What do I have to disclose to the buyer?

Your transaction coordinator will provide you with certain disclosure forms to fill out. This will make it very easy for you as a seller to be certain of full disclosure to your buyer. It’s a series of Q&A style documents that are a huge help when trying to remember everything about your property. Your Transaction Coordinator will also help with ordering a Natural Hazards Disclosure, a required disclosure in most cases of a sale of residential real estate.

For a complete list of required disclosures in California, check this link: http://www.dre.ca.gov/files/pdf/re6.pdf.

There may also be locally required disclosures and your Transaction Coordinator will be able to guide you. You should check with your city as well as your county. The escrow company is also a great resource for local disclosures.

In addition to statutory disclosures, the seller must disclose all known material facts to a buyer. A material fact is something that would impact the value or desirability of a home. For example, if you know that there is a foundation issue, it’s very likely you’d need to disclose it. That would be impactful to the homes value and would likely be considered a material fact.

A good rule to go by is, if you aren’t sure whether you should disclose it, disclose it. It’s generally better to over-disclose than to under-disclose and risk legal issues.