In Alaska real estate, sales practice and State law, is says sellers are to disclose to the buyer what they know about the property, what problems they’ve had, what they have fixed, etc. This disclosure is called “State of Alaska Residential Real Property Transfer Disclosure Statement.” The State says seller must either disclose, or both waive the disclosure if the property is new, or if both the seller and buyer agree to waive the disclosure.
Here are the high points of the “right to inspect” as laid out in Alaska’s commonly used “Purchase and Sales Agreement.”
* Seller agrees to maintain the property in it’s current condition, all the way through to closing. This means if the garage door opener fails once you are in contract and you are the seller, you must repair or replace it.
* Buyer has the right to inspect early, usually within 10 days, of making an offer. The buyer can choose any qualified professional inspector(s), but must notify the seller who has the right to refuse certain inspectors, but not unreasonably. Seller agrees to make the property available for the inspection.
The older a home is, the more code changes may affect a sale
* Buyers inspection may include, but is not limited to: square footage, school boundaries, zoning, avalanche, sex offenders, pest inspections, structural, plumbing, sewer and water, heating appliances, insulation, electrical, roofing, soils, drainage, foundation, mechanical systems, code compliances, possible environmental hazards such as asbestos, mold, illegal drug or substance manufacturing, urea-formaldehyde, radon gas, waste disposal sites, and underground tanks. (whew, did we miss anything?)
* The buyer can inspect anything obviously. The buyer has 72 hours to either terminate the purchase after his inspection or accept the property or request repairs from the seller.
* If requesting repairs, buyer shall request in writing and attach a copy of his inspection or findings from his due diligence. A time frame for sellers response is included in the request, usually under a week.
* The seller, after being requested to make repairs, can agree to make the repair, negotiate on the repairs such as offer a credit, or simply not agree to make some repairs.
* If buyer and seller are in agreement, the work is done prior to closing and may be subject to a reinspect, at the buyers cost. If buyer and seller ARE NOT in agreement, the transaction is terminated and both parties go their own ways.
* A repair condition or result of an inspection becomes a material amendment to the “State of Alaska Residential Real Property Transfer Disclosure Statement” and be disclosed to subsequent potential purchasers.
As you can see, the “Right to Inspect” has been well thought out and is meant to keep buyers and sellers on equally fair ground.
