When selling your Palo Alto home you need to disclose everything you know, including the lot size. One would think that informing the potential buyers of your Palo Alto home how large the lot is would be easy, but in fact it can get a little tricky. Also the exact size can be very important to a potential buyer of the Palo Alto home you are selling for a variety of reasons.
1. The buyer may want to build a new home and the lot size determines the square footage of the new home to be built.
2. The buyer may want to expand your home and again an exact lot size is needed to know how much expansion is possible.
3. The buyer may want to put up an accessory building or sub divide a large lot and needs the exact lot size to know if it is possible.
The problem with disclosing the lot size when selling your Palo Alto home is that there is very often discrepancies between what the county says and what the city says is the lot size. When this happens, just disclose both. Ultimately the city's figure is what determines what can built so it is important for the buyer to get that number.
There are a few reasons why there may be a discrepency. These include:
1. Poor record keeping
2. A difference in where the line is drawn. For example, when the lots were divided on Colorado Ave they included up to the center of the street for lot size. However, the city does not use that line when figuring buildable space and takes it back to the edge of the sidewalk.
There is a website you can go to to get the city records on lot size.
Go to this address and you can request a Parcel Report for any home in Palo Alto.
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/depts/pln/parcel.asp
It will also give the buyer great information on set backs, how large the home can be, and the city drawings of lot lines and what structures are currently on the lot.
When selling a home in Palo Alto you do not need to get a survey or measure the lot yourself. Just get the county records and the city Parcel Report, give those to potential buyers, and let them decide if the lot meets their requirements.
If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto please fell free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
marcy@marcymoyer.com
D.R.E. 01191194
650-619-9285
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