If you’re buying in cash or with a conventional loan, I guess the terms can be whatever you want. But I was a first-time buyer with an FHA loan, and the FHA itself imposed habitability requirements that included having a fridge. (They also made the seller fix a broken window and missing porch railing.)

That’s why I thought the comparison was interesting: I’d have assumed California protections for renters would be way ahead of federal protections for buyers, given that the state is more progressive and the constituency is more vulnerable.