Why Colorado Buyers Never Waive the Home Inspection

A Colorado buyer never waives the home inspection because the Colorado contract already gives the buyer an inspection objection deadline, an inspection resolution deadline and an inspection termination right with the earnest money returned. Waiving the inspection hands those rights back to the seller in exchange for nothing the buyer receives in writing. A general inspection on a 2,000 square foot Front Range home costs $400 to $700; the repairs it finds cost $2,000 to $30,000.

This guide covers the three inspection dates in the Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell, what a general inspection covers and what it does not, what each add-on costs on the Front Range, what inspectors find most in Denver metro homes, and how the findings turn into seller credits or repairs before closing. The Kenna Real Estate Group, Keller Williams DTC, orders the inspection on every purchase and negotiates the results on every one.

The three inspection dates in the Colorado contract

The Colorado Real Estate Commission's Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate (Residential) has three dated lines for inspection:

• Inspection Objection Deadline. The last day the buyer sends the seller a written list of the items the buyer wants repaired, credited or reduced from the price. The Kenna Real Estate Group writes 7 to 10 days after the contract date on most Denver metro purchases, enough time for a general inspection, a sewer scope, a 48-hour radon test and a specialist visit.
• Inspection Resolution Deadline. The last day the buyer and seller sign a written agreement on the objection, 2 to 3 days after the objection deadline. If they do not sign one by this date, the contract terminates on its own and the earnest money returns to the buyer.
• Inspection Termination Deadline. The last day the buyer terminates outright over the inspection, for any reason, in writing, with the earnest money returned.

The buyer who waives the inspection deletes all three. The buyer who keeps a short 5-day window keeps all three and still writes a competitive offer. The full sequence of dates is on the what happens after your offer is accepted page.

What a general inspection covers in Colorado

A general inspection is a visual, non-invasive review of the home's systems on the day of the visit. It takes 3 to 4 hours on a 2,000 square foot home and produces a written report with photos, in most cases the same night. It covers:

• Roof and attic: shingle condition, flashing, vents, insulation depth, ventilation, signs of leaks.
• Structure: visible foundation walls, cracks, floor slope, basement and crawlspace moisture.
• Electrical: panel brand and amperage with the cover removed, wiring type, GFCI and AFCI protection, grounding.
• Plumbing: supply pipe material, water heater age, visible drains, water pressure, fixtures, signs of leaks.
• Heating and cooling: furnace and air conditioner operation and age, filter, flue, thermostat.
• Exterior and grading: siding, windows, decks, driveway, slope of the soil toward or away from the foundation, downspouts, sprinkler backflow device.
• Interior: windows, doors, floors, walls, ceilings, appliances that convey, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

Colorado has no state license for home inspectors. The buyer checks the inspector's training, professional association membership, sample report and insurance. Read how to find a good home inspector before buying a Denver home.

What a general inspection does not cover

The general inspector reports what is visible without opening walls, digging or running lab tests. Five Colorado items need their own specialist and their own line in the budget:

Mold found in a home is remediated by a professional mold removal company before closing, with the cause of the moisture fixed first; a seller who paints over it has fixed nothing. Asbestos abatement in Colorado runs under Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment rules and is done by a certified contractor, not the buyer. Wells and septic systems outside city limits get their own county inspection at transfer. The radon in Denver homes testing and mitigation guide and the roof report for Colorado buyers cover the two add-ons that come up most.

What Front Range inspections find most

The same findings show up on Denver metro inspection reports year after year. Each one is invisible from the listing photos, which is the whole case for the inspection:

• Federal Pacific and Zinsco electrical panels in homes built from the 1960s to the early 1980s. Replacement costs $2,500 to $5,000, and some insurers refuse the home until it is done.
• Foundation cracks and floor heave from expansive soil. Hairline cracks are cosmetic; a crack wider than a quarter inch, a door that no longer latches or a sloping slab sends the file to a structural engineer.
• Failed sewer lines. Root intrusion and offset joints in the line to the street. The scope finds it; the general inspection does not.
• Hail-damaged roofs with granule loss and bruised shingles that look fine from the driveway.
• Radon above 4.0 pCi/L in roughly half the homes tested on the Front Range.
• Water in the basement from negative grading, short downspouts and window wells with no covers.
• Furnaces past 20 years working harder at 5,280 feet, and water heaters past 12 years.

The full list, with what each one costs to fix, is in the inspection red flags that kill Denver home sales. For the problems no inspection sees, read how to stay away from buying a house with problems you can't see.

How the findings become credits or repairs

The inspection report is not the objection. The buyer's agent turns the report into an Inspection Objection that lists the items, and the seller answers with one of four outcomes by the resolution deadline:

1. The seller repairs the items before closing using a licensed contractor and delivers receipts and, where required, permits. Best for roofs, sewer lines and electrical panels, because the work is done and warranted before the buyer owns it.
2. The seller credits the buyer at closing. The buyer hires their own contractor after closing. Lenders cap seller credits at 3% to 6% of the price on most loan programs, so a $20,000 sewer and roof credit on a $500,000 purchase needs the lender's sign-off first.
3. The seller reduces the price. Lowers the loan and the payment, but the buyer still needs the cash for the repair.
4. The buyer terminates. Written notice before the termination deadline, earnest money returned, no penalty.

The Kenna Real Estate Group asks for the items that cost more than $1,000 to fix and the items that affect insurance or the loan, and leaves the $50 items alone. That is how objections get accepted. Sellers who read why a failed inspection does not have to stop a home sale know the same list from the other side. The credit or repair is written into the closing figures explained on the closing costs for Colorado home buyers page.

How to keep the inspection in a Denver bidding war

When five offers land on a Highlands Ranch listing, the seller reads the inspection terms. Three ways to stay competitive without waiving:

• Shorten the window. A 5-day objection deadline with the inspector booked before the offer is accepted.
• Pre-offer inspection. The buyer pays for a 1-hour walk-through with an inspector before writing the offer, then writes a shorter or cleaner inspection term. Read the pre-offer checks Denver metro buyers do before the official inspection.
• Objection threshold. The offer states the buyer will only object to items costing more than a set amount, such as $2,000. The seller sees a buyer who will not nickel-and-dime, and the buyer keeps the right to walk over a bad sewer line.

The loan side of the inspection

FHA and VA appraisers flag peeling paint, missing handrails, a roof with less than 2 years of life and non-working systems, and the loan does not fund until they are fixed. A conventional appraisal flags less. Knowing the loan type before the inspection tells the buyer which findings the seller must fix and which are negotiable. The Kenna Real Estate Group works with Mike Oswald, VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate, NMLS 261003, Equal Housing Lender, who tells buyers before the offer which repairs the loan requires. You are free to use any lender. Start with the Colorado home financing guide and the government-backed home buying guide.

Where to go next

• The Colorado home buyer's guide
• How the Kenna Real Estate Group helps buyers
• Denver home buyer verification checklist
• Hidden water damage warning signs Colorado buyers check before closing
• Meet the Kenna Real Estate Group agents
• Search every home for sale in Colorado

Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group

The Kenna Real Estate Group, Keller Williams DTC, books the general inspection, the sewer scope and the radon test inside the objection window on every Denver metro and Front Range purchase, brings in the engineer or the roofer when the report calls for one, and writes the objection that gets the big items fixed or credited. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. Then search every home for sale in Colorado.