As a seller, your rights during a home inspection come from the purchase agreement, and they are more substantial than most sellers realize. You control when the inspection happens, you set limits on what the inspector can physically do to your property, you are not required to be absent, and you decide how to respond to the repair requests that follow. Those rights sit alongside obligations you have to provide genuine access and disclose what you know, and the balance between the two is what shapes every inspection negotiation.
Setting the Time and Knowing Who Is Coming
The buyer has permission to inspect, not an open invitation. The standard expectation is a mutually agreeable date and time, which means the inspector cannot simply show up at the door. Scheduling on your terms lets you prepare the home and keep the disruption to your routine manageable.
You can also ask for a list of everyone who will be on the property. Buyers sometimes bring family members, contractors, or more than one agent along with the inspector, and knowing in advance who will be walking through is a reasonable request that most buyers accommodate without pushback.
Whether to Stay for the Inspection
You have every right to be present. Most experienced listing agents still advise sellers to leave, and the reasoning is practical. Inspectors feel watched when sellers hover, buyers feel unwelcome, and offhand answers to an inspector’s questions about past repairs or known quirks can turn into disclosure problems later. The inspection usually runs two to four hours. Handing over access and letting your agent manage the logistics is the cleanest approach.
If you do stay, keep your distance. Resist the urge to explain or defend the home. Whatever you say can show up in the negotiation that follows.
Limits on What the Inspector Can Do
A standard home inspection is a non-invasive, visual examination of accessible areas. The two major industry standards in the United States, published by the American Society of Home Inspectors and the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, both define the inspection this way and limit what inspectors can do on your property.1American Society of Home Inspectors. ASHI Home Inspection Standard of Practice
Under those standards, the inspector cannot open walls, dismantle appliances, or uncover components that are not readily accessible. Furniture, rugs, stored boxes, and window coverings stay where they are; the inspector examines only what is visible without moving your belongings. Destructive testing such as drilling into walls or cutting into surfaces is off the table. The inspector is also not required to enter areas they consider dangerous, walk on questionable roof surfaces, or interact with aggressive pets.2International Association of Certified Home Inspectors. Home Inspection Standards of Practice
Anything beyond this visual scope needs your written consent. Mold sampling, sewer-line scoping, and radon measurement are separate engagements, and the buyer needs your approval before any of them happen on your property.
You can declare specific areas off-limits when you have a legitimate reason, such as a structurally unsound outbuilding or a room with fragile equipment. Legitimate is the key word. You cannot use access restrictions to hide defects, because known defects have to be disclosed separately under the purchase agreement and, in most states, under a seller disclosure statute.
If the Inspector Damages Something
If the inspector breaks, scratches, or knocks something loose, the coverage you look to is the inspector’s general liability insurance, not their professional liability policy. Professional liability, also called errors-and-omissions insurance, covers claims that the inspector missed a defect or delivered a flawed report, and it specifically excludes property damage.3The Hartford. Professional Liability Insurance for Home Inspectors Document the damage immediately with photos, and contact the inspection company to file a claim against their general liability coverage.
What You Owe the Buyer in Return
Your rights during the inspection are tied to meeting your own obligations under the contract. The central one is genuine access.
All utilities need to be on. If the home is vacant, make sure water, gas, and electricity are active before the inspector arrives. Without working utilities, the inspector cannot test the plumbing, heating system, water heater, or electrical panels, and an incomplete report either slows the deal down or gives the buyer leverage to renegotiate.
Clear the path to every area the inspector will evaluate: the attic hatch, crawlspace entry, electrical panel, furnace, and water heater. If stored items block any of these, move them before inspection day. An inspector who cannot reach a system notes it as “inaccessible,” and buyers read those notations as red flags. Failing to provide the access the contract requires can be treated as a breach, giving the buyer grounds to extend the contingency period or walk away.
Pre-1978 Homes and Lead-Based Paint
If your home was built before 1978, federal law adds obligations that override your preferences about timing and scope. Under the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act, you must disclose any known lead-based paint or lead hazards, hand over any existing inspection reports or records relating to lead paint, and provide the buyer with an EPA-approved lead hazard information pamphlet before they become obligated under the purchase contract.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 42 – 4852d
You must also give the buyer at least 10 days to hire a certified inspector to test for lead paint. You and the buyer can agree in writing to a shorter or longer window, and the buyer can waive the testing opportunity entirely, also in writing. You cannot skip the step or pressure the buyer out of it. The contract has to include a specific lead warning statement that the buyer signs to acknowledge receiving the pamphlet and having the chance to test.5eCFR. 40 CFR Part 745 – Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Sellers who ignore these requirements face liability for treble damages under federal law.
Your Options When the Repair Request Arrives
After the inspection, the buyer sends over a repair request listing what they want addressed. This is where many sellers misread their position: you are not obligated to fix anything. The report is a negotiation tool, not a punch list with your name on it. The inspection contingency sets a timeframe for the back-and-forth, commonly seven to fourteen days, and within that window you have real choices.
You can agree to all of the repairs, which is the fastest path to closing and rarely the smartest unless the requests are minor. You can refuse all of them, which is entirely within your rights; the buyer then decides whether to proceed, renegotiate, or cancel. You can offer a closing credit, giving the buyer a dollar amount at closing to handle the work themselves instead of hiring contractors on your end, and this is the most common compromise. Or you can negotiate selectively, agreeing to safety and structural items while declining cosmetic ones. Buyers and their agents generally expect that approach.
If you cannot reach agreement within the contingency period, the buyer typically has the right to terminate the contract and recover their earnest money deposit. That is the leverage the contingency gives them. It also means a buyer who pushes too hard risks losing the house if you refuse and hold your position.
Where FHA and VA Loans Narrow Your Options
Your negotiating freedom shrinks when the buyer is using a government-backed loan. FHA loans require the property to meet HUD’s Minimum Property Standards, and VA loans impose their own Minimum Property Requirements.6Federal Register. Minimum Property Requirements for VA-Guaranteed and Direct Loans These are not the buyer’s wish list; they are loan requirements. The appraiser flags deficiencies, and someone has to resolve them before the loan can close.
Common items include peeling or chipping paint in pre-1978 homes, active plumbing leaks, exposed electrical wiring, a heating system that works in all living spaces, and a roof with adequate remaining life. VA loans add emphasis on safe water, functional sewage, and structural soundness, and most VA transactions require a wood-destroying insect inspection and clearance letter.
The practical consequence: refusing a required repair does not just give this buyer an exit. It kills the deal for any buyer using the same loan type, because the next FHA or VA buyer will face the identical requirement. Making the repair is usually the faster and cheaper path forward.
As-Is Listings and the Inspection Contingency
Listing “as-is” signals that you will not make repairs, but it does not strip the buyer of the right to inspect. A buyer can still include an inspection contingency in their offer, and if you accept that offer with the contingency intact, you have agreed to let them inspect. The real seller power in an as-is sale is at the offer stage: you can reject any offer that includes an inspection contingency, or counter asking the buyer to remove it. Some buyers agree, especially in competitive markets. Others walk. Once the signed contract contains the contingency, the buyer’s inspection rights are the same as in any other transaction.
Your disclosure obligations also survive an as-is sale. Most states require a written seller disclosure covering structural issues, environmental hazards, and major system defects, and withholding a known problem exposes you to fraud claims regardless of how the listing was marketed.
When the Contingency Deadline Passes
The inspection contingency has an expiration date, and it matters to you. If the buyer does not submit a repair request or cancel the contract within the contingency period, the consequences depend on your state and the specific contract language. In many states the contingency lapses on its own, and the buyer is treated as having accepted the property in its current condition, losing the right to negotiate repairs or to walk away without forfeiting their earnest money.
Other states require the buyer to actively remove the contingency in writing before it expires. There, an expired period does not automatically waive the buyer’s rights. The purchase contract usually spells out which approach applies, so read the contingency clause carefully with your agent. If the deadline is approaching and the buyer has gone quiet, your agent should be pressing theirs for a response. A lapsed contingency with no action from the buyer is one of the strongest positions you can hold as a seller.