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Should I Waive My Home Inspection in Kitsap County?
By Bryan D. Mize, CMI · 2026-04-19 · Optimized Inspection Services, LLC
By Bryan D. Mize, CMI · 2026-04-19 · Optimized Inspection Services, LLC
You should not waive your home inspection in Kitsap County — even in a competitive market. Skipping the inspection contingency exposes you to potentially tens of thousands of dollars in undisclosed defects with no legal recourse after closing. A better approach is a pre-offer or expedited inspection that gives you the information you need without slowing down your offer.
Kitsap County's real estate market — particularly in Bremerton, Silverdale, and Bainbridge Island — has seen significant buyer competition in recent years. Homes in desirable areas receive multiple offers quickly, and buyers' agents sometimes recommend waiving the inspection contingency to make an offer more attractive to sellers.
The reasoning is understandable: sellers prefer clean offers with fewer conditions. But the cost of waiving your inspection is almost always higher than the perceived competitive advantage it provides.
When you waive the inspection contingency, you are agreeing to purchase the property regardless of its physical condition. You are accepting:
In Kitsap County specifically, where older housing stock is prevalent in Bremerton, Port Orchard, and Kingston, these issues are not hypothetical. They are found regularly — in homes that look perfectly fine from the street and during a casual walkthrough.
Rather than waiving your inspection entirely, consider a pre-offer inspection — a limited-scope inspection done before you make an offer. This gives you:
Optimized Inspection Services accommodates pre-offer inspections throughout Kitsap County — often on short notice. Call or text us to discuss scheduling.
While every home carries risk when purchased without inspection, certain property types in Kitsap County present elevated exposure:
Bremerton, Port Orchard, and Kingston have significant pre-1980 housing inventory. These homes commonly have galvanized plumbing, outdated electrical panels, aging roof systems, and crawlspace moisture issues that a walkthrough simply cannot reveal.
Renovated homes can look immaculate while hiding problems the flipper didn't address — or didn't know about. Cosmetic updates don't fix old wiring, aging plumbing, or compromised structure. Bryan D. Mize has inspected hundreds of flipped properties in the Puget Sound area and finds issues regularly — including in homes that looked brand new inside.
Bainbridge Island, Kingston, and waterfront areas of Bremerton and Port Orchard have elevated moisture exposure from the marine environment. Decks, siding, and crawlspaces in these locations deteriorate faster — and the problems aren't visible on the surface.
In 15 years and 5,000+ inspections across the Puget Sound area, Bryan D. Mize has seen firsthand what happens when buyers skip the inspection to win a deal. The competitive advantage of waiving is real but temporary. The financial consequences of buying a home with undisclosed major defects can last years.
There is almost always a smarter way to compete — and Optimized Inspection Services is happy to help you find it.
Yes — you can inspect the property even without an inspection contingency. You just won't have the contractual right to back out or renegotiate based on findings. This is why a pre-offer inspection is a better approach — you get the information before committing.
Based on Bryan's experience inspecting thousands of homes in the Puget Sound area, the most common significant findings — roof replacement, crawlspace remediation, electrical panel upgrade, sewer line repair — range from $3,000 to $25,000 individually. Finding even one of these issues justifies the cost of an inspection many times over.
Many sellers will — particularly if your offer is otherwise competitive. A pre-listing inspection by the seller can also reduce friction, since both parties already know the property's condition. In situations where waiving seems necessary, a pre-offer inspection is the best alternative.
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