Buying a home in Washington: do your homework before you commit

Buyer beware does not mean the seller has no responsibilities

The buyer's job is to decide whether the condition, risks, and future potential justify the price. A listing, a clean-looking remodel, and a stack of disclosures cannot make that decision for you. Finding a problem after purchase can be much harder to deal with than investigating it while you still have contractual options.

Washington requires seller disclosures in many residential sales, subject to exceptions and waiver rules. Sellers still have legal duties. Buyer beware is not permission to conceal a known defect or an accurate summary of every buyer's legal rights.

This guide is a practical checklist, not legal advice. Have your broker or a Washington real estate attorney explain the protections and deadlines in your actual transaction.

Washington's disclosure chapter preserves certain other buyer rights and remedies. See RCW 64.06.070. Do not assume either that a disclosure prevents a claim or that recovering money later will be simple.

Read the disclosure carefully

Form 17 is the seller's disclosure, not a property inspection or a warranty. Its answers are based on the seller's actual knowledge. Read every page and attachment. Compare the answers with the listing, available records, and what you see at the property.

A long list of unknown answers deserves follow-up. It does not prove dishonesty. An owner who never occupied the home may genuinely know less. But their lack of knowledge leaves you with more to investigate, not less risk.

Compare the form with Washington's residential seller disclosure requirements. Use the version effective for your transaction. The statute page also displays future amendments.

Use the contingency period

Negotiate time to investigate before you waive protections. A standard home inspection may address the existing house. A broader feasibility contingency may be appropriate when the purchase depends on an addition, ADU, rebuild, boundary question, or environmental investigation. Ask your broker or attorney to put the right scope and decision rights into the agreement.

You cannot simply impose a new feasibility period after the seller has accepted a different contract. Agree on access, permitted testing, responsibility for damage, deadlines, and the process for responding to findings. Soil sampling or opening a wall may require separate written permission.

The important deadline is often before closing. Put inspection, feasibility, title, financing, and disclosure deadlines on one calendar. Confirm the exact date, time, notice method, and recipient with your adviser. Booking an inspection or asking a question does not automatically extend anything.

The generally applicable three-business-day disclosure rescission period under RCW 64.06.030 is separate from your contractual inspection or feasibility period. Exceptions, waivers, and different written agreements can affect your rights. Have your adviser confirm what applies rather than counting days from a website.

• Schedule the general inspection early enough to arrange specialists afterward.
• Request records immediately. A city records response or survey may take longer than the available review period.
• If an important answer will arrive late, discuss a written extension before the deadline. The seller may not agree.
• Before waiving a protection, know which risks remain unresolved and what the contract allows you to do.

Get your own inspection, not just the seller's report

A seller-provided inspection report is useful background. It is not a reason to skip an independent inspection. You did not choose the inspector or agree on the scope. You may not know how thorough the inspection was, what access was available, or what changed afterward.

Read the limitations as carefully as the findings. Was the crawlspace entered? Was the attic accessible? Were utilities on? Were parts of the house blocked by belongings? An area that was not inspected is an unanswered question, not a pass.

Hire a qualified, independent inspector to work for you. Share the seller's report and disclosures so they can check discrepancies. If something looks suspicious, get the relevant specialist involved. For a purchase this large, reassurance is not a substitute for evidence.

Washington's home inspection exclusions and limitations explain why a standard inspection does not necessarily cover environmental hazards, underground tanks, engineering, or inaccessible areas. Confirm the actual services in your inspection agreement.

Look beyond fresh paint for water, mold, and pests

Fresh finishes can make an older home look reassuring. They do not tell you what is behind a wall or under a floor. A musty smell, staining, damaged trim, soft flooring, or a recently repaired patch deserves a question. None proves a hidden defect by itself.

Water intrusion, mold, rot, and pest damage can overlap. Ask what caused the condition, how far it extended, and whether the source was fixed. Painting over a stain or replacing damaged drywall is not the same as fixing the leak.

Do not disturb suspect materials or enter an unsafe crawlspace to investigate yourself. Agree on safe access and any invasive testing with the seller. Ask for written findings, recommended work, and a realistic cost range before deciding what risk to accept.

Older Eastside homes: ask about asbestos and lead

If you plan to remodel or demolish an older home, investigate hazardous materials before treating it as a straightforward construction project. A home that looks ready to occupy may still need special handling when floors, ceilings, siding, or other materials are disturbed.

Ask for any asbestos survey, laboratory results, and removal records. Do not identify or rule out asbestos by appearance. Have a qualified asbestos professional assess the materials your project would affect. Get permission for sampling. Do not scrape or break suspect materials yourself.

Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has survey, notification, and work requirements for renovation and demolition. Check the rules for your actual scope. A general home inspection is not a substitute for that process.

Start with the agency's asbestos guidance for homeowners and contractors. Include investigation and any required removal in your purchase and renovation budget.

Check the lead disclosure for a pre-1978 home

Most pre-1978 housing sales are subject to federal lead disclosure requirements. These include known lead information and available records. Buyers generally must receive an opportunity for a ten-day lead inspection or risk assessment, although the period can be changed by written agreement or waived.

The disclosure rule does not require the seller to test the home. No existing test report does not mean no lead. Ask a certified professional about assessment if lead could affect your household or planned work. Have your broker confirm the applicable documents and deadlines.

See the EPA's lead disclosure guidance for homebuyers for the requirements and exceptions.

A newer furnace does not answer the oil-tank question

Ask whether the property ever used heating oil, not just how it is heated today. A conversion to gas or a heat pump does not establish what happened to an older tank. Ask about buried and above-ground tanks, old fill pipes, and any history of leaks.

If a tank was removed or decommissioned, request the location, contractor's report, permits, photographs, and any soil-testing or cleanup records. Decommissioning documents describe work on the tank. They do not, by themselves, establish that surrounding soil was never contaminated.

Have a qualified tank or environmental professional explain any missing evidence. Agree with the seller on access and testing before authorizing work. If cleanup may be needed, obtain specialist and legal advice about cost, responsibility, and the purchase terms.

Washington's Pollution Liability Insurance Agency provides heating-oil resources and technical assistance. Ecology does not regulate home heating-oil tanks under its underground-storage-tank program. An empty regulated-tank search is not proof that a property never had one.

• Ask whether the old tank remains in place and where it sits relative to your proposed foundation or utilities.
• Request evidence supporting any statement that the tank did not leak or the site was cleaned up.
• Do not budget for assistance or coverage until the relevant agency or provider confirms eligibility and terms.

Ask for the property file, including surveys and repair records

Ask the seller for the records they have, not only the disclosure form. Some records may be unavailable. That is useful to know while you still have time to investigate. Request complete reports and attachments rather than a summary that says everything was fixed.

A survey is especially useful when your decision depends on a fence, retaining wall, driveway, boundary, or future addition. Ask whether one exists and who prepared it. A seller is not generally required to commission a new survey for every sale.

Search King County's recorded plats and surveys and ask the title company for recorded documents. Have a licensed surveyor determine whether existing information answers your question. A fence or online parcel outline is not a substitute for a boundary survey.

• All disclosure attachments and written explanations.
• Available inspections, engineering reports, asbestos or lead results, tank records, and drainage or geotechnical studies.
• Repair invoices, contractor details, warranties, and available records of prior damage or insurance claims.
• Boundary surveys, recorded plats, easement agreements, and shared-driveway or maintenance agreements.
• Approved plans, permit numbers, inspection results, and final approvals for additions or conversions.
• HOA or condominium documents where applicable. Ask about assessments, reserves, restrictions, and planned major work.

Verify independently

Split the remaining work into condition, legal restrictions, and everyday ownership costs. Assign each important question to someone who can answer it. A building inspector, title officer, surveyor, and architect do different jobs.

Ask the title company for the underlying documents listed as exceptions, not just the cover page. Have your adviser explain easements, access rights, private restrictions, or boundary concerns that could affect your plans. Ask what the proposed title policy does and does not cover.

For old drawings and permit files, use our guide to finding house plans by jurisdiction. Compare documents with the home rather than assuming they match.

Separate the existing home from your future project

A house may be reasonable to buy as it stands but unsuitable for the addition, ADU, or replacement you want. An inspection asks about the existing home. Feasibility asks whether your intended project can work.

Write down the outcome that makes the purchase worthwhile. Include approximate living area, bedrooms, garage, yard, access, and budget. Ask an architect or relevant specialist to evaluate the lot against those requirements.

Check zoning, setbacks, floor area, lot coverage, trees, slopes, critical areas, utilities, and recorded restrictions together. Do not assume that a large lot means you can build a large house or that a neighbor's ADU proves yours will be approved.

When future construction is essential, negotiate enough time and the right contingency to investigate it. A public-record screen can identify questions. It cannot replace a survey, title review, site investigation, or city confirmation.

Use our buying land to build checklist for the deeper site review. The same questions matter when buying an older home mainly for its lot.

Before you waive a contingency, make a deliberate decision

You do not need a perfect property. You need to understand the important risks you are accepting. Keep a short list with the issue, evidence received, unanswered question, responsible professional, likely cost, and decision deadline.

For example, an old listing mentions a wet basement while Form 17 says the seller does not know of a drainage problem. That is a reason to request the history and investigate. It is not a reason to assume either that the seller lied or that the basement is fine.

The goal is simple: know what you are buying before the risk becomes yours. If a major question is still unanswered, do not let a deadline pass by accident.

1. Confirm the independent inspection and any important specialist reviews are complete. Read the limitations and unresolved findings.
2. Separate known repair costs from costs nobody has established. Include the impact on your renovation plans and budget.
3. Review material findings with your broker or attorney before the relevant deadline. Discuss proceeding, negotiating changes, requesting an extension, or exercising a right the agreement actually provides.
4. Put any agreed repairs, credits, extensions, and required evidence in writing. A conversation is not a substitute for an executed amendment.
5. Use the final walkthrough to check agreed work and changes in condition. Do not leave the original due diligence until this point.