Real estate is a tree-killing business. I estimate that my average buyer client’s transaction file is three to four inches thick and hundreds of pages long. The lion’s share of these pages is comprised of disclosures and inspection reports. If you’re a goal-oriented type of gal, it is tempting to attack that stack of paper like an unpleasant chore—to initial and sign away to get it out of the way as fast as you can. I’m here to tell you to fight that impulse—just this once!

When the typical Smart Woman prepares to buy a $30,000 car, she goes to the Blue Book to research market values, goes to epinions.com to check out the feedback of others who already own the car, and maybe to the purchase decision-making gurus at Consumer Reports. She may also email a bunch of folks she knows to see if anyone has the type of car she’s considering, and
how their experience has been with the vehicle. If she’s buying used, she’ll go to CarFax.com to get a vehicle history report, and take it to her own mechanic to get a professional opinion on the car before she buys it.

Well, homes aren’t like cars in that there is no standard repository of information about your “model” of home, and no database that keeps track of the history of repairs done to individual homes. That thick set of disclosures, inspections, and other reports are the safety net that keeps you from buying a lemon of a house.

The point of these documents is to equip you to make your final decision whether to buy the property only after you have full and unbiased information. Instead of looking at these papers like a stack of signatures you have to churn out, look at them as the final phase of a study project.

Depending on the length of your contingency or objection period, you’ll have up to about a three-week time period after you get into contract. In that time, your job is to research, study and familiarize yourself with the details of the property by attending your inspections and reading disclosure and reports. That’s the only way you’ll be able to say a fully informed ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ to the purchase, or to renegotiate the price or other terms if you need to.

General Rules for How to Read and Use Disclosures,
Inspections & Reports

• Read them front to back – there is some potential for eye-glazing, but persevere and pay close attention;
• Keep a running, written (or digital) list of questions, and present it to your broker or agent. Then follow up and get answers—from your agent, the inspector(s) or the sellers. Feel free to call inspectors directly with questions, if you’d like;
• There is no such thing as a “bad” inspection report or an absolute “deal breaker,” other than a home that needs repairs that you don’t want (or can’t afford) to complete;
• If the inspection results are surprising, you might be able to renegotiate your deal with the seller (unless your seller is a bank and you’re buying an REO – then, as-is means as-is). For minor items, though, you should plan to use the inspection reports as the start of your long-term home maintenance/upgrade plan;
• Keep everything in perspective—even brand new homes sometimes have items that should be repaired, replaced, or installed differently: no home is perfect, and the older the home is, the more of a “history” it will have.