Planning To Sell Your Honolulu Home Part Three-Disclosure
June 15th, 2009 categories: For Sellers
One of the most important rules in Honolulu real estate is to disclose, disclose and disclose more. Our attorneys tell us that there is no single form required by Hawaii law, however, the widely accepted form is the Hawaii Association of Realtors disclosure form titled the Seller’s Real Property Disclosure Statement (SRPDS). This post is part of my ongoing series about preparing to sell your home.
3. Fill out the Seller’s Real Property Disclosure Statement. In most sales, the SRPDS is not completed until there is an accepted offer and buyer is involved in their inspection process. THIS IS NOT THE BEST WAY TO APPROACH DISCLOSURE. When a disclosure form is filled out at this late date, because there seems to be a rush, things can be missed, overlooked or under-disclosed. As a professional Realtor, we send the disclosure statement to the seller immediately after listing a property for sale. Diligent sellers complete it and return it to us in less than a week. Many sellers have the best of intentions, but it is not completed until the pressure of a sale requires it.
I believe it is best to fill out the SRPDS before marketing begins. By doing this a seller is not “under the gun” and can take the time to thoughtfully and completely express their ideas and thoughts concerning any issues related to a property. As referenced above, it is important that everything relevant to a property is disclosed. There is no bad disclosure! In fact, the only dangerous disclosure is one not made. By making full and complete disclosures a seller helps to inoculate themselves from post close of escrow issues (i.e. requests for repairs, mediation, arbitration and lawsuits). In other words, if you are a seller and you have any question in your mind whether or not a buyer should be informed of a certain problem, by merely asking the mental question-you should make the disclosure. What happens if you don’t tell the buyer what you know?
If you are feeling lucky MAYBE nothing! But be aware and on notice that a buyer has two years from discovering a non-disclosed issue to come after you. Here is an example. Let’s say your upstairs toilet leaked into your downstairs bathroom, you hired a licensed plumber to fix the leak, but you forgot to add this to your SRPDS. Three years after the sale closes, the new owner has the same problem. His plumber fixes the leak; in the plumber’s discussion with the new owner he mentions that there is old water damage to the wood under the toilet and that the leak had been repaired once before. The new owner gets out his purchase file and notes that the SRPDS made no mention of this ongoing leak! He just spent $1500 to fix a leak that should have been disclosed. The war drums start to beat and he contacts his attorney. Now you have a problem that could have been avoided by simply making a complete disclosure. This is why completing the SRPDS in advance has to be part of pre-sale planning and preparation.
SEARCH FOR YOUR HONOLULU HOME
If you would like to discuss your real estate needs, feel free to call me at 808-737-2093 or toll free at 877-737-2093. You can email me at keahi@lava.net.
OTHER POSTS ABOUT HONOLULU REAL ESTATE WORTH READING
Planning To Sell Your Honolulu Home Part One
Planning To Sell Your Honolulu Home Part Two-Survey
Honolulu Real Estate Vs. Stock
A Good Lesson
Answers To Your Questions About Keahi Pelayo
Honolulu Rental Rates
The Value Of A Realtor
Realtor Code of Ethics
Determining Offering Prices
Pricing Your Home
Long Term Investment Makes Sense
Honolulu Schools
Off Base Housing Allowances-BAH
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