Selling a Home As-Is in Michigan: What

Q: Do I still have to fill out a seller's disclosure if I sell my Michigan home as-is?

Yes. The Seller Disclosure Act and its statutory form at MCL 565.957 apply to as-is sales. As-is limits the repairs you'll make; it does not waive your duty to disclose known conditions. If you skip the form, the buyer can terminate the purchase agreement.

Q: Can an as-is clause protect me if I hid a known defect?

No. Michigan courts, including M&D, Inc v McConkey, have held an as-is clause does not bar a fraud or silent-fraud claim. If you knew about the flooding basement or bad furnace and concealed it on the form, as-is won't shield you. Honesty on the disclosure is your real protection.

Q: My house was built before 1978 — does as-is cover lead paint?

No. The federal lead-paint rule is separate. For pre-1978 homes you must disclose known lead hazards, give the EPA "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" pamphlet, include a lead warning in the contract, and allow a 10-day inspection window. Violations carry penalties up to $21,699 each.

Q: Can a buyer still inspect a home I'm selling as-is?

Yes. As-is doesn't remove a buyer's right to inspect. It typically removes their leverage to renegotiate or demand repairs based on findings, not the inspection itself. Most buyers still inspect, so an accurate disclosure up front prevents deals dying at the inspection.

Q: Are there Michigan sales where the disclosure form isn't required at all?

Yes. MCL 565.953 exempts certain transfers — foreclosure sales, transfers ordered by a probate court, transfers by a nonoccupant fiduciary administering an estate or trust, and newly constructed homes, among others. Most ordinary owner-occupant resales, including as-is ones, are not exempt.

Last spring I walked a 1962 ranch in Wyoming with a seller who opened the door and said, "I'm selling it as-is, so I don't have to fill out any of those forms, right?" The basement had a dry-but-stained foundation line about eight inches up the block, and a furnace with a 2003 inspection sticker still on it.I told him the same thing I tell everyone who says that sentence to me: as-is changes what you have to fix.It does not change what you have to tell.Those are two different doors, and in Michigan the law nails one of them shut whether you write "as-is" on the contract or not.

"As-is" is one of the most misunderstood phrases I hear across Grand Rapids, Hudsonville, and the lakeshore.People treat it like a force field.It isn't.So let me walk through exactly what it does, what it doesn't, and how I'd actually use it if you're selling a home that needs work.

What "as-is" actually means in a Michigan contract

An as-is clause is a contract term that says the seller will not make repairs and the buyer takes the property in its current physical condition.That's it.It's a statement about repair obligations and price-renegotiation leverage — not about honesty, and not about what gets disclosed.

Here's the distinction that trips people up.As-is governs the condition you deliver.The Seller Disclosure Act governs the information you deliver.You can sell a house with a 40-year-old roof and refuse to replace a single shingle — that's your right under an as-is sale.But you still have to tell the buyer the roof is 40 years old and has leaked twice if that's true and you know it.Writing "as-is" on the purchase agreement does not let you check "no" on a question you know the answer to is "yes." I see sellers conflate the two constantly, and it's the single most expensive misunderstanding in a condition-sensitive sale.

The Seller Disclosure Act applies to as-is sales — MCL 565.957

Michigan's Seller Disclosure Act (Act 92 of 1993) requires most residential sellers to deliver a signed Seller's Disclosure Statement to the buyer.The exact form is written into the statute at MCL 565.957, and sellers are required to use that statutory form. The form runs through the systems and conditions you'd expect: range, dishwasher, water heater, electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, roof condition and known leaks, evidence of water in the basement or crawl space, well and septic, insulation, and environmental items like asbestos, radon, and lead-based paint.

Nothing in that statute carves out as-is sales.The form is keyed to the seller's actual knowledge — it discloses conditions "known by the seller," states it is true to the best of the seller's knowledge, and explicitly says it is "not a warranty of any kind." So you're not promising the house is perfect.You're telling the truth about what you know.As-is and that duty live side by side.

Skipping it has teeth.If you fail to deliver the signed disclosure statement, the buyer can terminate an otherwise binding purchase agreement. That's not a fine — it's the buyer's escape hatch, and it can blow up a closing on the day of, regardless of how the contract was written.I've watched deals where every other term was airtight collapse over a disclosure form that never got signed.

An as-is clause does not waive a fraud claim

This is the part sellers really need to hear.Michigan courts have held that an as-is clause does not preclude liability on the basis of fraud.The leading case is M&D, Inc v McConkey, where the Court of Appeals made exactly that point — an as-is clause and a fraud claim can coexist. If you knew the basement floods every spring and you marked "no" on the water-intrusion question — or stayed silent where you had a duty to speak — an as-is clause won't save you.That's "silent fraud": intentionally suppressing a material fact you're duty-bound to disclose, to create a false impression.

The case law draws one nuance worth knowing.Silent fraud generally requires more than just staying quiet — courts look for a misrepresentation or a suppression of fact under circumstances where there was a legal duty to disclose, such as when a buyer directly asks and the seller dodges. The disclosure form creates exactly that duty by asking the question for you.So the practical math is the opposite of what most people assume.As-is doesn't reduce your honesty risk — and a false answer on the disclosure form actually creates risk that as-is can't undo.The sellers who get sued aren't the ones who said "this furnace is from 2003 and I'm not touching it." They're the ones who hid the cracked heat exchanger and hoped as-is would cover them.

What an as-is seller is genuinely not on the hook for — MCL 565.955

The law is not a trap that makes you guarantee things you can't know.MCL 565.955 says a seller is not liable for an error, inaccuracy, or omission that was not within the seller's personal knowledge, or that was based on information from public agencies, as long as ordinary care was used in transmitting it. And it is not a violation to fail to disclose something that could only be found by inspecting inaccessible parts of the home, or that could be discovered only by a person with expertise in a science or trade beyond the seller's knowledge.

The standard the act sets is "good faith," which it defines as honesty in fact in the conduct of the transaction. You disclose what you actually know, honestly.You're not expected to crawl inside a wall or diagnose a foundation like a structural engineer.That protection narrows, though, the moment you actually know a defect that contradicts a report — knowledge cancels the shield. That's exactly why I tell as-is sellers to answer "unknown" where they truly don't know — the form lets you do that — rather than guessing or going silent.

The federal lead-paint rule is a separate door — and it has its own penalty

If your home was built before 1978, federal law adds a second disclosure obligation that an as-is clause has zero effect on.Under the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 (Title X), Section 1018, sellers of most pre-1978 housing must disclose any known lead-based paint and hazards, provide any available records and reports, hand the buyer the EPA pamphlet "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home," include a Lead Warning Statement in the contract, and give the buyer a 10-day window to conduct a paint inspection or risk assessment.

This one carries real money.Under the EPA's 2024 inflation-adjusted penalty schedule, the maximum civil penalty for a Section 1018 disclosure violation runs to $21,699 per violation. A lot of Grand Rapids housing stock is pre-1978 — the older neighborhoods near downtown, plenty of Wyoming and Kentwood ranches — so this isn't a fringe rule.As-is or not, if the home predates 1978, that pamphlet and that 10-day period are not optional.

When the disclosure form isn't required at all — MCL 565.953

There's a real exemption list, and it matters most for the as-is sellers I work with — because a lot of as-is homes are inherited or distressed.MCL 565.953 exempts certain transfers from the disclosure requirement entirely: transfers by foreclosure or under a power of sale, transfers ordered by a probate court in the administration of an estate, transfers by a nonoccupant fiduciary administering a decedent's estate or a trust, and newly constructed residential property that has not been occupied, among others.

Here's the catch I flag for families selling an inherited home.If you're an out-of-state heir who never lived in the house and you're selling through the estate, you may genuinely fall under the fiduciary exemption — but the moment the property deeds into your name personally and you sell it as an owner, that exemption is gone and the full disclosure duty attaches. Don't assume "I inherited it" plus "as-is" equals "no form." Get the chain of title looked at first.

Where as-is fits the current Grand Rapids market

Here's the timing reality.The Grand Rapids market is still tight enough that a well-priced as-is home moves.The City of Grand Rapids median sits around $304,000, up about 10% year over year, with homes going pending in roughly 9 days and only about 1.2 months of supply. A balanced market is 5–6 months of supply, so at 1.2 months sellers still hold leverage, and sale-to-list is running about 98.1%.

But the heat has cooled from the peak.About 24% of City of Grand Rapids homes sold above asking recently, down from roughly 50% the year before. Entry-level inventory is where demand concentrates — the pending-to-active ratio for homes under $250,000 is about 179%, versus 86% for $500,000-plus. Translation: a lower-priced as-is home aimed at that under-$250K tier has the deepest buyer pool.A six-figure renovation project priced like a turnkey home does not.These figures are public-aggregator estimates, not MLS-certified, but the direction is clear.

Days on market vary a lot by submarket, which matters when you're pricing an as-is home.Grandville is moving at about 9 days with a $349,819 median; Hudsonville about 13 days at $407,000; Jenison around 14 days at $372,500. Holland sits near 17 days at a $320,000 median, Caledonia around 34 days at $429,900, and Allendale runs slower at roughly 66 days against a $450,000 median. An as-is home in a faster submarket like Grandville can afford to be firm on price; one in a slower pocket like Allendale needs sharper pricing to overcome the condition discount buyers will mentally apply.

What I'd actually do if you're selling as-is

First, fill out the disclosure honestly and completely.Use "unknown" where you genuinely don't know — that's an allowed answer, and it's far safer than a guess that reads like a misrepresentation later.The disclosure form is your shield, not your enemy; an accurate one is the single best protection an as-is seller has.

Second, separate the two decisions. "I won't make repairs" is a pricing decision. "I'll tell the truth about condition" is a legal duty.Don't let the first one bleed into the second.You can be firm on repairs and fully transparent on disclosure at the same time — that combination is what holds a deal together at the inspection.

Third, expect the buyer to inspect anyway.As-is does not strip a buyer's right to inspect.Most buyers still write an inspection contingency; what as-is typically removes is their leverage to renegotiate price or demand repairs based on what they find — not the inspection itself.A clean, honest disclosure up front means fewer surprises at the inspection table and fewer deals that fall apart there.In a market where the median Grand Rapids home goes pending in about 9 days, the deals that die are usually the ones where the inspection turned up something the disclosure should have already flagged.

Fourth, price to the condition with real local comps, not a gut number.Pull what comparable as-is and renovated homes actually closed at in your specific area.Request a free CMA through my home valuation page and I'll write it by hand off real comparable sales, then check it against the metro and submarket medians, days on market, and sale-to-list in my monthly market report.I can walk you through comparable active and pending listings in that condition — ask me and I'll pull what's on the market, run your PITI, and put together a seller net sheet so you can see your bottom line after costs. If you want the broader pricing picture, my market insights page tracks where each submarket is heading.

As-is is a legitimate, useful strategy — I run as-is deals all the time, especially on inherited homes and dated properties where the seller doesn't want a renovation project.It just isn't a shortcut around the truth.Limit your repairs, keep your price honest to the condition, disclose everything you know, and an as-is sale in this market closes clean.

FAQ

Do I still have to fill out a seller's disclosure if I sell my Michigan home as-is?
Yes.The Seller Disclosure Act and its statutory form at MCL 565.957 apply to as-is sales.As-is limits the repairs you'll make; it does not waive your duty to disclose known conditions.If you skip the form, the buyer can terminate the purchase agreement.

Can an as-is clause protect me if I hid a known defect?
No.Michigan courts, including M&D, Inc v McConkey, have held an as-is clause does not bar a fraud or silent-fraud claim.If you knew about the flooding basement or bad furnace and concealed it on the form, as-is won't shield you.Honesty on the disclosure is your real protection.

What if I genuinely don't know the answer to a disclosure question?
Mark it "unknown." The law only holds you to your actual knowledge and good faith.Under MCL 565.955 you're not liable for things outside your personal knowledge, or that require expert or inaccessible inspection.Guessing is riskier than answering "unknown."

My house was built before 1978 — does as-is cover lead paint?
No.The federal lead-paint rule is separate.For pre-1978 homes you must disclose known lead hazards, give the EPA "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" pamphlet, include a lead warning in the contract, and allow a 10-day inspection window.Violations carry penalties up to $21,699 each.

Can a buyer still inspect a home I'm selling as-is?
Yes.As-is doesn't remove a buyer's right to inspect.It typically removes their leverage to renegotiate or demand repairs based on findings, not the inspection itself.Most buyers still inspect, so an accurate disclosure up front prevents deals dying at the inspection.

Are there Michigan sales where the disclosure form isn't required at all?
Yes.MCL 565.953 exempts certain transfers — foreclosure sales, transfers ordered by a probate court, transfers by a nonoccupant fiduciary administering an estate or trust, and newly constructed homes, among others.Most ordinary owner-occupant resales, including as-is ones, are not exempt.