Buying or selling a Silicon Valley home? Be prepared for an onslought of paperwork.  There will be many questions you’ll be required to answer carefully (if selling) or to read and understand thoroughly (if buying) plus many other documents such as  inspections, reports, and boilerplate (templated or generic) disclosures.  Sometimes the language used will be technical or complicated, so you may need to do a little research as you see the questions.  Here’s a list of some of what you’ll be reading or responsible for completing or ordering, not necessarily in this order:

• the purchase agreement, any addenda & contract disclosures (appx 12 -20 pages in most cases)
• a preliminary title report and possibly CC & Rs (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions)
• if the home is a condo, townhouse or PUD, docs pertaining to the home owner’s association (can run hundreds of pages)
• the standard disclosures common in our area which require the seller to answer questions about the home, yard and area (appx 15-25 pages)
• a natural hazard report (stating whether the home’s in an earthquake zone, flood plain etc.), environmental hazard report (whether there are leaking underground storage tanks and such), tax report (any extra bonds or assessments that will show up on your property tax bill) and other area disclosures ordered by the seller and provided by a company such as JCP, Property ID and other firms (appx 80 pages)
• inspections: usually pest and home are ordered, often also chimney, roof, possibly others such as pool or other specific components of the home (varies but often at least 40 or 50 pages, frequently more)
• for buyers: disclosures on their loan
• for sellers: the listing agreement and disclosures related to it
• at the time of signing the final papers: escrow instructions and lots of forms for transferring title – you will also see the reports seen previously too
• additionally, some real estate brokerages have a lot of their own disclosure forms too
• if the sale is a relocation, there will be a lot of relo papers to complete as well
• if it is a short sale or bank owned home, you will have extra paperwork for that also

By the time it’s all said and done, you will have reviewed several hundred pages of paperwork that are several inches high if stacked. All of this can make consumers a little bit crazy, particularly when there forms which are very nearly duplicates. (It may be a little less if it’s a trustee sale or probate, but only a little less.)

Why is there so much of it?
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If you are planning to buy or sell a home in Los Gatos, Almaden Valley, Saratoga or anywhere in Silicon Valley, you may be wondering which inspections or reports you’ll need and how much money you’ll be spending on them.

First, let’s distinguish between an inspection and a report. An inspection is done on site. That is, it’s done at the property or home that you want to buy or sell. Often the written findings of those inspections are called inspection reports, but some non-inspection reports are done without going to the site at all. For our purposes in this post, we’ll refer to reports as information generated off site.

The main inspections for a single family home in Silicon Valley are these:

Home or Property Inspection
Pest or Termite Inspection

Additonally, sometimes these next two are ordered upfront, and sometimes they are ordered only if there’s a “red flag” or reason for concern in the property inspection:

Roof Inspection
Chimney Inspection

Assuming that these inspections are done for typical homes, not very large, remote or historic homes, the total cost of the four inspections should be less than $1000. Many inspectors have a fee chart that factors in the size and age of the home, and many inspectors will charge more if the property is far from where they work. Another element in the cost is when you pay. Most companies have smaller fee if they are paid the day of inspection and a larger one if you
bill it to escrow.
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