The Transfer Disclosure Statement and Seller Property Questionnaire the most important documents in a real estate transaction in California. These disclosures are the only two forms filled out by the seller.

Being the only seller filled documents, these two are vital for sellers to fill out correctly, fully, and with any possible relevant information. As a home seller you should answer all questions truthfully and honestly. If the question is not true for your property, or you don’t know an answer to a question as a seller, where it's also impossible for you to determine an answer, only then will the answer be marked as “No.” Be sure to read each question thoroughly. Once you disclose these items as a seller, the buyers are made aware. These are any items, big or small. The disclosures include defects in the home now or past remedied defects, deaths on the property (with some stipulations), insurance claims ever made on the home, painting of any part of the home just to name a few key items. Particularly insurance claims on the home should be brought to your realtor's attention as soon as you begin discussing a sale of your home so they can best guide you.

For buyers these disclosures are the two most important to review outside of a buyer's home inspections. They should be in line with what you would expect, for example if a seller claims they have renovated a home, and the home appears renovated, then the disclosures should be in agreement with what you know to be true and either support the repairs with permits, or disclose unpermitted work.

As a buyer you should determine before your home search journey if homes without permits are acceptable to you and your family, or if you will need only permitted work on any home you purchase. Same goes for deaths on a property, as well as age of home preferences. It’s best if these preferences are discussed upfront with your real estate agent.

The worst outcome for any real estate transaction is by a large margin what is referred to as failure to disclose. This can result in mediation, arbitration, litigation, and guaranteed headaches for everyone involved. Most common consequences are monetary damages to a seller found to have hidden material facts, and in severe circumstances sellers have been forced to buy property back from a buyer. As agents we are here to help, keep sellers honest, and ensure everyone avoids a very hard lesson of failure to disclose. If you’re selling a home, always error on the side of caution and over disclose rather than under disclose.

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