A Peninsula disclosure package can run a few hundred pages. Whether I’d chase the house often comes down to about ten of them.
If you bought a home in Boston, New York or Seattle, the sequence here may feel backwards.
In many competitive Peninsula sales, buyers see the inspections before they write the offer.
So an offer with no inspection contingency doesn’t necessarily mean nobody inspected the house.
Often, the inspection happened before the offer.
Which makes the disclosure package part of the due diligence. And I don’t read it front to back.
1. Pest report: Section I first
Section I means there is visible evidence of an active wood-destroying pest problem, fungus, or resulting damage.
Section II is different: conditions that could lead to a problem later.
I want the existing problems first: what was found, the recommended work, and roughly what it may cost.
2. Where the seller and inspector don’t quite match
The seller is telling you what they know.
The inspector is telling you what they see.
I read those two versions side by side.
A “no” on a seller disclosure next to a photo of an old water stain doesn’t automatically mean something is wrong. But it gives me a question to ask.
The mismatch is often more useful than either document by itself.
3. Permits versus the house I just walked through
I count bedrooms and bathrooms in the records. Then I count them in the house.
If they don’t match, I want to understand why.
Maybe the work was permitted under something else. Maybe it wasn’t permitted. Maybe the records are incomplete.
But I don’t want my buyer discovering that after the offer is accepted.
4. What that particular city requires
Millbrae and Hillsborough have sewer-lateral requirements tied to a sale. Burlingame requires testing for many older properties, with exemptions.
Daly City has its 3R report showing permit, enforcement and zoning history, and the city warns that unpermitted work won’t necessarily appear there.
5. The page that isn’t there
The page I’m most interested in is often the one that isn’t there.
An inspector may write: “Recommend further evaluation by a licensed roofer.”
Then I look for the roof report.
Was one done? If not, why not?
A follow-up nobody ordered can matter more than another 50 pages of boilerplate.
A few hundred dollars before the offer beats a surprise after it.
And if you’re selling?
Your disclosure package is part of the first impression.
A buyer can price uncertainty just as easily as they can price a dated kitchen.
If an inspection recommends a follow-up, getting the answer before you list removes one more reason for a buyer to hesitate — or discount the home.
A thick disclosure package isn’t the goal. A clear one is.
If you’ve bought here, what was in the package you wish you’d read more carefully? I’d like to hear it — call or text me at 650-866-9266, or see how I work with buyers and sellers.
City point-of-sale requirements, exemptions and report contents change; confirm the current rules with the city for the specific property. This post is general information, not legal advice — for questions about a specific disclosure, talk with a qualified professional.
