Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Just how truthful are the home seller’s disclosure that we use on Kansas City real estate transactions? Well, they do a good job of keeping the honest seller honest and, for that reason alone, they are an integral part of the real estate process. But some home sellers may not be completely truthful when filling out a seller’s disclosure and those sellers run a high risk of getting sued. So when you add together the home sellers who are afraid of getting sued to the group who disclose problems with a home simply because it’s the right thing to do, that leads to few problems with seller’s disclosures. But then there’s that 1% who are willing to leave important items off the seller’s disclosure and risk a costly lawsuit later.

Kansas City home sellers are required by law to disclose “all material defects, conditions and facts which the seller is aware”.  If a seller doesn’t disclosure they had water in their basement and then water comes in the home right after the buyer moves in, the buyer is going to be furious. I would think most home buyers will suspect it’s not the first time the basement has leaked. But I don’t think some sellers consider what the buyer’s next step may be… Most buyers are going to start looking for proof that the seller was aware of the issue but didn’t disclose it. I can quickly think of several ways a buyer might be able to prove a seller knew about a material defect prior to selling. 

So home sellers are advised to disclose anything that would affect a buyer’s overall decision to purchase the home and/or affect the contract terms agreed to in the real estate transaction. Yes, it might result in some repair costs or possibly a lower sales price but it’s certainly the proper thing to do. It might also save a seller a MUCH more costly situation later. Virtually any issue with a home can be addressed and it’s cheaper to handle the repair BEFORE a buyer gets involved. After taking care of an issue, a seller can then state the date the issue was addressed and what was done that has kept the problem from reoccurring to date.

Posted by Jason Brown