Shapiro

This appeal concerns the sale of an improved parcel of real property “as is.” The purchasers, upon belatedly discovering that the building had serious defects in its basement and foundational walls, sued the vendor for breach of contract, rescission, fraud and misrepresentation. Following a jury verdict for the purchasers on the breach of contract cause of action and subsequent posttrial motions, the trial court issued an order effectively granting judgment for the vendor notwithstanding the verdict. We affirm.

I

Appellant Ivan Lee Shapiro (Lee) is a licensed real estate salesman, and a partner in a real estate brokerage firm located in Concord. For several years prior to the events at issue here, he and appellant Bernard Rawitch had also been in the business of operating a small chain of hot dog restaurants. In 1980, Lee decided to bring his brother Harvey into the hot dog restaurant business with him. Thereafter, Lee began looking for a location to open a new restaurant.

Through the commercial multiple listing service, appellants learned about a building on a commercially zoned lot on Monte Vista Avenue in Vacaville, in the vicinity of a McDonald’s hamburger…