Selling a Home - Disclosures

sherpa
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 17:54:49 +0000

Laws vary by state but the general rule is a seller must disclose any material defect that isn’t readily observable.

Generally speaking, disclosure forms are not developed to precisely conform with the requirements of state law, but rather to facilitate the process by reminding the seller of potential topics to disclose.

I’ve prepared and signed literally hundreds of real estate disclosure forms and my practice is to fully answer every question and to err on the side of overdisclosure.

For example, if asked about any past plumbing leaks, I would disclose if I’d replaced a toilet flapper.

There’s a certain benefit to a seller in a buyer reading the disclosure form and thinking “wow, this seller is crazy, telling us about every repair he’s made to the place, such as changing the burned out lightbulb in the oven, replacing the toilet flapper, telling us the year he replaced the shower head… this is boring… obviously the house is in good shape… let’s just close the damn thing.”