Many agents do not recommend waiving an inspection, according to Steve Medeiros, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and an agent at Keller Williams Realty. “A Realtor’s responsibility is to provide the information and help buyers make the most educated decision as to how they approach a home purchase, and this is something that applies in all market conditions,’’ Medeiros wrote in an e-mail. “Our members can and do recommend that home buyers conduct an inspection, though our clients have a legal right to go against that recommendation and waive the contingency based on their personal risk tolerance.’’

Buyer agents have come up with a few workarounds to make their clients’ offers more competitive and still protect them: having a home inspected before making an offer, hiring an inspector to accompany them to a showing to look for red flags, or having the property inspected after their clients sign the purchase and sale agreement, the more formal contract signed after the initial offer. But, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, there is no guarantee that the seller will allow an inspection once the agreement is signed. If the buyers have the property inspected after they sign the purchase and sale agreement, they have few options. They can’t renegotiate to include the cost of repairs. They could continue with the transaction and repair the defects after they own the house, or they could try to get out of the sale and almost certainly forfeit their deposit. And the buyer’s liability may not end there. “The seller may have additional opportunities to pursue more damages depending on the scope of the contract signed,’’ MAR noted in an e-mail.