Problems with Contract for As-is Property

[Clone500]

My question involves real estate located in the State of: Maryland

My family is in the middle of buying a house as-is in Baltimore County Maryland. The house has been vacant for 2 or 3 years and has had the water turned off for that time. The seller's agent is saying that we have to pay a plumber to come in and turn the water on for inspection even though the as-is addendum clearly states that it is the seller's responsibility to turn on all utilities before inspection. The inspector says that the water will need to be on for at least 12 hours in order to properly test it as a result of it being off for so long. There is a known leak in one of the ceilings, which poses a problem considering the water will need to be on for half a day. It seems to me that the seller's agent knows that the water will need to be turned on if they ever want to sell the house and knows that doing so may cause damage and is trying to get us to foot the bill when it does. The as-is addendum says that the buyer is responsible for any damage caused by the inspection. The question is whether turning on the water would count as damage caused by the inspection, or if having us turn on the water instead of the seller makes a difference as far as who is responsible for potential damage. We are also curious if by hiring a plumber ourselves we open ourselves up to additional liability should we not buy the house and a pipe freezes and bursts over the winter while it sits on the market.

[PayrolGuy]

You are over your head in this deal. The smart thing to is walk away.

If the water being on is going to cause damage only an idiot would turn the water on.

[pg1067]

Linking to discussion of identical question at another site.