Real Estate Disclosures

When Buying a home be sure to read all the fine print in a Real Estate Disclosure that is provided to you by your Real Estate Agent or Broker. Ask the agent to email a copy to you and your home inspector. 

Not only do disclosure documents serve to inform the buyers but they also  can protect the seller . It is the seller’s chance to tell you about anything that can negatively affect the value, use or enjoyment of the property. Once an issue has been added to the disclosure the seller is covering his or her self from Future legal Action.

If there are boxes not filled out on the disclosure sheets, ask the agent to explain why. Buyers are required to sign off on disclosure documents and reports. So it’s important to review them carefully and ask questions if you need to.

I recently inspected a property that had listed on the disclosure sheet an issue of a basement leak that had been repaired. Knowing about this previous issue I looked closer at the basement with thermal imaging, in the wall spectoscope and with my moisture meter to find that several walls that had new drywall were actually attached to rotted wood that needed to be replaced as a major support wall.

The seller had eliminated a possible future law suit by stating the issue in the disclosure

This is why it is very important to read the disclosure sheet and to provide a copy to your home inspector.