Buying or selling a Silicon Valley home? Be prepared for an onslought of paperwork.  There will be many questions you’ll be required to answer carefully (if selling) or to read and understand thoroughly (if buying) plus many other documents such as  inspections, reports, and boilerplate (templated or generic) disclosures.  Sometimes the language used will be technical or complicated, so you may need to do a little research as you see the questions.  Here’s a list of some of what you’ll be reading or responsible for completing or ordering, not necessarily in this order:

• the purchase agreement, any addenda & contract disclosures (appx 12 -20 pages in most cases)
• a preliminary title report and possibly CC & Rs (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions)
• if the home is a condo, townhouse or PUD, docs pertaining to the home owner’s association (can run hundreds of pages)
• the standard disclosures common in our area which require the seller to answer questions about the home, yard and area (appx 15-25 pages)
• a natural hazard report (stating whether the home’s in an earthquake zone, flood plain etc.), environmental hazard report (whether there are leaking underground storage tanks and such), tax report (any extra bonds or assessments that will show up on your property tax bill) and other area disclosures ordered by the seller and provided by a company such as JCP, Property ID and other firms (appx 80 pages)
• inspections: usually pest and home are ordered, often also chimney, roof, possibly others such as pool or other specific components of the home (varies but often at least 40 or 50 pages, frequently more)
• for buyers: disclosures on their loan
• for sellers: the listing agreement and disclosures related to it
• at the time of signing the final papers: escrow instructions and lots of forms for transferring title – you will also see the reports seen previously too
• additionally, some real estate brokerages have a lot of their own disclosure forms too
• if the sale is a relocation, there will be a lot of relo papers to complete as well
• if it is a short sale or bank owned home, you will have extra paperwork for that also

By the time it’s all said and done, you will have reviewed several hundred pages of paperwork that are several inches high if stacked. All of this can make consumers a little bit crazy, particularly when there forms which are very nearly duplicates. (It may be a little less if it’s a trustee sale or probate, but only a little less.)

Why is there so much of it?
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Many, many years ago, when I was a new agent, a friend of mine (who wasn’t a Realtor) suggested to me that being a listing agent takes knowledge and skill but “anyone could drive buyers around in their car”.  I was stunned that she could think that buyers’ agents do nothing more than drive from house to house and unlock doors for people. 

Lockbox and Keysafe Set

Last weekend I held a listing in Saratoga open and a young couple asked me if I could work with them in writing the offer on that home.  This happens a lot – buyers are out searching on their own, independent of any professional real estate guidance, and when they find a home they like they just “use” the agent who’s got the listing.

Apparently, the old view and the current one aren’t so different from each other.  It amounts to this: who needs a buyer’s agent?
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A colleague of mine sometimes asks me to help teach a course he offers on Real Estate Practice (one of the requirements for getting a real estate license) at West Valley College in Saratoga.   He’s been giving this weekly class for a few years now,  and several times I’ve come in to instruct on the broad topic of disclosure (or “disclosures”) for the 2-3 hour session.  It’s very interesting and a fun topic to for me cover because it reaches into some uncommon, yet critically important, areas of discussion in real estate.

What is “disclosure”?

Disclosure is affirmatively offering information that a the other party in a real estate transaction (and the other party’s agent) would want or need to know to make an informed decision on the realty purchase or sale. Often, this information is not easily apparent.  Most of the time, disclosure refers to the seller’s obligation to disclose in particular.  That will be our focus in this post: the seller’s disclosures.

The sellers obligation to disclose is not the same everywhere.

Disclosure laws and practices vary from state to state, both in terms of what must be disclosed and, sometimes, what must not be disclosed. Sometimes it’s a “don’t ask, don’t tell” situation. My comments here refer to the practice in California, which may be different from other states. 

Silicon Valley has varied issues which must be disclosed. Some of them are regional (rather than particular to one home in particular). Some of what must be disclosed is a “natural hazard” and some is an “environmental hazard”.  Other issues might not be hazardous, but instead a nuisance.

Next, find some examples of regional things in the Santa Clara Valley that might be disclosed. In the south county areas of Morgan Hill and Gilroy, disclosure issues will include the farming and crop dusting. In some of the newer, downtown San Jose loft communities, there will be disclosure about the proximity of trains and their late-night runs nearby (horns blaring).  In Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Almaden Valley, and may areas near hills, there may be disclosures about high water tables, water runoff, and damp crawl spaces.  Remote areas all around Santa Clara County may report a requirement to clear brush within so many feet of structures for fire safety.

Throughout Silicon Valley, we have some constants that should be disclosed. Issues here that the seller needs to tell the buyer include the fact that sometimes we have drought years and cannot water our lawns when we want.  Also, we have expansive clay soils and that is important to know regarding proper grading – do it wrong and your foundation may suffer.  Earthquake fault zones and other natural hazard zones also must be disclosed to buyers. (You would want to know if you were buying a home on the San Andreas or Hayward Fault, wouldn’t you?) Forms and ordered reports do address most of these issues, luckily!

Forms are a big help, but they have limits. 

There are forms – lots and lots of forms, particularly when buying or selling a home in Santa Clara County or Silicon Valley – that can help with the obliation to disclose. But what has to be disclosed isn’t necessarily written on the form. The form is just an aid to making that full disclosure.

How does a seller know when something must be disclosed?
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Did you know that there are some things which your Realtor (or real estate agent) is prohibited from discussing with you? This is a surprise to many Silicon Valley home buyers.

Fair Housing Laws prevent real estate professionals from telling consumers certain types of information, particularly demographic information, anywhere in the United States. For instance, your agent cannot discuss with you these things:

• where racial groups have the highest concentration
• where people are found by religious affiliation
• where certain languages are spoken or not spoken
• whether or not there are halfway houses for alcoholics nearby
• if neighbors are mentally ill

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