Disclose, disclose, disclose!

When you are selling your home, it is in your best interest as a Newport Beach home seller to get your home in tip top condition before putting it on the market. Be sure to address any deferred maintenance and prepare your home to sell so that you can get top dollar!

Owning your home, you may have repaired some items and these are things that home buyers are entitled to know about prior to purchasing the home.

There are some important items to consider with disclosure:

1. Does the property have lead based paint, if it was built prior to 1978 then it most likely does, and that will need to be disclosed.
2. Have there been any natural disasters, is the property in a flood zone? The insurance company will provide that information, but that is important information to disclose to a potential buyer.
3. Does the property have termites and/or pests?
4. What is the age of the roof, does  it have a warranty? Do you have any roof leaks that have been repaired?
5. Have you done any repairs to the property without proper permits? Buyers can investigate (and should investigate the permit history of the property), so if there has been some work done, it is best to disclose it.
6. What is the age of the furnace and has it been maintained?
7. Has there been any plumbing leaks? This is very important, and many buyers are concerned about plumbing leaks, and the possibility of mold. Do you know if there has been mold?
8. What is the square footage, and what is the source (i.e. assessor, appraiser, owner, etc). Generally if there is un-permitted space, then an appraiser will generally not include that in the living square footage of the property.

A buyer’s agent will recommend that a home buyer get their own inspection, and that may trigger other inspections as well. A buyer may want a roof inspection, pest and termite inspection, mold inspection. These are all buyer costs, but it is the buyer’s right to gain knowledge about the property prior to disclosure.

Also, a buyer’s agent may recommend a CLUE report which is Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) CLUE is a claims-information report, and this will provide information about past claims on the property. The seller may be unaware of past claims, but this is another good source of information for the buyer to have.

If you are considering selling your Newport Beach home, and would like additional information, please contact me.