Buying or Selling a Home/disclosures

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Expert: John Hendricks - 1/7/2009


Question
Hello,
I realize you specialize in the Northern CA area, but I thought perhaps you could provide me with some assistance.  I purchased a home a few months ago in Orange County CA and recently discovered that 2 rooms which are an addition to the house do not have heat. There are vents in each room but no heat comes out. No mention of this was made in the disclosure report or in the inspection report(the inspector checked to see if the furnace worked - he did not check to see if heat came out of the vents in every room.) Our home warranty sent out a repairman who indicated the furnace is too small to force heat to those 2 rooms even though there are vents in there. Since this is an addition he claims they probably never received heat once they were completed, stating a larger furnace is needed for the size of the house in order to heat those rooms, which will cost over $2500. The home warranty co, will not pay for this because it is a pre-existing condition. These rooms were added back in the 1980's. The sellers lived in the house so they had to be aware of this problem but did not disclose it.  What recourse do I have?  Thank you.


Answer
Dear Lisa;

Thank you for your question… I am sorry that you are in the mist of this problem…

Disclosures are designed to provide any and all KNOWN facts that may affect the desirability of the property to the buyer directly from the seller as well as the real estate agent. The buyer may have to prove through documentation that the Seller knew of the questioned conditions and did not disclose the problems accordingly. If the real estate agent knew of this condition as well via the Seller or their own visual inspection, the Realtor and their company may be liable as well. This proof would be needed to collect any compensation for the needed repairs or replacement of the furnace. You may want to review your contract to get acquainted with how disputes are resolved and the responsibilities of the seller and real estate agent as well when completing disclosure statements.

The first step is to take pictures and get estimates plus evaluations from three licensed contractors prior to completing any work on the heating system. If you decide to complete the work now, it should not affect your ability to collect damages if they are warranted. After building your case of the inadequate heating system, don’t forget to include within the contents of the evaluation, that it is the opinion of the contractor that this has been an ongoing situation that the previous owner had to know about, call your Realtor and set a meeting with him/her and the Broker/Manager of the real estate company. During the meeting explain your situation in detail, providing them copies of your findings and ask them to get involved to remedy the problem. Although they state that they should not be involved after the close of escrow since this is now between buyer and seller, there is some question as to the involvement of the Realtors who represented you and the Seller in the transaction. They are considered experts and could have noticed the lack of heat in the bedrooms. If that was the case, they should be responsible for reporting the potential problem on their inspection report. Because of this potential problem for them, your Realtor will probably be instructed to contact the other Realtor and his/her Broker in the transaction to see if they could bring resolve to this problem.

Not having reviewed your contract or disclosure statements, it is difficult to assess the situation in its entirety.  I would highly recommend you contact a real estate attorney in your area prior to your initial meeting to have the attorney review your contracts, disclosures, and your completed estimates and evaluation of the heating system, plus my recommendations to make sure you are correct in your approach to the problem. Take an additional attorneys card with you to the meeting attaching it to your findings. It should provide you additional strength and results in your initial meeting with the Realtor and Broker/Manager of real estate company.

I hope this has been of some help to you in resolving your problem…

Warmest Regards;
John Hendricks

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John Hendricks

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As a California Realtor for 23 years practicing in Marin and Sonoma Counties, it is now time to provide counsel through AllExperts.com to those who need advise in real estate. My knowledge and experience includes a wide range of resale residential real estate purchases, new home sales, income related investment properties involved in 1031 exchanges, and land. Let me help you in any of these areas...

Experience

John Hendricks has established himself as one of Marin & Sonoma Counties premier Realtors. A native Californian, John is a well-known and respected Realtor in both Marin & Sonoma Counties who has resided in the Northbay since 1976. John began his real estate career in 1986, and since then has distinguished himself as one or Northern California's top producing Realtors. Before joining Frank Howard Allen Realtors, John was an associate of the Prudential California Realty from 1990-1992 where his outstanding sales achievements earned him one of the company's highest honors, the prestigious "President's Circle Membership", presented to the top 2% of associates for sales and earning excellence. Since his association with the highly regarded Frank Howard Allen Realtors in 1992, John has once again established himself as one of his company's Top 10 Producing Realtors in Marin & Sonoma Counties for the years 1993 through 2007 and now in 2008. Five continuous years of outstanding performance has now allowed John to join 15 other Realtors in the prestigious "Lifetime Hall of Fame" for Frank Howard Allen Realtors. John established a group of professional individuals who specialize in a variety of areas in real estate called, 'Lundmark-Hendricks Fine Homes' This group of professionals are dedicated to the success of representing clients with the greatest amount of care and service when either buying or selling real estate.

Organizations
California Association of Realtors National Association of Realtors

Education/Credentials
Upon Request...

Awards and Honors
Frank Howard Allen Realtors "Hall of Fame Member" Chairman's Circle for 10 consecutive years

Past/Present Clients
Joe Louis & Sharon Sigurdson We want to thank you again for your excellent representation of interests during the recent purchase of our home in Petaluma as well as the sell of our home in Mill Valley. We had the unusual pleasure of working with you during the last year both as sellers and buyers. We felt that our interests were always paramount and that we received a very fair price for the sale of the Mill Valley house as well as our purchase of our new home. This speaks particularly well of you, because of the recent unstable and chaotic real estate market. Will Finke "Quite frankly, we came out of a very difficult situation, which time does not allow elaborating on. This was one of the greatest experiences of our lives as clients. John Hendricks is one of the top businessmen I have ever met." Bruce & Nancy Rosentreter "I chose John Hendricks to sell my house. I picked him because I thought he was professional, aggressive, and that he could get top dollar for my house. He fulfilled my expectations completely." Joy Schuelke "Since we were trying to sell a high end home in a very tough market, and in the middle of a very rainy winter, the prospects seemed quite bleak. I was convinced at the time, and am even more so now, that without John's tenure, patience, and tenacity, we would have not been able to move the property." Lynn McCarthy "I cannot stress strongly enough how impressed I was with the service provided to me by John and his group. Throughout the entire transaction, John was always available, always forthcoming with excellent advice based on his years of experience, and always willing to put in the extra effort to make this a positive experience for me. I feel lucky to have had the experience of working with him." Lea Lieurance-Turk "Thank you John for your outstanding real estate services for the past 5 years I have known you. You have made my dreams come true as far as selling and buying property."
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