When selling your home to a perspective buyer it is CRUCIAL that you disclose anything and everything regarding your home. 5 Reasons why Disclosure so imperative when selling your home??

1. It will help keep you out of court:  Buyers and sellers love to get into litigation. Disclose anything that you have done to the property.  It is less likely that you will loose in litigation if you have let the buyer know about all issues relating to the property.

2. Don’t give the buyer a reason to back out:  Once a buyer feels that you are “Hiding” something from them  or not disclosing material facts, buyers tend to worry  or question if there is anything else that they should know about or that you may be withholding.  If our not sure what should or should not be disclosed,  be sure to speak to your Real Estate Professional and ask them their opinion on what should be disclosed.

3. It can open up or extend Contingency Timeframes:  Be sure to disclose all relevant information during the specified time frames.  Be sure to disclose all of the information during the time frame you have in the contract.  It actually is best to do the disclosures before the home goes on the MLS.  You should have all of the disclosures, reports, etc. listed on MLS so that when a buyer is making an offer, their offer is based off of the reports and disclosures that they have already seen.  If you forget to disclose something or something comes up after the buyer has removed their contingencies, you will open back up the contingency period w/ the new items that you are disclosing or letting the buyer know about.   This gives the buyer the opportunity to back out during and keep their deposit if they do.  Any new disclosure  that is given to the buyer to sign after the contingency time period has expired, will open up the contingency period again, thus allowing the buyer the opportunity to use the new information that was disclosed to back out if they so wish.

4. Buyer knows what they are buying: You want your buyer to know upfront what they are buying.  The sooner they know about anything and everything the property has to offer, the sooner you can close the escrow and move on.  If you don’t disclose material facts and the buyer finds out things on their own, they can back out of the property and this will cost you time and money.  Your home may end up going back on the market thus looking like your home has taken longer to sell.  This of course

5. Facts may/may not add  Value or Decrease the Value of a home: When selling you want to disclose what may or may not add value to a home.  If your home is 1 mile from the nearest winery, you may feel that that is an attractive feature to the buyer and you may consider that it adds value to the property.  However, a buyer may think that a winery so close may increase the likeliness of a DUI collision and more car accidents.

Bottom line is that you as a Seller may not know what or what not to Disclose when selling your home.  It is very important that you speak with an experienced licensed Broker/Realtor when listing your home to know what should or should not be disclosed when selling.  My advice is you can never disclose to much, over disclosure is always better than less.

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