Disclosures Cheat Sheet
When a buyer is interested in a house, agents will send along a disclosure packet, which provides more details about the property than what you see when you toured it. Buyers should read all pages in a disclosure packet but there are ones you should pay particular attention to. As an agent in the Bay Area, I pay particularly close attention to the ones below: Disclosures Specific to the Property: Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS ) : filled out by the seller to let the buyer know of any defects with the house - not just physical defects but ANYTHING that affects the desirability of the property, such as loud neighbors, BART/Muni noises. By California law, every seller needs to complete this document. Some sellers are exempt such as if the successor has not lived at the property for the past year, probate sale, etc . Sellers can be sued for not disclosing a material fact so read this carefully! Most real estate lawsuits revolve around this document. A completed T