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Posts Tagged ‘disclosure statement’
Things a Seller Must Disclose about Their Home
When selling a home, you want to impress the buyer and make them want to live in your home as much as you enjoyed living in it. You want them to see the benefits and good aspects of your home and not as many downsides or negatives. By law though, there are some things a seller must disclose or tell a buyer about their home. Here are some of the things a seller must disclose and how to disclose them. This may help make the process easier for both buyers and sellers in the long run.
Ask your real estate agent for advice
When it comes to disclosing information about a home, a real estate agent has much experience with this. They can help you disclose information to a buyer and still make it to where the buyer may be interested. They are a great first resource.
Federal Disclosures about Lead Paint
If the home you are selling was built before 1978, the seller is required to disclose about the use of lead-based paint and the buyer is allowed to inspect the home for lead-based paint. This could save the seller money and hassles later on.
Material Facts Disclosed
This includes anything that may make the buyer reconsider buying the home, such as a defect, problems with the property, or a death in the home. Some states do not require disclosing death so check with your state.
Disclosing Cause of Death
Each state is different so you will need to check with yours, but it is a good idea to disclose this information especially if it was violent because this may effect the buyer’s decision to buy the home.
External Disclosures
These are any disclosures that could affect the property such as earthquakes, tornados, flooding, zoning, noise, water, ground or air pollution and any other possible hazard to a buyer.
Either though sellers may not want to disclose negative information about their homes to buyers, some disclosures are required and knowing what is or is not required by the seller can make the process less stressful for everyone. That way both buyers and sellers can rest easier with fewer worries in the future.
Views: 45Disclosure Statements – What you should know
Gone are the days of spackling over a problem water stain or putting a temporary fix on a bad pipe, then considering the case closed. Lawsuits and complaints against sellers and agents have changed things tremendously—if you hide or lie about a problem that’s later found out, you’re liable for the cost of repair. Or more. In some cases, you might have to refund the money and take back the house.
Every state has their own specific rules regarding disclosure statements. But no matter the state, you now have to carefully document more than just leaky pipes, bad gutters, and crooked roofs. Here are just a few things that a seller disclosure statement should reveal (if it applies to your home):
Zoning violations
Soil and drainage
Fireplaces
Flooding
Construction methods
Nearby landfills
Electro-magnetic fields from overhead lines
“But some of these things I simply can’t have known about! Who checks the soil? And the zoning laws? Come on!” you might be saying. A good home inspector can likely find anything that needs to be addressed or at least mentioned on the disclosure statement. Conduct an inspection yourself and carefully note anything that seems potentially amiss, no matter how small the problem might seem to be. This way if there’s a problem, it’s dealt with before the sale is finalized. No one’s happy when two weeks later an angry homebuyer (or their agent, or worse, their attorney) is phoning you about a serious problem you can’t afford to fix thanks to the big mortgage payment you’ve got on your new home.
Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. If you try to hide any of these issues, you could come to regret it. Be safe and do a good job detailing it upfront so everyone’s better off.
Views: 43