New law on home sales takes effect in Massachusetts

A new real estate law takes effect in Massachusetts on Oct. 15, designed to prevent home sellers from accepting an offer based on a buyer waiving a home inspection. Supporters of the law say it’ll protect buyers from unknowingly buying a money pit, while others say the law isn’t needed because the market is already correcting itself.Lenny Licari has done a lot of home inspections — 24,000 over 32 years in the industry. In that time, he’s seen everything from homes nearly in perfect condition to those needing hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs. So Licari doesn’t understand why any buyer would be willing to waive a home inspection.But that’s exactly what happened in the red-hot real estate market following the pandemic. When the Greater Boston housing market went through the roof, many buyers offered to waive inspections to make their offers more attractive to sellers.”It’s the largest purchase you’ll ever make in your life,” Licari said. “How someone could buy a $1.2 million home and not know anything about it is beyond me.”For some homebuyers, it led to buyer’s remorse after closing the deal, finding damage they didn’t know was there.So now the state is stepping in. Lawmakers included a clause in last year’s multi-billion-dollar housing bill that says all homebuyers in Massachusetts have the right to get a home inspection. If they don’t like what it finds, they can back out of the deal.”I think for the average buyer, it’s a very good idea to do a home inspection,” said Anthony Lamacchia, CEO of Lamacchia Companies, one of the region’s largest real estate brokerages. But he doesn’t think the law was needed.”I wouldn’t say I hate the law, but I don’t think it was necessary,” Lamacchia said. “As inventory has come up, and as it continues to go up, people skipping home inspections and foregoing home inspections decreases. And I think taking that advantage away from a buyer doesn’t make a lot of sense.”Starting October 15, once an offer is accepted by a seller, both parties will have to sign a disclosure form agreeing that the buyer can get a home inspection should they choose to do so. And the standard Massachusetts real estate contract will now include language saying the buyer’s right to conduct a home inspection cannot be waived.It will be up to each buyer to determine how much in repairs would lead them to walk away.Sellers are also not supposed to accept an offer if they know in advance a buyer will waive the inspection.”A buyer can still not do the inspection,” Lamacchia said. “Waiving it on the front end and making it known is the issue.”As rising interest rates and prices slowed the real estate market over the last two years, Lamacchia said many buyers have already slammed the door on skipping inspections, so he believes the market is correcting itself.Licari said the law will make sure it stays that way.”It not only helps buyers, but this helps sellers because three seconds after a seller sells their home, they become a buyer,” Licari said. “And now they’ll have the right to a home inspection.”There are a few exceptions to this law, including if a property is being sold at auction or being transferred to a trust or family member. New construction is also excluded, so long as the builder offers a one-year warranty.The law puts the burden on the seller and their listing agent to make sure they comply with the new rules.

link