North Carolina Residential Property Disclosure
All Sellers in North Carolina, with few exceptions, have to complete the North Carolina Residential Property Disclosure Statement
The easiest way to do this is to complete the form on line, at the NC Real Estate Commission site, and to print it off.
This yields the crispest original, and gives us a form that will survive multiple scans and faxes better than most hand-completed forms. The Listing Agent can then upload the completed form to the MLS listing attachments, so Buyers agents have access to it.
Easy, efficient, effective!
Exceptions to disclosure requirements include foreclosures, new construction that has never been lived in, lease/option transactions.
But, for resale, the homeowner should plan on completing the form. Agents do not fill out the disclosures, as it is the Seller’s role to tell what they know about the home. as the instructions on the form indicate, Sellers really do not have to disclose much. They legally cannot deny problems if they know they exist, but they have the alternative to mark “No Representation.”
“No Representation” is the weakest form of disclosure, and can affect market value. It can be used legitimately when the Seller has no knowledge of the property, as in an estate sale. But it can also be used when Sellers would rather not disclose an issue. It is not uncommon for Sellers to mark “No Representation” when the home has polybutylene piping, as that is a negative for many Buyers. A fully completed disclosure with “No Representation” in a few key areas can therefore be a red flag to an alert REALTOR® or Buyer.
