MAKING SURE THERE ARE NO SURPRISES ON MOVE-IN DAY

When a prospective buyer sees a home with a luxury brand French-door refrigerator in the kitchen and the seller’s disclosure indicates the refrigerator stays with the home, said buyer understandably assumes that nice refrigerator is part of the purchase. Sadly, some unscrupulous sellers took advantage of the “loophole” in the seller’s disclosure, and substituted another lower-cost, lower-quality item.

In 2019, the Georgia Association of Realtors took steps to protect buyers from these unscrupulous sellers by modifying the seller’s disclosure statement to make it clear that the items included in the sale must remain, not replaced with something cheaper.

Real estate agents look for closing attorneys who are up to date on regulations and compliance, and who understand the reasons why contract changes are made.