🏠 Skipped inspections, unwanted surprises | Morning Newsletter

Hello! It’s Felicia Gans Sobey, a digital editor here filling in for Kerith today and tomorrow. Today will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 69 and a chance of showers both this morning and later this afternoon.

Today, we’ll look at the choice many prospective home buyers are making to waive inspections — and the significant (and pricey) issues that can cause after closing.

Also, Philly is about one month into the next phase of its street-sweeping program and will start enforcing parking restrictions in some areas of the city this week. We’ll tell you more.

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— Felicia Gans Sobey (@FeliciaGans, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Many prospective home buyers have been waiving inspections — an attempt to make their offer stand out in an increasingly competitive housing market. But the practice, despite rising in popularity, is an incredibly risky one, as many homeowners are learning the hard way.

One Montgomery County woman bought a flipped home from an investor and didn’t get an inspection until a couple of months ago, after closing. When the tub in a second-floor bathroom was filled, water poured through the ceiling downstairs.

“When I was borrowing paper towels from the neighbors, I was thinking: This is why you get an inspection before you buy the house,” inspection company owner Ben Poles, who inspected the woman’s home, told my colleague Michaelle Bond. “Because now it’s on you to fix things.”

Plus, Michaelle tells us, some buyers are waiving more than just inspections. Some are waiving appraisal contingencies and even clear title.

Here’s why you should never do that.

Beware: As of yesterday, the Philadelphia Parking Authority will be ticketing people who park in specific areas on street sweeping days.

Here’s what to know about the city’s street sweeping pilot program, which entered Phase II in early April:

🧹 Streets will be swept once a week through the end of November.

🧹 Sweeping will take place Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., except on city holidays.

🧹 Fourteen areas of the city will be swept during this phase of the pilot program, but parking rules will be enforced in only six: North Central, South Philly, Southwest, Strawberry Mansion, Kensington, and West Philly.

🧹 If you don’t move your car for sweeping, you could be facing a $31 fine.

Sarah Naibei, of Kenya, was the women’s winner of the Broad Street Run on Sunday, and she set a course record. Today’s question: What was her finishing time? Take a guess and find the answer here.

a. 48 minutes and 35 seconds

b. 50 minutes and 17 seconds

c. 52 minutes and 3 seconds

d. 54 minutes and 18 seconds

🏃 Admiring: The 27,500 runners who ran in the 10-mile Broad Street Run on Sunday.

👂 Hearing: The “sound” of Philadelphia, pieced together by these four musicians.

🌿 Visiting: One of New Jersey’s first recreational marijuana shops.

This Georgia linebacker was just drafted by the Eagles.

AEON BANKED

Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shout-out to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shout-out goes to Susan Boyle, of Newtown, who correctly guessed Kevin Bacon as Sunday’s answer.

👋 That’s all for today. I’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow.