Buying a home is an investment that requires business decision-making skills as well as due diligence. It’s easy to get caught up in location, size, and of course, beautiful features of a home. Buyers often forget to consider off-site conditions—those existing beyond the property’s boundaries that could affect a property’s value or a buyer’s personal preferences for living conditions. Some examples are how an area is zoned, the proximity of registered sex offenders, or noise level with respect to a nearby airport.
All too often, an off-site issue isn’t discovered until after a buyer is under contract to purchase the home. And guess what? It’s legally a buyer’s responsibility to do the homework, not the seller’s or the Realtor’s. A good Realtor will remind you to check off-site conditions ahead of time. As the buyer, you must take ownership to follow through.
Listed on the Cincinnati Area/Dayton Area Board of Realtors® contract form is an entire section called “Buyer’s Off-Site Acknowledgement” (updated in 2017). Even older forms used by local brokerages should contain language indicating the buyer’s responsibility for researching off-site conditions in the Greater Cincinnati area.
The contract form requires you to acknowledge that you’ve researched off-site conditions with regard to
∙ Municipality
∙ Zoning
∙ School district
∙ Use of Real Estate and conditions outside the boundaries of the Real Estate, including but not limited to:
∙ Crime statistics
∙ Registration of sex offenders
∙ Noise levels (i.e., airports, interstates, environmental)
∙ Local regulations/development
∙ Or any other issues of relevance to the buyer
∙ The buyer has verified that the Real Estate is suitable for the buyer’s intended use.
Obviously this is not an exhaustive list, which is why the phrase “including but not limited to” exists. If noisy neighbors or the planning of an apartment complex in the area are concerns of yours, for example, you need to do some investigating.
The remainder of this section of the purchase contract states:
“Buyer assumes sole responsibility for researching such conditions. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, Seller makes no representations or warranties with regard to these conditions and the use of the Real Estate. Buyer acknowledges that Buyer has been given the opportunity to conduct research pertaining to any and all of the foregoing prior to execution of this Contract. Buyer is relying solely on Buyer’s own research, assessment and inquiry with local agencies and is not relying, and has not relied, on Seller or any REALTOR® involved in this transaction.” (From Contract to Purchase, adopted by Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors® and Dayton Area Board of Realtors®, copyright November 1, 2017.)
Especially in high-pressured times where there is a low inventory of homes and buyers aggressively compete for the same houses, it’s common for buyers to neglect caution. Do your homework on the areas where you’re searching. Don’t end up legally bound to buy a property with an off-site issue that doesn’t suit how you want to live.
Real Estate Term of the Week
Off-site Conditions: Refers to any conditions that affect the value or owner enjoyment of real property beyond the boundaries of the property, including, but not limited to, area crime, noise level, zoning laws, nearby building plans, school district, and type of neighbors.