Selling your home can be scary. Sellers often ask themselves "What should I disclose to the buyer? Should I tell them that my Aunt Bea died in the house? What about that toilet that backs up twice a year? Or what about the mangy dog next door that is always barking?"
The answer is to disclose ALL OF THE ABOVE and more.
Now before you start panicking and thinking that you will never be able to sell your home if people know all of this history, think again.
When it comes to disclosures, there is a general rule of thumb......"if you have to ask if you should disclose it, then you should disclose it." In the case of old Aunt Bea, if you don't disclose it, you can bet your life that your neighbors will be the first to bring it up to the buyer before the moving truck is out of the driveway.
Not too long ago, I was sitting a very busy Open House and in walks the next door neighbor. He makes a beeline to me and states in a very loud voice, "Do you have to disclose that Pat died in the house before your client bought it?". This was the first I had heard of "Pat" and my seller had no idea. As I walked away from him, I muttered to myself..."I do now". Not knowing if Pat died in the house in the past 3 years (that is the time limit on the death disclosure), I simply wrote down exactly what happened. "Neighbor walked into house and asked if I had to disclose that Pat died in the house".
As soon as you withhold information and the buyer finds out about it, they then become suspicious of any and all information that they have gotten from you. There have been many cases where the house closes, the buyer moves in, only to find out that some condition exists in the house that they did not know about and the Seller did not share. Guess what happens next?
Attorneys, Court cases, Settlements and in some cases, the Seller has to take the house back (and return the money that they got for it too). I don't think I can imagine anything more painful for a Seller.
So the question remains...why not disclose it all? Well that is actually a great idea. When taking a new listing, I present the sellers with a Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) and Seller Property Questionnaire (SPQ). The former is a legal requirement of the seller, and the latter is not. I like to have both prepared as the buyer (if they are working with a good agent) will ask for both. I also think that the questions in the SPQ can often remind the seller of things they would have otherwise forgotten.
Sellers, take your time filling out these forms. There are many things to report about the history of the house. Try to put yourself in the buyer's shoes and think about what you would like to know if you were to the one buying it.
Questions about this post or any other Real Estate matter, email me directly at Revi@ReviMendelsohn.com.
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