How to review a Michigan seller disclosure for an IRA property

A Michigan Seller's Disclosure Statement can point a buyer toward a wet basement, an old roof repair, a shared driveway, an unknown well condition, or work completed without the expected permits. It can also contain plenty of checked boxes with very little explanation. The form records what the seller knows. It does not inspect the building, settle a legal question, or put a price on the work.

That makes the statement a starting map for a self-directed IRA purchase. Each material answer should lead to a record, a qualified inspection, a written estimate, or a question for the buyer's Michigan attorney. The IRA review runs beside that work: the custodian needs enough time to approve documents and send account funds without personal payments or improvised signatures.

First decide whether the statutory form applies

Michigan Compiled Laws section 565.952 applies the Seller Disclosure Act's requirements to transfers involving property with one to four residential dwelling units. The section reaches several kinds of transfers, including a sale, exchange, installment land contract, lease with an option to purchase, and certain other arrangements. It does not turn the form into a statewide disclosure document for every commercial building, large apartment property, or vacant parcel.

Section 565.953 lists exceptions. They include certain court-ordered and foreclosure-related transfers, some transfers by a nonoccupant fiduciary, specified family or co-tenant transfers, transfers involving a governmental entity, and sales by a licensed residential builder of newly constructed property that has not been inhabited. The facts behind an exception matter. A missing statement should be explained with the buyer's attorney rather than treated as proof that the seller has nothing to disclose.

Property type can also be less obvious than the listing suggests. A house with an added unit, a residential building with a storefront, or several structures on one parcel may require a closer look at the lawful unit count and the transfer itself. Match the address and parcel with the title work, municipal records, leases, and purchase agreement before deciding which disclosure rules apply.

Confirm when and how the statement arrived

Section 565.954 says that, in a sale covered by the act, the transferor must deliver the written statement before the transferor executes a binding purchase agreement. The same section addresses late delivery and gives a prospective buyer limited termination periods in specified circumstances. The stated periods differ depending on whether delivery was in person or by registered mail, and the right expires upon transfer by deed or installment sales contract.

Do not calculate or exercise a contract right from a blog summary. Record the date, time, and method of delivery, keep the exact version received, and send any timing concern to the buyer's Michigan attorney at once. The purchase agreement may have other inspection, notice, or termination provisions with their own deadlines. A statutory disclosure deadline and a negotiated due-diligence deadline are not interchangeable.

• Property address and seller names that agree with the purchase and title records
• Seller signatures and dates, plus buyer acknowledgment when used
• Every attached explanation, report, invoice, sketch, and added page referenced by the form
• Delivery date, time, method, and the person who received it
• Contract deadlines for inspection, records review, objections, professional estimates, and custodian approval

Read the form for what it says and what it cannot say

The statutory form says plainly that it reports condition and property information known by the seller. It also says the statement is not a warranty and is not a substitute for inspections or warranties the buyer may choose to obtain. Section 565.955 further recognizes that some information can be found only by observing inaccessible areas or by using expertise beyond the seller's knowledge.

The seller's ownership and occupancy dates give useful context. A seller who never occupied the building may have a different knowledge base from someone who lived there for twenty years. Neither history makes the answers automatically reliable or unreliable. It tells the buyer which source records may carry more weight, such as tenant requests, property-management files, contractor invoices, insurance records, permits, and reports prepared for an earlier purchase.

Keep the answer choices distinct. A checked no represents a different statement from unknown or not available. Unknown is not a defect, but it is a real information gap. Not available may mean the item does not exist or does not apply, depending on the line and the explanation. Ask for clarification instead of silently choosing the meaning that makes the property easier to underwrite.

Turn each material answer into a review path

The form covers appliances and building systems, then asks about broader property conditions. Those sections should be read together. A no beside the sump pump and a yes beside basement water may point to a drainage or foundation review. An old roof age, a prior leak, and recent ceiling work belong on one timeline. A yes for shared features should be compared with the survey, title exceptions, recorded agreements, and the way the driveway, fence, wall, or other feature is used on the ground.

• For a yes answer, request the complete explanation and the records that show location, date, cause, scope, contractor, permits, and completion
• For a no answer, compare the statement with the inspection, seller records, permit history, title work, and visible condition without treating the box as a warranty
• For unknown, identify the professional or public office that can investigate and decide whether the answer is needed before the contingency expires
• For not available, confirm whether the item is absent, outside the property's systems, inaccessible, or simply undocumented
• For a blank, conflict, overwritten answer, or missing attachment, request a written clarification through the transaction process

Dates make the record usable. Put each reported leak, repair, test, permit, claim, replacement, assessment, and inspection in order. Then compare the sequence with photographs and the present building. An invoice can prove that someone billed for work on a certain date. It does not necessarily establish the original cause, concealed conditions, permit status, or performance years later.

Compare the statement with independent records

A seller disclosure should agree with the rest of the due-diligence file. Compare system ages and repairs with permits, final approvals, contractor records, warranties, and the inspector's observations. Compare shared roads, fences, easements, encroachments, mineral rights, and association answers with the title commitment, survey, recorded documents, and attorney review. Compare taxes and assessments with the local assessor and treasurer instead of carrying the seller's current bill into the IRA budget.

West Michigan property records are spread among different offices. A city, village, or township may hold zoning, rental, building, or code files. A county register records deeds and other land documents. Utilities, drain offices, health departments, and condominium associations may each hold another part of the history. Ask the office what its search covered and save dated copies of the actual documents, not only a phone summary.

Section 565.959 permits a city, township, or county to require additional disclosures or a different disclosure form for covered transactions. That is another reason to identify the municipality from the parcel and legal description rather than the postal city alone. Have the buyer's attorney determine whether an additional local form or notice applies to the exact property.

Keep the inspection independent from the seller's boxes

Give the inspector the disclosure and supporting records, but do not narrow the inspection to reported issues. The form itself tells buyers to obtain professional advice and inspections. A seller may not know what lies behind a finished wall, beneath insulation, inside a sewer line, or below the roof covering. The inspector's job is to examine the property within the agreed scope, document limits, and recommend specialists when the observation needs more expertise.

Choose follow-up work from the building and proposed use. A general inspection may lead to a roofer, engineer, electrician, plumber, environmental professional, surveyor, pest professional, insurance professional, or another qualified reviewer. Define the question before ordering the service. A roof estimate does not answer a structural question, and a sewer camera does not explain a wet basement unless the professionals connect the findings.

Do not ask a specialist for a clean letter when the real need is a scope and price. The report should say what was examined, which records were reviewed, what could not be accessed, what the professional found, what work is recommended, and which assumptions remain. Use comparable written scopes for estimates. A round allowance copied from another property is weak evidence for the cash this IRA may need.

Track changes until the deed records

A statement can be accurate on its signature date and incomplete by closing. A storm, leak, failed appliance, tenant report, insurance claim, municipal notice, new assessment, repair, or changed agreement may alter the file. Section 565.956 addresses information that becomes inaccurate because of an event after delivery, and section 565.962 allows the transferor to amend a disclosure in writing subject to section 565.954. The statutory form also says the seller will immediately disclose changes in structural, mechanical, or appliance systems through closing.

Build a final update into the transaction calendar. Ask whether any answer, attachment, property condition, repair, claim, notice, assessment, tenancy fact, or system status changed after the statement was signed. Route an amendment or conflict to the buyer's attorney and relevant professional promptly. Do not accept a repaired condition only because the box now reads resolved. Collect the scope, invoice, permits when required, final approval, warranty, and buyer verification that the contract allows.

Fit the findings into the IRA process

A disclosure issue can create costs before and after closing. Ask the self-directed IRA custodian how inspections, specialist reports, contractor estimates that require fees, earnest money, repair deposits, closing credits, refunds, and later property work must be approved and paid. Confirm the purchaser name, signer, invoice wording, and funding lead time. The seller disclosure process does not change the account's ownership and payment requirements.

Current IRS guidance says the law does not provide a list of approved retirement-plan investments. It also identifies sales, exchanges, leases, extensions of credit, services, and use of plan assets involving disqualified persons among prohibited-transaction concerns. A completed disclosure statement, accepted inspection, custodian administration, or real estate closing is not IRS approval of the property or strategy.

Do not plan for the IRA owner to perform construction, open walls, make repairs, supply materials, pay a vendor personally, or reimburse the account later. Have the custodian, CPA, and attorney review the proposed people, work, agreements, credits, and money flow before anyone acts. Price accepted conditions beside taxes, insurance, management, utilities, vacancy, and reserves without assuming appreciation, rent, occupancy, financing, savings, or any other result.

Keep housing review focused on the property

For an occupied or proposed rental, review leases, maintenance requests, repairs, notices, access, and property condition with appropriate privacy controls. HUD states that the Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. Michigan and local protections may also apply. Due diligence should evaluate documents, lawful use, income records, expenses, and the building rather than protected characteristics of tenants or neighbors.

Use consistent procedures for inspection access, repair response, communication, and accommodation requests. Collect only the personal information the buyer's attorney says is necessary for the transaction. A seller disclosure about the real estate is not permission to turn a property review into a review of the people who live there.

Put the disclosure review on the offer calendar

Request the complete signed statement and every attachment early. Leave time to compare it with public records, schedule lawful access, complete the general inspection, bring in specialists, obtain written scopes, review insurance, send account documents to the custodian, and let the attorney address conflicts before the applicable contingency expires. A disclosure delivered today does not make a roofer, surveyor, engineer, or municipal file available tomorrow.

• Save the original statement and each later amendment as separate dated documents
• Assign every yes, unknown, conflict, and missing attachment to a person and deadline
• Connect each accepted condition with a report, estimate, account budget, and post-closing owner
• Require an update close to closing for property changes, repairs, notices, assessments, claims, and system failures
• Keep the buyer's contract notices and decisions in the form and delivery method the attorney requires

This article is educational, not legal, tax, financial, inspection, construction, fair-housing, retirement-plan, or investment advice. No property, disclosure, inspection, repair, ownership structure, or strategy is approved or endorsed by the IRS. Have your own self-directed IRA custodian, CPA, Michigan attorney, property inspector, title professional, surveyor, property manager, insurance professional, qualified contractors and specialists, local authorities, and other advisors review the account, statement, records, building, occupants' rights, and transaction before taking action.

Leave closing with a disclosure file that still works

Keep the signed statement, attachments, amendments, delivery records, inspection reports, specialist findings, permits, final approvals, repair invoices, warranties, title and survey documents, municipal records, insurance correspondence, custodian instructions, contract notices, and closing documents together. Add a one-page issue list showing what was resolved, what the buyer accepted, who is responsible after closing, and when the next inspection or repair is due.

Primary sources for this review include Michigan Compiled Laws sections 565.952 through 565.962, the statutory Seller's Disclosure Statement in section 565.957, HUD's Fair Housing Act overview, and the IRS retirement-plan investment FAQs and prohibited-transaction guidance. The Michigan Legislature listed the compiled laws as complete through Public Act 91 of 2026 when reviewed. These sources provide a general framework. The rights, deadlines, disclosures, and decisions for one transaction belong to the buyer's own attorney and other qualified professionals after they review the current facts and documents.

Rennie can help identify West Michigan residential property and coordinate the disclosure, public records, professional access, and offer deadlines needed on the real estate side. Legal conclusions, inspection findings, repair design, account administration, tax treatment, and investment decisions stay with the buyer's own attorney, inspectors, custodian, CPA, and other advisors.