He Was Paying Cash. He Almost Skipped the Inspection. I Pushed Back.

David was a product executive relocating from San Jose with a specific brief: waterfront on the Butler Chain, $2M–$2.5M, close as fast as possible. His company was covering part of the relo package and the window was tight. He'd sold his California property for a meaningful gain and was paying cash.

We found the right home quickly. A 4,200 square foot house on Lake Tibet-Butler in Windermere, listed at $2.35M. Good dock, proper seawall, the view he was looking for. We moved fast.

When we got to structuring the offer, David mentioned that he was thinking about waiving the inspection to make it more competitive. "I'm paying cash, the home looks well-maintained, and I want to move quick. Is it really necessary?"

I've had this conversation many times. My answer is always the same: cash doesn't change what's in the walls.

What the inspector found

We kept the inspection. Three days later, our inspector walked the property and found something that wasn't on the seller's disclosure: an addition on the northwest corner of the home — a converted garage that had been turned into a bonus room — had no permit on file with Orange County. The work appeared to have been done sometime in the early 2010s. It was structurally sound but the electrical had been done by someone who was not a licensed electrician, and it didn't meet current code.

The remediation estimate to bring it into compliance: $58,000–$67,000, depending on scope.

David's first reaction was to walk. His second reaction — after we talked through it — was to negotiate.

We went back to the sellers with the inspection report, the permit lookup from Orange County confirming the unpermitted status, and a remediation estimate from a licensed contractor. We asked for a $45,000 price reduction or equivalent closing credit. The sellers accepted the credit after a day of back and forth. David closed at the original price with $45,000 back in hand.

He net-paid $2.305M instead of $2.35M, and he has documentation in hand to address the issue on his timeline.

What happens when cash buyers skip inspections

The legal framing is important: when you skip an inspection and close on a property, you accept it in as-is condition. Whatever is wrong with the house — visible or hidden — is now your problem. The seller's disclosure covers what they knew and chose to disclose. It doesn't cover what they didn't know, and it doesn't cover what an unlicensed contractor did quietly in 2012.

In a multiple-offer situation on a desirable property, waiving inspection is a real competitive tool. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. Sometimes it's the right call — particularly on newer construction, on properties with extensive recent renovation history and permits to match, or in situations where the inspection period can be compressed rather than waived entirely.

But "I'm paying cash" is not by itself a reason to skip inspection. It means you have no lender requiring an inspection as a condition of funding. That's different from not needing one.

The things that an inspection catches — unpermitted work, deferred maintenance the seller didn't disclose, HVAC systems running on borrowed time, signs of moisture intrusion that don't show visually — these are the same things whether you're financing or paying cash. The exposure is actually larger with cash because there's no lender standing between you and a bad decision.

What I recommend in competitive situations

When a client is in a multiple-offer situation and wants to minimize friction on the inspection contingency, I usually suggest one of three approaches.

The first is a compressed inspection period — rather than the standard 10-15 days, we commit to completing and responding within 3-5 days. This gives sellers certainty faster without giving up the right to walk or renegotiate.

The second is a limited inspection scope — we agree to inspect but limit our ability to renegotiate to material defects above a defined dollar threshold. This tells the seller we're not going to nickel-and-dime on small items, while still protecting against the $60K surprises.

The third, in situations with newer construction and clean permit history, is to use a pre-inspection before submitting the offer. We pay for the inspection ourselves, get the information in advance, and submit a clean no-contingency offer with full knowledge of what we're buying.

David didn't know any of these options before we talked. He just knew he wanted to move fast and assumed waiving inspection was the only way to do it.

It isn't. And in his case, the $800 inspection saved him a $60,000 problem — or at least turned it into a $13,000 problem instead.

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