Disclosing Information in a Sale

All sellers in California are required to provide disclosures in real property transactions. While most sellers are not overjoyed with the process, they do have a duty to disclose to buyers all material conditions, defects and/or issues known to them that might impact the value or desirability of the property. Below are some tips to consider when you prepare to list your home.

Tips on Preparing to Complete Forms

  • Read and carefully review all questions in the disclosure forms.
  • A seller is not obligated to investigate or discover unknown issues.
  • Past disclosures and reports can assist in completing your forms.
  • Gather any available documentation to refresh your memory of any issues and repairs, such as invoices and reports.
  • Gather any available documentation regarding property upgrades.
  • A seller does not have to find lost documents or to speculate about what was in the documents that they cannot remember.
  • If you are unsure about whether something is important enough to be disclosed, you should disclose it!

Tips on Completing Forms

    • Do not leave any questions blank or unanswered unless the section is not applicable. Answer all questions and provide explanations for every “Yes” response.
    • Avoid words such as “never,” “minor,” “insignificant,” “small” or “infrequent” as these terms may reflect your opinion. State your disclosures only to the extent of what you actually know.
  • Consider all issues, conditions or problems that impact your property, even those that are not necessarily on your property but are related to a neighbor’s property (such as shared fences) or exist in the neighborhood (such as noise, smells, or other nuisances).
  • Even if you have learned to live with an issue, disclose it.
  • Even if you believe that an issue or condition has been repaired or resolved, disclose the issue and state what has been done to remediate it.
  • Do not assume that you know the answer to all questions. For example, unless you personally obtained or received copies of permits, do not assume that anyone who did work on the property obtained permits.
  • If you are aware of any planned or possible changes to your neighbor’s property, changes in the neighborhood that may affect traffic, views, noise levels or other issues, disclose those plans or proposed changes even if you are not certain whether the change(s) will ever occur.
  • Disclose any lawsuits regarding the property.
  • If any disclosure that you shared changes at any time right up to the close of escrow, you should update and correct your disclosure forms or provide an addendum to the forms.

Sharing Features/Upgrades

Keep in mind that the seller disclosures are also an opportunity to share the features and upgrades of your property. In addition to the sections of the disclosures designed for this purpose, some sellers also include a list of features and upgrades on a separate sheet of paper to be included with the disclosure package.

Debbie Austin is a realtor associate with Keller Williams, Roseville and has been helping clients buy and sell property in the area for 19 years. If you have a specific real estate question you wish to see addressed, contact Debbie at (916) 223-8144 or visit debbieaustinrealty.com.