Question:
I am looking at a Listing that says the property “AS IS”. What exactly does that protect the seller from, if anything?
Answer:
The “as is” clause often added to agreements in respect to the sale of real estate has “no meaning”. Now, if you said that it wasn’t “as is”, that would be meaningful.
All property is sold “as is” all the time.
If you want to change that, then you can but you have to add a representation, warranty, term or condition to the contract. Otherwise, you are stuck with “as is”.
If you wish to add the words “as is” to the agreement, that’s OK. You have added nothing. That’s what the contract already said before you added those words. It simply demonstrates that you didn’t really know that, or if you did, you didn’t believe it, and because you are anxious and nervous you like to add stuff, “just to be on the safe side”.
There’s over 1,000 years of history to this effect. They did this before the Norman invasion. Sorry, there’s nothing new here!
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker