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Do You Need Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors to Sell a Home?
Everybody and their uncle knows you need smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to sell a home in the Sacramento region . . . or . . . do you? First place to look, of course, is the California Residential Purchase Agreement. Paragraph 7 B1 lets the preparer of the contract check a box as to which party will pay for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Agents who are on the ball will specify the buyer will pay for those items when the home is sold AS IS, but not every agent is on the ball.
Now, state and local laws require a carbon monoxide detector be installed on every level of the home. Some appraisers count every level, even a one-step-down family room as an extra level. They might note basements as an extra level. The danged things are only $20 a piece, and they don’t have to be wired into anything, just plugged in. But what happens if you don’t install carbon monoxide detectors? Will firefighters ax down your door? Will the CO cops break into your home dressed in haz-mat suits to arrest you?
What happens is the buyer’s appraiser won’t release the appraisal report and /or the lender will call for carbon monoxide detectors to be installed before the loan will fund. Or, the way I explain it to sellers: shit rolls down hill. The appraiser will look for the carbon monoxide detector immediately upon entering the home. If they don’t see it, they will often leave and charge the buyer for a return visit. The buyer will then complain to their agent. Their agent will then call me to complain. See where this crap rolls?
So do I naturally call the seller and complain? Are you joking me?
Because I’ve already explained it upfront and if a seller chooses not to install a carbon monoxide detector, I am not the CO police, either. Hey, I ask you. Whose fault is it the buyer doesn’t have cash and needs to get a loan? Is it the seller’s fault? As solely a listing agent, I realize agents who represent both parties do not share this attitude, and, in fact, find it shocking, from their own biased point of view.
Our state and local laws require a smoke detector in every sleeping area; however, an appraiser’s definition of a sleeping area might be different than yours or mine. Smoke detectors are also required in every hallway and on every level. If the smoke detector features a removable battery, the unit must contain a non-removable sealed battery good for 10 years. Which excludes every smoke detector in my house, now that I think about it.
Sometimes, on my AS IS listings in Sacramento I include a clause in the listing agent’s AVID that states the buyer is responsible for installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. It is not really legal because buyers must sign receipt of that document and may not agree, but I stick it in there anyway. When there is no loan, then it becomes a matter of whose responsibility is it to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors (sellers), who will pay for it (buyers or sellers) and, most importantly, who will enforce it.
And I think you know the answer to that last one.
An additional seller consideration, though, is a signature on the Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) does state the seller promises the smoke detectors are installed in accordance with the law.
This matter should be discussed by the listing agent with the buyer’s agent beforehand, just to avoid misunderstandings. However, most buyer’s agents are trained to look for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors when they first show the home and make notes in case the buyer decides to make an offer. If agents aren’t providing this service for their buyers, they should.
California Transfer Disclosure Statement Mistakes Made by Sellers
Follow your agent’s tips to fill out the Transfer Disclosure Statement online.
Completing the California Transfer Disclosure Statement can be troublesome for many sellers in Sacramento. Although these documents are common place for most real estate professionals, we need to remember our sellers are not licensed in real estate. They don’t understand our lingo and “shop talk” has no place in Sacramento real estate. We need to make the completion of seller disclosures simple and easy for our clients.
I always tell my clients to call me if they have questions when completing the Transfer Disclosure Statement. We have only 7 days to deliver them to the buyer after contract acceptance. They don’t always call. Maybe it’s late at night when they get around to viewing the paperwork online. They just want to finish it and be done. Therefore, sellers might skim through the paperwork and not completely read the questions.
Common mistakes routinely made by sellers when completing the Transfer Disclosure Statement
On page one, Section I, Coordination With Other Disclosure Forms, there is a box for adding reports made pursuant to the contract. YES, check that box. The buyer will do a home inspection and possibly pest or roof or chimney or sewer, a whole slew of inspections.
On page one, Section II, Sellers Information, there is a box to check as to whether the seller is an occupant or not an occupant. Basically, do you live there or not? If the seller doesn’t live in the house anymore, the seller is not an occupant. Easy answer, but many sellers don’t know.
Also on page one are the items included in the sale of the home and descriptions. Here are hard-to-answer questions:
What is a 220 volt? It’s an enormous receptacle with 3 prongs that your dryer plugs into.
What is an Exhaust Fan? In the ceiling, generally, in laundry rooms, bathrooms and in your range hood in the kitchen. It sucks moisture out.
Number of Remote Controls? This is the device that opens your garage door. If you note 2 remotes, you better have two remotes to hand over to the buyer at closing. If you’re unsure, put zero. Be safe.
What is a Gas Starter? This is a key on the wall that starts a gas fireplace. If you have a wood burning fireplace, you do not have a gas starter.
Page 2 Part C of the Transfer Disclosure Statement, more common mistakes when sellers check No and should check YES:
Item #2) This is almost always YES. If for no other reason than you have a fence, usually in the back yard, that is shared and separates a neighboring property from yours.
Item #12) CC&Rs. Almost every home in Sacramento has CC&Rs. These are covenants, conditions and restrictions recorded in the public records around the time the home was built. The preliminary title report will tell you whether there are CC&Rs recorded against the property. Your title insurance policy when you bought the home will disclosure CC&Rs in Schedule B and except them from coverage.
Item #13 and #14 concern properties located within a Homeowner’s Association. If a seller pays an HOA fee to an HOA, then an HOA has certain authority. Check YES. If there are common areas shared with neighbors in an HOA the answer to #14 is YES as well.
At the bottom of the second page, if you checked YES to any of the 16 questions, you need to explain WHY you answered in the affirmative. Be brief. For example, you might say: #2 Fences. And it explains it all in one word.
Risk management says if you’re gonna get into trouble with the buyer, it could relate to the Transfer Disclosure Statement. Unhappy buyers who believe a seller lied to them are the worst kind to face in court. Don’t make these common mistakes when completing the TDS. If you need assistance or have a question, call your Sacramento Realtor for guidance. We are here for you.
Are Homeless People a Material Fact in Midtown Sacramento?
Are homeless people a material fact in Midtown Sacramento?
A home seller asked me recently: are homeless people a material fact when selling a home in Midtown Sacramento? She said she’s lived in Midtown for so long that the homeless population in the area has become a fact of life, a daily occurrence, no different than the sun rising and setting every day. You come to expect it so you don’t pay much attention to it. Homeless people are prominent near homes in Midtown Sacramento, as well as other areas of Sacramento, and all over the world.
Except maybe for Cuba. You ask a Cuban about homeless people and they tell you there are none. That the government provides. Fifteen days of rations is the stipend in Cuba. People have to fend off hunger the rest of the month. While I did not see any homeless people during our trip to Cuba last year, it doesn’t necessarily mean they do not exist. Further, the close bonds developed through a strong family structure in Cuba is often such that there is always a place to go. Not quite the same as our families in Los Estados Unidos. Cubans will say if you see a homeless person, it’s because the person chooses to be homeless.
Not so in California. Many people are homeless because they have no choice. Still, they are not a defined protected class under the 7 protected classes of Fair Housing or even the extended classification by the state. But does that make homeless people a material fact?
I asked the seller if the homeless people sleep on her sidewalk, whether the homeless trespass on her property or throw stuff on her lawn? Generally with a disclosure, it’s a good idea to stick with what you know. You don’t want to go overboard, but you also do not want to under-disclosure or intentionally withhold a material fact. Material facts are anything that would prevent a buyer from buying the home or reduce the amount the buyer would pay for the home if such a fact were known.
Simply the fact a seller is asking whether a disclosure should be made often indicates the answer is yes. However, I suggest sellers stick to the facts and be brief. People get into trouble when they ramble too much. As a Midtown Realtor in Sacramento, my duty is to look out for my client’s interests. I’ve heard people mumble about Realtors not being forth coming or discouraging disclosures because maybe the transaction won’t close, and that’s such a dumb analogy. The fact is most Realtors routinely practice risk management to reduce the chances of either the agents or the sellers getting sued.
When questioned further, the seller said homeless people dig through the recyclables in the street, although not her containers because she does not put her recyclables in the street for pickup. Does she know for a fact those people are homeless? If the question is are homeless people a material fact, then the seller should probably verify whether those trash pickers are homeless. A good way to disclose might be people pick through the recyclable trash containers in the street and there are homeless people in the area. Those are the facts the seller knows.
Buyers don’t really care what sellers tell them, as long as a seller discloses. That’s the bottomline. If you’re looking for a Midtown Realtor in Sacramento, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. 40 years of service.
Why Agents Can Not Fill Out Real Estate Disclosures For Sellers
Real estate agents are not allowed to complete seller real estate disclosures.
Even in today’s world I still need to explain why I cannot complete the California real estate disclosures for my clients. Because they don’t know the reason. In fact, some Sacramento Realtors don’t know, either. Not everybody knows that when I was first licensed by the state of California to sell real estate in the 1970s, I had also enrolled in law school. I am intrigued by law still; it’s fascinating. Although accepted into law school, I did not go. As I sat in the conference room filling out my paperwork, a law student stopped by, poked in his head and hissed, “Don’t do it.”
True story. Although that wasn’t the reason I decided against a second career in law. Basically, I couldn’t live on the salary of a lawyer, and that plan was simply to supplement my real estate income by doing legal things for my real estate clients like divorces, wills and estate planning. Turned out I didn’t need supplementation, so I dropped out. But it doesn’t mean I don’t have respect for the profession because I do. I pay attention to the new lawsuits that pop up in real estate, and many cases focus on real estate disclosures. A properly prepared real estate disclosure can be the catalyst for a dismissal.
I am also cognizant of the fact that I am not a lawyer. Nope, didn’t finish law school, didn’t get a law degree and I am not licensed to practice law. Completing real estate disclosures is not a real estate function of a Sacramento Realtor. Can’t so much as touch my pen to that paper. Even when I am tempted to speed things up or make the process easier for all of us. And an agent can be tempted when she is working with an elderly client who might have difficulty reading or writing or maybe struggles with DocuSign.
It is why I invested 2 hours yesterday to verbally “walk” a client, question by question, through completing the forms over the phone. This client recently sold a home in the Bay area. His Bay area agent had filled out the disclosures for him, he insisted (which probably did happen, not all agents are on the ball). Well, if anything, this client will remember that this Sacramento listing agent did not, LOL. Although, I spent several hours explaining what the questions were, why he needed to answer them, and we discussed each question over the phone. I am hopeful he has a sense of relief now that he has completed his real estate disclosures. It is his house. He is the individual who needs to disclose.
This will probably be a seller who will never get sued. Lots of sellers are never served with a summons, even in our litigation-prone world of real estate in California. Non-disclosure or inappropriate real estate disclosures are often the source. If you eliminate that from the equation, odds are in a seller’s favor. This does not mean that I can assist another seller through his own set of real estate disclosures if I do not represent that seller. THAT, I’m afraid, would be practicing law.
What Are California Home Sellers Required to Tell a Buyer?
When selling a home in Sacramento, many home sellers have no idea what they are required to tell a buyer and what kinds of disclosures for selling California real estate they must provide. A crucial service that real estate agents provide for home sellers as a Sacramento listing agent is to explain to clients how to complete the real estate disclosures and related paperwork. Because of all of the lawsuits, it’s not easy to complete the paperwork. The lawyers make the paperwork very difficult for a regular homeowner.
For example, in the Transfer Disclosure Statement, a question that is often overlooked because it does not have a number next to it and the type size is small is whether the seller lives there. It asks: Seller is BOX [or] is not BOX occupying the property. A seller called me yesterday to ask if she was an occupant because she did not know the answer to that question, yet she is a reasonably intelligent woman. It’s possible that she was at somebody else’s house when she was completing the TDS and perhaps interpreted the question literally. Dunno.
Why can’t the form ask if the property is a rental or a residence? Or, to make it simpler, do you live in this home? Or, do you live in this home 12 months out of the year? Or, have you ever rented your home? Is your home rented now?
This is just the first question. What else are California home sellers required to tell buyers? You’d be amazed.
I have no idea how sellers who represent themselves as a For Sale by Owner manage to complete their real estate disclosures without competent direction. These are the documents that after escrow closes the buyer may choose to sue the seller about, to go to court over. The one thing that is often standing between the seller and a judgment are the seller disclosures. They have no clue what are California home sellers required to tell buyers.
It’s not so much what a seller says sometimes as how the seller says it. A Sacramento real estate agent, while she cannot complete the form for a seller nor give a seller legal advice, she can certainly offer guidance. Let’s not even talk about the four-page Seller Property Questionnaire at this point and its question about pre-1978 that nobody but an agent understands.
Home sellers need to be truthful and honest and answer each and every question. They should keep nothing from the buyer. If you have a question about your real estate disclosures, call your Sacramento real estate agent before answering.
