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The
Hamilton family had saved for years and was excited
about purchasing their first home. In their
excitement, they failed to order a REDreport. If they
had, they would have learned that the house had been
built on a landfill and had a history of flooding.
Also, a convicted criminal lived in the
neighborhood. The property also had asbestos and
lead-based paint. A REDreport would that told them
all this, and much more. Their dream home now
became their ultimate nightmare. |
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RED: Real Estate Disclosure®
Real estate transactions often involve large sums
of money and significant due diligence. A buyer, broker,
agent, lender, inspector or appraiser can inspect a property “On-Site”;
however, many characteristic will go unknown without also
conducting an investigation “On-Line”.
At REDreport.com, you can input a street address
of any property in the United States, and within seconds get a
report that searches dozens of databases to learn more about
that property’s characteristics, such as neighborhood
characteristics, pipelines, environmental hazards and natural
hazards.
There are 20
Questions® that should be addressed with every
real estate transaction or appraisal.
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The
Welbilte Group purchased commercial property assets. They
recently acquired a shopping center at a
"bargain". Because of time constraints, they and
their lenders did minimal due diligence. A REDreport would
have revealed that a governmental agency had found that a
prior dry-cleaner tenant had illegally dumped solvents on
site and the clean-up costs exceeded the value of the
property. The center also sat on an earthquake fault and a
building moratorium prevented expanding the center. Their
investments and loans were going on a one-way trip south. |
The Real
Estate Disclosure Seminar is offered nationally through the Appraisal
Institute for all real estate professionals, including
appraisers, brokers, agents, inspectors, lenders and
attorneys. Many of the issues discussed at the seminar are
available in the Q&A section.
For those that require disclosure or due diligence services, there
is a List of
Consultants who have completed the training.
On-line research is essential for a
full disclosure, as many critical issues may not be observable
on-site. Using satellite mapping, GIS and database retrieval
systems, the REDreport™ has a Search
Criteria that covers 34 issues and databases that may impact
the property or the surrounding areas. After ordering
a REDreport™, the terms and acronyms from the on-line
search are listed in the Glossary.
Of course, care should be taken in reading the REDreport
disclaimer. With all real estate disclosure issues, if
required a competent real estate attorney should be consulted.
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