Real Estate Curve

At the time you list your home for sale you will be asked to disclose, in writing, any defects that you are aware of. If temptation whispers in your ear and tells you not to be honest - don’t listen!

None of us wants any more stress in our lives. Being dishonest about the condition of your home will open the door to avoidable and unwelcome problems.

Being less than honest about the condition of your house can not only leave you open to legal action from the purchaser, but may also cause you to lose potential buyers. Most buyers will have an inspection done of your home before closing the deal.

If the inspection turns up defects that you must have known about, the buyer may then view you as dishonest. The buyer will then tend to wonder if there are other defects that have been concealed or may just be annoyed because he feels he has not been honestly dealt with.

In either case, the buyer will most likely choose to exercise his right to cancel the deal due to the inspection failing.
A purchaser, who is made aware in advance of any defects, will be more motivated to continue to try and strike a deal. Remember that people are different and a defect that may seem large to you may be minor to a prospective purchaser. An ailing senior with limited funds will view replacing a toilet in an entirely different way than a young healthy plumber! If there are things on the disclosure list that you are unsure of, ask your Realtor® to go through the list with you.