Seller's Disclosure And Condition Of Property Addendum
The Seller's Disclosure And Condition Of Property Addendum in Kansas City is the real estate document where Kansas City home sellers disclose to home buyers, potential home buyers, listing agents and selling agents ALL material defects, conditions and facts known to the Seller which may materially affect the value of the property. The Seller's Disclosure is filled out by the home seller before the home is put on the market. Bank homes are often sold as-is, with no Seller's Disclosure. This is because banks rarely have knowledge of the homes they're selling. However, if they do know any material defects with the home, they must disclose the info and can't simply hide behind the vale of selling the home as-is.
When home buyers make an offer on a typical resale home, they will read the Seller's Disclosure and factor that information into any offers they make... Or at least they should. However, some buyers will go ahead and try to ask for repairs later, even though they were disclosed up front to the buyer. Be aware that if an item was disclosed in the Seller's Disclosure, it could be tough for a buyer to convince a seller to fix it once it's "uncovered" during the buyer's inspection process after going under contract.
Filling out a Seller's Disclosure can help jog a sellers memory so they can accurately disclose prior issues they are aware of and the seller also gets the opportunity to state what, if any, repairs were made to address the issues. Being dishonest when filling out a Seller's Disclosure could leave a seller with serious exposure later and that's why most sellers answer the questions honestly and to the best of their knowledge. Home sellers will occasionally ask if a certain item should be disclosed and the answer is almost always... If it was worth asking the question, it's worth disclosing to protect yourself. Some of the critical areas covered in a Seller's Disclosure include Infestation, Structural items, Room additions, Plumbing, Heating, Air conditioning, Electrical, Plumbing, Hazardous materials, Neighborhood info, Utility info, what items are Fixtures in the home, Equipment and Appliances in the home, etc... In other words, most of the things that a Buyer would want to know about a home before buying it.
The Seller's Disclosure requires the seller to make an honest effort to answer the questions presented. The Seller's Disclosure is not a warranty or guaranty and a buyer should never take a Seller's Disclosure form as replacement for conducting their own independent home inspections. Buyer's should use the Seller's Disclosure along with their home inspections to evaluate the home being purchased.
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