North Carolina Residential Property Disclosure violations may be causing buyers to overpay for a home when they find out later that there were undisclosed home defects. An exclusive buyers agent reveals this huge issue in Charlotte’s current market.
Housing prices continue to escalate in Charlotte, NC, causing a very big problem for buyers. One of Skyfor’s top exclusive buyers agents reports she is seeing massive violation of a North Carolina state statute called the “Residential Property Disclosure Act (Provision 47E-7)”. Both sellers and seller’s real estate agents appear to be ignoring this law which was put in place by the legislature to help protect buyers. The report may be seen at http://buyeragentsearch.com/associations-and-real-estate-agents/north-carolina-buyers-agents/
Julie Tuggle, one of Skyfor’s top SmartHomeSearch agents, who works only for property buyers and not sellers states that her buyer would never have paid as much as they did on a recent purchase if they had known the extent of the repairs needed on the home they bought. The problem is that sellers who turn down offers that have been through an inspection, then have knowledge of material defects and other problems with their properties, and they are required to disclose those to the next buyer. If the real estate seller agent also knows of those problems, they are also required by this statute to disclose what they know when they relist the property.
However, this state statute is being widely ignored by both seller’s and seller agents, who can say they simply “don’t remember” or “don’t know about” issues with the property, as there is virtually no enforcement of violations of this statute taking place in Charlotte.
Already, buying a single family home in Charlotte under the $300,000 is a tough experience for buyers due to the lack of inventory. A unique procedure for this state is also that the buyer has to put down due diligence money in addition to earnest money when they make offers. This due diligence money is non-refundable and can range from $1,000 to $2,000.
While the inspection report can give buyers the opportunity to withdraw their offers and get their earnest money back, the due diligence deposit is simply forfeited if an offer is withdrawn. Exclusive Buyers Agents are trying to get the previous home inspection reports, but sellers and seller agents aren’t giving those up. This makes it tough to prove that the seller or seller agents are hiding property defects.
Tuggle reports that “Even the North Carolina Real Estate Commission isn’t taking this problem seriously.” She admits that it is a tough law to police.
The problem for consumers is that in the frenzy to get a home and win a bid in a multiple offer situation, they are having to take the risk that the disclosure statements are accurate, when in fact many of them are not.
Buyers are already at a disadvantage in strong seller’s markets, and especially so in Charlotte. There, the median price of a home in Charlotte is up 7.2% from a year ago, with a median price of $235,000. The average price of home in Charlotte area rose over 4 ½% from a year ago to $326,754.
Market reports and tips for buyers and sellers of real estate in all 50 United states may be found on Skyfor’s website at http://buyeragentsearch.com. Exclusive buyers agents, whose whole offices are dedicated to helping real estate buyers, often share their consumer tips on the site.
Those wishing to consider a real estate home purchase may get a free consultation, tips for home buying and selling, and a list of buyers agents by phoning the association headquarters, or filling out a buyer agent search inquiry at the website.
