When you decide to sell your home in Illinois, you need to do more than highlight the amenities and include your asking price and photos to the listing. Those are important factors that are necessary to gain the attention of potential buyers. But if you want your real estate transaction goes smoothly, you must also disclose certain facts about the condition of your home. It may seem that the best way to ensure your home sells quickly is for you to hide critical information about your home. But if you do not disclose information about certain issues, your home could end up sitting on the market for a long time and you risk being sued by the next owner.
Learn what information you should include in the disclosure to avoid potential complications with your real estate transactions.
Must provide disclosure in writing
You cannot provide potential buyers with a verbal list of disclosures. You should provide them with a written disclosure so there is proof that you informed them about material defects or issues> that may affect their decisions to purchase your home, states InvestFourMore.com. You know better than anyone else what is wrong with the property and may be an issue for potential buyers. Even though you may not want to scare them off, a buyer-facilitated inspection can bring those defects to light, requiring you to disclose them anyway.
Concerns to include
You should include major problems, not minor ones in your disclosure. For example, if the wooden floor is warped in a small area of the room from an accidental spill, that is not a big problem. The floor is easily replaceable. However, if the floor is warped because the roof leaks or there are moisture issues in the house, you should include that in the disclosure. Other issues that fall under material defects that you should add to your seller’s disclosure document include property boundary issues, foundation repair problems and HVAC concerns.
Anything that is a major expense for a new owner to repair or replace, makes the property uninhabitable and a significant physical issue falls under your obligation to disclose. Failure to disclose certain things can lead to lower offers, reduced marketability and potential litigation.
