Real Estate Broker here. No, in Florida a seller’s disclosure is not required, but you should do one anyway because it reduces liability. Sellers are required to disclose any material defects that cannot be easily seen. There was a case of a cracked chimney that the seller knew of but didn’t disclose. The seller was found liable in court. Also, if you are selling yourself you may want to contact a brokerage that does a flat fee listing so your property shows up in the mls. That service usually runs around $500. Local real estate agents will bring their buyers. You can offer those agents 1 or 2 percent for their efforts. They will be glad for that in this market. They will also be glad to help you with the selling process. There’s this misconception that all real estate agents do is drive folks around and open doors. Yes, we do that, (there’s a lot of work that goes into settings up those showings). But the real work begins when a house is under contract. Getting sellers to the closing table isn’t easy. Deadline must be met, buyers get cold feet, accept the wrong offer and the deal will fall through. We just make it look easy to spare our buyers and sellers the stress. It’s hard work, but there’s nothing better than helping someone into a new home.
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