Selling as is does not mean that the house is exempt from such inspections.

In a general way, all houses are sold as-is. If the buyer has an inspection and the homeowner makes a repair the house is then sold “as-is”.

One of the most common questions home buyers ask is how much should they offer when they find a house they want to buy.  Sometimes they ask if on average

local home sellers are getting more or less than the asking price.

Right now on average home sellers are getting about 4% more than the asking price of their St. Paul home. However, I strongly advise against using averages. If a house is already overpriced it doesn’t make sense to offer that much more than the asking price.

So far home buyers are willing to pay over the asking price and over the value of the house. Some are putting in extra cash when the appraisal is low and the loan amount isn’t enough to cover the price.

However, knowing that on average home sellers in St. Paul are getting more than the asking price does give buyer’s a feel for the housing marketing.

First-time home buyers looking for smaller homes in St. Paul are often competing with older homebuyers who want to downsize. This has been the trend for the past few years.

The younger buyer sometimes has an advantage because they don’t have a house to sell and some older buyers have an advantage because they can pay cash.

The number of cash purchases is up. In 2021 about 30% of home purchases were cash which is up from 2020 when it was less than 25%.

There are also investors who can pay cash and the number of houses that are being bought by investors is rising.

The only upside to the situation is that when people downsize they often have a house to sell.

In the next 8 to 10 years we should start to see a shift in the housing market as more baby boomers reach their 80s and in twenty years there may even be more houses for sale than there are buyers.

The best way for buyers to navigate the housing market this spring is to be flexible and ready to act quickly. Take advantage of holiday weekends and stay in town and make an offer. Houses often go on the market on Thursday with offers due by Sunday.