Full Disclosure Is the Best Policy When Selling Your Home
I am selling my home myself. Am I required to disclose to the buyer that our new neighbors are considering adding an addition to their home and are relocating their driveway closer to our property line? The neighbors recently moved in and we only have spoken with them once about their plans. They have not begun any building, nor should there be any boundary dispute because they recently had a survey completed on the property.
The first is the seller’s legal obligation to disclose any known defects. Requirements vary from state to state, but in general, laws no longer uphold the “buyer beware” standard that prevailed a generation ago. Rather, the burden is on sellers to convey a property that isn’t necessarily perfect, but which has, as the old Holiday Inn commercial put it, “no surprises.”
In Ohio, the Real Estate and Licensing Division of the state’s Department of Commerce provides a four-page disclosure form on its Web site. It’s pretty straightforward and spells out the condition of all the systems that are likely to concern a buyer, from the roof to the lawn sprinklers, as well as the presence of mold and hazardous materials like asbestos and radon. It also details whether the property is in a flood plain or has historic status. By filling out the form, you’re not warranting the condition of your home; you are simply letting the buyer know what’s wrong with it and what you have repaired.
