Whether you are looking to buy or sell it important to know about the SPD.
I'll talk first about the sell side and then the buy. I have only included the first page of this document so you know what it will look like when you see it, you don't need to see all 12 pages until you are ready to start filling them out.
On the Sell side you have the really big job of having to fill this bad boy out. It is a 12 page contract that breaks down every part of your house and asks you for every intimate detail you can come up with about each of these parts. Your REALTOR cannot fill it out for you and you have to be truthful when you fill it out.
I know this sounds like a really big and daunting task and sometimes it can be. When i come to a listing appointment it's always the last document I pull out because I don't want to scare everyone away in showing them the big one. If you know anything about the care that your home has required though, then this really should be that hard. Do you know if your water comes from a well or do you pay for public water? Have you ever replaced your windows? Does your septic tank get pumped every few years or do you pay to use the public sewers? Have you had to replace your roof? Those are the kinds of questions it asks, but it can take a while because it will ask about your HOA, the roof and attic, the basement, termites, structural items, water supply, sewage system, plumbing, water heating, heating system, air conditioning, pools and hot tubs, your soil, previous flooding, environmental issues, and miscellaneous. It does this for the same reason that a car salesman has to show a history of the car they are selling, or that anyone selling anything might need to give a description of what they are selling. Buyers want to know what the property is all about before buying it and legally they have a right to know.
Now you do have the option of putting UNK for unknown for all the things you don't know, and it's ok not to know. It is always better to say you don't know than to make something up or lie.
Even though your REALTOR can't fill out or advise you on how to fill out this document, they can help explain the questions so that you know what you are answering if you have trouble understanding the questions.
Buyers: you want to see this document before purchase because it has all the information you could ever want to know about the property you are thinking of buying. If you are looking at 2 homes that have the same rooms, you want but one has a newer roof or the heating system you want or a well or had flooding in the basement or a leaky pipe you might want to know because it would influence which house you end up buying. Those aren't things that are always readily available to see in pictures, videos, or even the open house. Reading through the SPD will give you all that info plus it will let you know if there's any structural damage that ever occurred and if it got fixed, if there ever been any water damage and how that got fixed. Basically, it tells you everything that's ever been fixed or added to the home and gives you a really good idea of what you're buying. Think of it like the carfax report for your home.
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