Does Selling “As-Is” Mean You Do Not Have to Disclose?
No. In Texas, “as-is” changes who pays for repairs. It does not change whether you have to tell the truth about what you know.
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Send the address, the condition, and when you would like to be done. We will tell you what we can pay and whether listing would do better.
Before you read this
The rule
Texas Property Code §5.008 requires the seller of most residential property of one to four units to give the buyer a written Seller’s Disclosure Notice on or before the effective date of the contract. The Texas Real Estate Commission publishes the standard form.
It asks what you actually know about the property — structural condition, systems, previous repairs, flooding history, environmental hazards, and other material facts. It does not ask you to inspect or investigate. It asks you to be honest about what you know.
What “as-is” actually does
An as-is clause means the buyer accepts the property in its current condition and you are not agreeing to repair anything. That is a real and useful thing, and it is most of why sellers in difficult situations use it.
What it does not do is override §5.008 or excuse concealment. As-is allocates repair responsibility. Disclosure is a separate obligation and it survives.
Sellers get this wrong constantly, and the people telling them otherwise are often the ones buying the house. Anyone who tells you that selling as-is means you can stay quiet about the foundation is telling you something that could cost you after closing.
Who is exempt
The exemptions are narrow, but two of them matter enormously to the people we deal with most.
- Transfers by an executor or administrator of an estate, and other court-ordered transfers.
- Foreclosure sales and transfers by a lender that acquired the property through foreclosure or deed in lieu.
- Certain transfers between co-owners, to a spouse or direct family, and some new construction.
If you inherited a house you never lived in, you may fall under an exemption — and it exists for a sensible reason, which is that you genuinely do not know the property’s history and should not be made to guess about it.
Being exempt from the form is not permission to conceal. Exemption means you are not required to complete the notice. It does not license misrepresenting something you do know. Whether an exemption applies to your situation is a question for an attorney, not for us and not for a checklist on a website.
What happens if you do not disclose
A buyer who does not receive the notice when required has a statutory right to terminate the contract for any reason within a defined window after finally receiving it.
The larger risk is after closing. A buyer who discovers a known defect that was concealed can sue, and claims can be brought under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which provides for additional damages where conduct is found to be knowing. A repair you avoided disclosing can end up costing several times what fixing it would have.
Why we ask you to disclose everything
This page argues against a short-term interest of ours, and we would rather say it anyway.
A seller who tells us about the foundation, the roof, the tenant who has not paid in four months and the lien nobody mentioned gets a slower first conversation and a far better sale. We price what we know. Surprises found during title work or a walkthrough cause renegotiation, and renegotiation is what makes people feel cheated.
Tell us the worst of it first. It costs you less than you think and it makes the number real.
Common questions
Does selling as-is in Texas mean I do not have to disclose problems?
No. An as-is clause allocates who pays for repairs. Texas Property Code section 5.008 separately requires most residential sellers to give a written Seller's Disclosure Notice, and that obligation survives an as-is sale.
Who is exempt from the Texas Seller's Disclosure Notice?
The exemptions are narrow but include transfers by an executor or administrator of an estate, court-ordered transfers, foreclosure sales and transfers by a lender that took the property back, and certain family transfers. Whether one applies to you is a question for an attorney.
I inherited a house I never lived in. Do I have to fill in the form?
You may fall within an exemption, because the law recognises you do not know the property's history. Being exempt from completing the notice is not permission to misrepresent something you do know. Confirm your situation with an attorney.
What happens if a seller conceals a known defect in Texas?
A buyer who does not receive a required notice has a statutory right to terminate within a defined window. After closing, a buyer who finds a concealed known defect can sue, including under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which allows additional damages where conduct is found to be knowing.
Will disclosing problems lower your offer?
It makes the offer accurate rather than optimistic, which is better for you. An offer built on incomplete information gets renegotiated when the truth appears during title work or a walkthrough. We would rather price the real house at the start.
A last word on what we are
Want to talk about your situation?
Send the address and the condition. If a direct sale is not your best move, we will say so.