True, good point, hence why I use Google to do some investigating on any property I plan to seriously buy. I agree an agent will probably beat around the bush if asked the question directly with something vague but I don’t know, I would still like to think some agents would do the right thing. Maybe @SamShuehRealtor can defend his peeps or fry them. @SamShuehRealtor, if this is your listing and I point blank ask you, “Did someone die in this house?” how would you respond?
Response would be “No one died”. Agent/seller only liable to reveal deaths within the 3 year timeframe.
In California, sellers must reveal if a death in the home has occurred anytime in the past three years, including death by natural causes (although certain types of deaths, like those from AIDS, cannot be disclosed). And if a buyer comes out and asks about a death that occurred at any time, even longer than three years ago, the seller is required to provide a truthful response.
Well, yes and no…
Tricky tricky… well, the fact that you are not required to disclose anything longer than 3 years should usually be good enough to deter people from asking such questions… Not sure about this particular case as I don’t think the instrinsic cause of the deaths has been sufficiently addressed…
That is the law. One needs to disclose recent death even for tenants. It is up to home sellers how they describe it. The realtor is not the one liable since he never lived in the property. You think the flippers want to disclose: " Previous owners did not go to church and were bbqed in the garage which is now a converted master BR"?
As the neighborhood ages just about every property had a dead body or two who use to live there before. The same is true with brand new housing. In Fremont a brand new development was the former burial ground from Ohlone tribe. If one is superstitious then he should not purchase or rent anywhere.
During the investigation at the time of purchase buyers need to due diligence whether he wants to complete the contract or give to other buyers who do not care. If the motivation is seek a discount is rare in the area because of bullet holes or stains.
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Frankly, who cares what the flippers think. They would sell their mother if it meant an additional few grand…
You didn’t answer my question as to how you would have responded to a direct question about whether someone had died on the premises, and if so, whether naturally or unnaturally. Would you have answered that no one died in the last 3 years and just leave it at that or would you have given full disclosure about the unfortunate deaths that happened?
I would think most people can rationalize a natural death on the premises if a senior citizen but what happened here was way different.
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Who cares if somebody died in the house? If I can get it cheaper I love it.
Sounds like you are not superstitious (which is great) but some folks are, like my sig other, and let’s just say she has big input on yay or nay. If you don’t have that additional hurdle, more power to you…
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I think superstition does play a factor. At least in Sunset. That explains why the 18th Ave house isn’t selling.
However, maybe also the cause of fire hasn’t been fully addressed…
The agent will probably say he/she doesn’t know but no death in the past three years to his/her knowledge. So no, you are not going to get the true full answer.
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So, what if you simply at every open house you go to, you state that you heard there was some murder or unnatural death in the house over 3 years ago (when you really don’t know). Wouldn’t the agent then have to be careful to check it out or potentially be liable for not disclosing something? It could well be that nothing happened so the agent will simply confirm that for you (even though you probably suspected it). Would that work?
A good agent would not ask anything beyond what’s required on the disclosure form. The less she knows the better. So she won’t be lying to you when she said she doesn’t know about anything beyond 3 years.
In Hong Kong you will know because banks will refuse to lend to you. Yes, seriously. Banks maintain some sort of database and prices are 20 to 30% lower than identical flats without the unnatural deaths.
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Yeah, I get it, but based on that last part of the CA clause it seems like if you bring up or uncover something material and beyond the 3 year period, the seller is liable if he/she does not fully disclose it. No?
A good selling agent will NOT let buyers talk to the seller. Get it? It’s like you never get to talk to “that guy in the room” in a car dealership.
But the agent is representing the seller no? I mean, I am just reading that clause and thinking how I can work around it if I did come across some property like this where several people died unnaturally and it has been over 3 years. Isn’t that why you and I pay agents that 5%???
“Comes out and ask”? How so? In writing? Or just verbally asks the agent, and what if the agent said she doesn’t know? If you insist she go find out from the seller you will never hear from her again. In this market there is always someone else waiting.
Also you are dealing with the seller agent thru your own agent. Doubly removed.
You guys are making it sound way more complicated than it has to be. Just ask the agent how long the seller has been living there and why they are selling. Usually you’ll get a lot of answers from those simple questions.
Also, I think it makes a difference whether the owner(s) unnaturally died. If someone else other than the owner died, then I think it makes less of a difference.
The only reason this one bothers me is that it was a really bad death situation there. Imagine if you were the buyer, having spent well over 1M, to only find out later that oh yeah there was a mass murder that happened on-site five years ago. I suspect you would not be happy…
In this case the flipper is selling and they have never lived in the house. What’s the next step?
No doubt. What I am saying is you will never get that information from LA. She honestly doesn’t know. You have to get it from other sources like Google.
What? No way! So if 3 tenants hung themselves in brotherhood, that wouldn’t bother you then? Oh yeah, you are a flipper. You are used to police caution tape and body chalk lines…