Can Buyers Waive the Inspection Upfront? Some States Might Jump on the “No” Train

A few U.S. states discourage sellers and agents from expecting homebuyers to waive their right to a home inspection. This is a consumer-protection issue for states. And that’s not all. The inspection companies don’t like to be left out of deals. And they are lobbying for what they call buyers’ Right to Home Inspection (RTHI) regulations.

Massachusetts just jumped on the home buyer’s inspection rights train. The new law took many months to iron out — to allow time for drafting the regs, collecting feedback, and preparing for the new process. But now, Massachusetts home sellers won’t be able to suggest that the buyer should waive the inspection. And buyers can’t promise to waive it up front.

So here comes New York, floating a similar bill. Is your state next?

As More Buyers Waive the Contingency, Inspection Services Call Foul

When you go to sell a home, it’s to your advantage if the buyer goes through with the deal without any back-and-forth over the home inspection results. In short, sellers like home inspection waivers.

Real estate agents know this. A growing number of buyers’ agents, especially in hot markets, are OK with waiving the inspection to win over home sellers.

In turn, a growing number of states are calling foul on that option. These states are concerned about the rise of pressure on buyers, and insist that the home inspection is a buyer’s right.

For most home buyers, according to Ross Hettervig of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), it’s still common in most markets to include a home inspection contingency in the contract, if only for the buyer’s peace of mind.

Giving the Buyer a Stronger Foundation: Massachusetts

Massachusetts changed its standard purchase contract. There’s a new clause declaring the buyer’s right to a home inspection under the law. Sellers in Massachusetts fill out forms that say the buyers have a right to an inspection. They agree that the buyer gets “a reasonable period of time” to reconsider the deal based on the inspection report. Sellers may not take offers from buyers they know upfront will waive the inspection.

The parties will still be free to negotiate later, though. They just can’t hinge the deal on the seller accepting an offer based on a waiver. 

There’s a lot at stake in Massachusetts, where some builders’ homes have turned out to have foundation cracks because of a mineral called pyrrhotite. But this isn’t the only reason to get a full inspection. There are many other kinds of defects a buyer would want to know about.

Agents themselves might feel pressure to support a waiver of the inspection, though, to get a client to the closing table. And so it happens that waiving an inspection has become a tactic to save the seller trouble and get to closing promptly. Agents might not feel comfortable with this, yet do it anyway at times and places where their peers tell clients not to insist on a home inspection if they want to strike a deal.  

Now, New York Has a Proposed Right to Inspection Bill  

A few other states are now considering laws designed to prohibit what they see as improper pressure on homebuyers to waive inspections. New York is one of them. New York’s proposed law would bar home sellers and buyers from “agreeing to sell or offer to buy properties contingent upon the waiver, limitation, or restriction of a buyer’s right to choose to obtain a home inspection.”

Generally, New York’s real estate agents aren’t keen on the bill. They feel it’s unnecessary. Hot markets have cooled, they say. No one is being pressed to hurry past an inspection.

But according to NAR itself, in September 2025, a fifth of the buyers working with NAR agents did waive the inspection contingency. That’s right. Reviewing their own agent data in September, NAR reported 21% of buyers waiving the inspection contingencies in their contracts, up from a 17% level in late 2024. And the number is growing.

Home inspection advocate Isaac Peck says nearly a fourth of all U.S. buyers waived their home inspections in 2024.  The National Association of Home Builders cites similar numbers, and believes that they equate to about $30K less in annual income per U.S. inspection firm. For small inspection businesses, the effects on business are serious.

But the New York State Association of REALTORS® put out a memo against the bill. The group decries the potential harm to “middle-class homebuyers with less capital and liquidity” who might use the waiver as a bargaining chip.

But let’s be realistic. Leaving faulty wiring and plumbing in a home for the buyer, or other undetected problems, will tend to hurt buyers of modest means the most. They can’t afford surprise repairs.

Further, waiving the inspection is like pressing a bulge in a carpet from one spot to another. Home insurers do send inspectors out to homes. And homes become uninsurable if the owners can’t get the work done. That puts a buyer at risk of losing their house, because the mortgage lender won’t allow the home to go uninsured.  

Here again, no one is trying to force a home inspection on anyone. The idea is to relieve the buyer from pressure not to get one. 

At the End of the Day…

Bars against inspection waivers are good for home inspectors. But maybe they’re good for all of us. Traditionally, home inspections have always played a key role in deed transfers between sellers and buyers. Most sellers understand that they too will get the protection of the contingency when they buy their next home themselves.

New York’s branch of NAR insists that sellers and buyers ought to be able to negotiate freely, regardless of the trends and conditions out there. Yet the Massachusetts law, which had NAR input, could portend a growing trend. If New York gets on board, the trend line will thicken. And it’s likely that buyers, particularly those unfamiliar with the home buying process, will be better off for it. After all, uplifting transparency and due diligence isn’t a bad thing.

California and Illinois are two more states with bills introduced addressing the buyer’s right to a home inspection. Inspectors’ groups have been setting up conferences in Connecticut, in Wisconsin, and in New Jersey. Watch this space, friends.