Los Altos Real Estate Blog

Homeowners are often baffled by what they think is a reasonable list of things to disclose.  They're fine with the usual stuff but then they get a little put off by being asked about other things that, on the surface, just don't seem to matter.  Oddly enough, there's a mantra in the real estate business - better to over disclose than not!  In this day and age when lawyers are running rampant and adding more pages to the standard disclosure form, it's best to disclose ANYTHING you think might impact the value or use of the home.

As it turns out, the home I'm living in has a steady stream of black widows living in the crawlspace.  I didn't know this before I moved in and, after reading up on black widows, I'm not that concerned about the cats or my kids getting hurt.  Black widow spiders tend to stay to themselves, in dark corners, and primarily at night (they're nocturnal).  Would knowing about the spiders have impacted my moving here?  Probably not.  However, it might have seriously freaked out anyone with arachnophobia!  When in doubt, disclose!  I've seen sellers write pages of single-spaced lists of everything that has ever remotely happened in and around their home for years.  It's the ultimate disclosure and a sort of peak into the history of the home.  It might seem like overkill but it's still a good idea.

A few unusual items worth considering when you sell your home include:

• Spiders! or ants, cockroaches, and any other bug that you see on a regular basis in the home.
• Rats, mice, voles, raccoons, deer, gophers, or any other animal that shows up on the property on a recurring basis.  That includes the neighborhood cat stopping by and making a mess in the corner of the yard!
• The loud dog that barks every morning at 7AM your neighbor jogs by the front of the house.  If a dog barks every day, like clockwork, it's worth disclosing.
• The same goes for other noises include frequent loud parties, loud music, someone working on an engine and constantly testing it, or anything else that is loud and regular that might serve as an annoyance.
• Bird poop!  Yes, you read that right.  If a particular tree is a favorite spot for birds their poop might cause damage to anything placed under it (outdoor furniture) and could limit use of the yard.
• Bees, wasps, hornets, and other territorial insects that have set up camp in and around the yard.  This is serious because someone with an allergy could be seriously injured by a sting from one of these.

In general, it's not just nature that invades your home but anything that makes the possible "quiet enjoyment" of the property difficult.  You may have grown used to whatever is happening over the years but a potential buyer might not feel the same way.  So, when in doubt, anything you think might be a factor to affect the property should be disclosed, no matter how silly it seems!