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Should a seller disclose an infrequent train at a home sale?

Should a seller disclose an infrequent train at a home sale?

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Question: In a recent column, you said that a buyer’s broker had to reveal a gun range nearby, even though the gunfire noise was only bad in the winter months. So you recommended that a broker only sell homes in a community that the agent “exploits” (ie, a community where the agent sells homes frequently). Whether you’re right or not, I understand your point. Years ago, I showed many potential buyers a home in West Valley. The seller’s property disclosure statement said nothing about a train running directly behind the back fence. Neither of my potential buyers nor I ever heard a train. However, after one of my buyers bought the house, he woke up to the sound of a train the first night in the house! The seller said the train only comes “a couple of times a day” and the buyer never complained again. My question is, can a broker be liable to a buyer for not disclosing a train that comes only twice a day?

Answer: Thanks for your comments. The brokers who “harvest” this community probably know about the train, and that could be the standard of care for any buyer’s broker selling homes near the train. The sound of a train only twice a day, however, may not even be a material adverse event requiring disclosure by the broker to any buyer. In the summer, we stay at a condo complex in the San Diego area next to the railroad tracks. When the Pacific Surfliner goes by, even late at night, we all get a slightly nice feeling.

Contact real estate attorney Christopher A. Combs at [email protected].