Cleveland Real Estate News

Yahoo! Finance featured a story today about home sellers who are less than truthful about problems that might exist in a home, when buyers ask questions.  Questions like how much are the utility bills.  The truth is, you, Mr. Buyer, might like a cooler home than I do, so if I sell you my house, your bill might be lower than mine…or vice versa.  A better question might be, does the house have any weatherization upgrades? Newer windows, insulation added, etc?  It’s also true that if someone tells you they pay $500 a month on heating bills, your bills will probably be high even if you DO like it cooler than the current owners.

Here in Ohio, we already have laws passed to help protect buyers. Every seller should be filling out residential property disclosures. The disclosures are created by the State of Ohio. They ask questions regarding structure, mechanicals like heating and electrical systems, water intrusion, roof issues.  Sellers are asked to cover the last five years of ownershp and disclose any issues that have arisen.  Did your basement flood and you had roots cut out of your basement clean out drain in 2006? Then disclose that you resolved the issue but that it did in fact happen.  You get the picture.  I think what sellers can sometimes miss is the main point about who is protected by being truthful. The buyer gets more information about the house for sure.  But the seller is given more protection as well by being truthful so the buyer knows what they are getting when they purchase.  Meaning they are less likely to try and sue you afterwards!

Often, a for sale by owner seller doesn’t realize these forms exist.  So if you are selling your home on your own, you might want to get this form from the State Department of Commerce and give yourself extra protection. 

I was surprised reading the article today that there are still states without disclosure laws.  We can be glad we are protected here.  There are always people who try to be less than truthful, but my seven year experience has proven that most sellers disclose issues in a fair and honest way. 

Here is the Yahoo! article  in it’s entirety.   Peace Out – 3C