Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement and Your Home Inspection

The Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement (SPDS) and Home Inspection Report
are two very important parts of a Real Estate transaction that don’t necessarily go
hand in hand although both are intended to provide the buyer with valuable
information about thee property.

The SPDS is a document with a series of questions that the seller answers to
disclose known facts about the property regardless of when they occurred. For
example: Are you aware of any damage to any structure on the Property by any of
the following?
owing? Flood, Fire, Wind, Expansive soil(s), Water, Hail etc. Conditions on
the SPDS may or may not have been corrected already.

The Home Inspection is a “snapshot” of the home at that moment in time when
the inspector is present. The inspection report wi
willll note many existing conditions
on the SPDS. Evidence of corrected items may or may not appear on the
inspection report and some current problems might not be readily visible to the
inspector and can go undetected during the home inspection.
 Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement and Your Home Inspection

Does a home inspector use the SPDS in an inspection?

Some home inspectors will ask for a copy of the The Seller’s Property Disclosure
Statement while others don’t. It’s a matter of preference for the inspector or
based on the level of experience that the inspector hashas.. At White Glove Home
Inspections, we do not ask for the SPDS instead, we do a full home inspection
looking at all areas of the property. The inspection report will alert everyone of
issues that were not disclosed or missed in the SPDS and allow the Buyer to know
if the items that have been disclosed in the SPDS were property repaired.

Is the seller required to provide the SPDS?

That’s a great question! In these days of the “flippers,” some sellers refuse to
complete the The Seller’s Property Disclosure StStatement.
atement. These “flippers” never
lived in the home. They probably received a SPDS when they purchased the
property. However, this may be their way of not disclosing what they know about
the property to the next buyer. A buyer can request (in the contract) thatt the
seller complete the SPDS but the seller can also reject that offer.

The Final thought on the Seller’s Property Disclosure Statements and Home
Inspections
State law requires the Seller to disclose all material facts about the property to
the buyer. Even if both parties agree not to use the SPDS, these facts must be
disclosed. A home inspection is an independent (third party, unbiased) report of
major deficiencies that aid a buyer’s purchase decision. A professional home
inspection should be part of every real estate transaction whether or not there is
a completed SPDS. Some sellers will have an inspection done before listing the
property. Those homeowners can either repair issues prior to the sale or
o price the
home accordingly.