Expert: Lori Frankfort - 7/1/2009

Question
Hi, how do you check if somebody has died in a home.  Also, how do you determine if it is possible to build an addition to a house before you buy the house?  Does this need to be done during escrow and who would you contact?

Thanks for the help!

Answer
If someone has passed away in a home within the last 3 years the agent is required to disclose this information, otherwise you'd have to do your own investigation to find out.  This would involve accessing police and death records from your local city government.  There's no guarantee you would find it.  The truth is that because of the age of homes in California, almost every home has had someone die in it at some point in time - especially houses built prior to 1940.

You would need to hire an architect during the escrow process to determine if it is possible to build an addition.

Best,
Lori