When the coverup is worse than the crime. How to tell the full story on your home (HINT: disclose, disclose, disclose!).
[SPONSORED]
The personal stories of one Realtor’s battles and triumphs in the highly-competitive Bay Area Real Estate Market, seeking to illuminate and humanize the very real ups-and-downs of homeownership.
“We’re shopping for Realtors,” the woman said, “and my husband and I would like to speak with you and Sarah about representing us.” (Thank you, we appreciate that.)
“Tell me a little bit about your house,” I said, “your timeline, its condition, how long you’ve lived there, and most importantly, your expectations. Once we meet and see the home, we’ll refine the process.”
“We bought in 2000,” she said, “and we’ve loved living here, but it’s time to move on.” Then she added, “We’ve done our best to take good care of it, but, admittedly, the house is a little ‘lived in’.” ”That’s okay,” I said, “most homes we prep for market are a combination of ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly . . .’ ” (and so they are). “It’s our job to move them from the ‘bad’ to the ‘good’ column, and we’ve gotten quite adept at doing just that.”
That being said, once we’ve stepped in and performed our “magic,” there’s still disclosures to tackle that relate to the underlying condition of the property – both before and after any improvements have been made. These often start with home inspections, pest/structural inspections, roof inspections, natural hazard disclosures, sidewalk inspections, preliminary title reports, and permit histories (just to name a few), before tackling the all-important Seller Questionnaires. (That’s when you fess up.)
Disclosure time. Why?
To protect you (the Sellers) from any negative accusations that tend to emerge after the first “atmospheric river” hits the home (and it will).
The RTDS (Real Estate Disclosure Statement) and the SPQ (Seller Property Questionnaire) are the standard (and required) forms the industry uses to identify, explain, and clarify anything that’s been going on with the property during the Sellers’ tenure, and they’re fairly extensive – as well as legally binding! Which means your answers matter; they require thoughtful contemplation as well as the unvarnished truth. Frankly, the more complete your explanations, the better off you’ll be.
For example:
- “Is there any upkeep required on the house?” (For sure: gutter cleaning, window washing, clearing drains, changing HVAC filters, adjusting sprinkler heads, trimming trees, etc. Please don’t answer “no.”)
- “Has there ever been any water intrusion into the premises?” (“Ever” is a long time. If ANY water has seeped in ANYWHERE at ANY TIME, please note it. )
- “Have there been any improvements to the property, past or present?”
- “We’ve lived here for 40 years,” one Seller exclaimed, “of course there have been improvements to the property! Am I supposed to list them all?” (If you can. If you’ve kept an Excel sheet, so much the better.)
Not to mention:
Any insurance claims? Disputes with neighbors? Is the sewer lateral compliant? Any roofing, electrical, plumbing, or HVAC issues? Is there lead-based paint on the premises? Any neighborhood noises or nuisances? Are there any open permits? Are sidewalk repairs required? Have there been pets on the premises? And so on, and so forth, ad infinitum (that’s Latin y’all.)
Because when Sellers fudge their responses, preferring to present their homes as completely worry-free (there’s no such thing), they better hope that nothing – and I mean NOTHING – goes belly up. Naturally, because homes AREN’T static entities, there’s always going to be something that runs amok. (Count on it.) Consequently, when Sarah or I walk our Sellers through their disclosures, we want them to state – in no uncertain terms – anything that has transpired within their four walls, OR on their property, OR within the neighborhood in general.
“But that happened a long time ago,” they say. “We fixed it, and it’s never reoccurred. Do we still need to point that issue out?” (Absolutely.)
Seriously, if you’ve got a pet cemetery in the backyard, you need to disclose it. And let’s not overlook a bus line that runs down the street, Friday night games that can be heard from the nearby football stadium, school bells, traffic patterns, planes overhead, squirrels in the attic, notification from a neighbor that renovations are about to commence, an HOA assessment, pending litigation, easement issues, or a garage band next door.
In other words: disclose, Disclose, DISCLOSE anything and EVERYTHING you can think of!
Otherwise, the disgruntled Buyers are coming back AFTER the close of escrow with a lawyer in tow, and that’s when things get complicated. In fact, they get expensive and entangled. (And as this type of conflict is usually avoidable, let’s avoid it.)
To be clear, everyone knows that the vast majority of properties are essentially used commodities (pre-owned), and ALL homes require ongoing upkeep and maintenance; that’s fair and to be expected. Moreover, remembering every improvement – especially when you’ve owned a home for decades – is bound to create some gaps in your memory (no one expects perfection). But what no one wants (especially a Buyer that’s just plonked down hundreds of thousands, or better yet, millions of dollars) is unwelcome surprises. When you disclose material information about the property, it makes it much tougher for a Buyer to claim “the Sellers must have known, and chose, instead, to hide the issue.” (Not necessarily.)
Moreover, once disclosed, it’s the responsibility of the Buyer(s) to read the information and do their due diligence accordingly. In other words, the liability shifts from your shoulder’s to the Buyers’. However, fail to disclose something that’s important or material and you could be in for a heap of trouble. As we all know, it’s the cover-up that gets you in the end.
Take it from me, it’s far better to get into contract with informed Buyers who know the full story . . . and that includes the good, the bad, and the ugly!
How can we help you?
Julie Gardner & Sarah Abel | Compass Realty
Not just Realtors, but consultants in all things house and home, we’re here to educate, explore, examine and refer . . . In short, you may count on us to take care of your home as if it were our own and anyone who knows us, knows we take pretty darn good care of our homes.
Learn MORE
