Many homeowners are filled with dread at the thought of trying to sell a house that needs repairs. That’s because the traditional way of selling involves making all those repairs first, and these can add up to some significant costs and delays in listing the property. Meanwhile, there is something of a trend to sell your house “as-is”. Lots of people are doing, and you should sell the benefits of doing that on your website too. It saves time for the sellers, who will not have to supervise a lot of different repair works being done by different handymen.
TIP: If the sellers are interested in the cash-selling route, point this out to them. You can sell to an investor that pays “cash for homes”, who will usually take on the house in as-is condition. They do not care as much as an end-buyer will about the condition of the house, either way, so at least you will make a sale. Many sellers going through bankruptcy, divorce, or who just have a distressed house, find this a very nice countering option.
There is also something of an art to doing this. If you successfully appeal to the markets which will take it on (other investors, flippers, builders/developers, DIY homeowners—all of whom like the lower pricing), and list the “potential” they will see to be developed in it, you may just market the perfect house. The buyer can take care of the costs and delays of renovation, on what probably feels like one good deal. Money in your pocket!
Exploring Your Selling Options
When the time comes to sell a property, you have several options. The normal process often involves a real estate agent listing the house somewhere. This can take quite a bit of time and involves a lot of work showing the house and meeting with potential buyers. If you are looking for a faster solution, cash buyers (real estate investors) are one of the most popular alternatives.
The absolute best part about using a cash home buyer is that you can sell your house “as-is”. These companies are designed to purchase homes extremely fast (some in as little as a couple of days). If you have any repairs or updates that you do not want to take care of, this is a great option. If you have a house that is in pretty rough shape and you don’t have the money to put into rehabs before selling, that’s okay! You can get cash for your home and move it within a week in most cases.
This is a great option for those looking for people to “Buy My House”. The problem many people face is that their house was built long ago and is outdated. If you have an outdated home, you can often make as much as 30% more by updating it before selling. If you are an older home owner (like 60 years old or older) this might not be an appealing option. If this is the case, just use a home buying company to sell your home “as-is”. There are plenty in the area to choose from, so just give them a call, have them come out and check out the house, and see what kind of offer you can get!
Navigating Negotiations and Closing
When selling a home as-is, it is important to be very transparent about the condition of the property. Be aware, buyers, are suspicious! Hidden issues that you fail to mention will throw up red flags and prevent negotiations from moving forward. But, if you are dealing with a first-time renovator or first-time buyer, there will be many questions regardless. Most will be about repairs needed and potential issues that may pop up in the future.
For the “I just want to sell my house as-is fast” people. If the thought of dealing with “the process” sounds like a monumental waste of your precious time; find one of these buyers! There are many places to find buyers in your area. In a later post, I’ll share the pros and cons of some of the options you have available. But, for now, it’s important to keep a few things in mind.
Wholesalers, flippers, and rental investors will typically give you the least amount of money for your property. Does that seem surprising? Don’t be. They are in it to make a profit too! This route comes with its benefits.
First, as mentioned earlier, it can be one of the fastest ways to close a deal.
Ensure that you create an agreement that details everything in a binding document. Create an “As-Is” sellers form and add any additional paperwork that your local state or county requires to be completed and signed by all parties. Prior to officially moving forward, make sure you share the paperwork with an attorn…
Understanding the As-Is Selling Process
“As-is” means the seller is choosing to sell the property in its current condition and will not make any repairs or improvements. This sounds great! You are a busy professional running your family business. The last thing you need is to stress over adding “renovator” and “real estate agent” to your resume! You’ve got enough going on.
Your home has some damage and wear that you don’t want to deal with. That’s a great reason! You probably have good company among sellers.
I help investors find homes that need “TLC”… homes with “good bones”, “potential”, and “diamonds in the rough”. It’s a good market with more buyers than there are homes. We’ve been flipping homes since 2004. We know what to look for.
Selling “as-is” significantly empowers a smaller pool of buyers to reach a fast sale.
Assessing Your Home’s Condition
One more aspect to think about as a homeowner is what repairs you’ve been ignoring over the years. Okay, so you might not be looking at a wall that could be fixed thanks to poor plumbing from years ago. It doesn’t have water gushing through like the day before, but it could be a real squeamish sight and sound to the wrong kind of person that might have thrown their hat in to give things a try or maybe the wrong sort of half-heartedly add or subtract effort real estate agent.
I saw a real estate catalog once; it was from a real estate agent that wanted to get rid of a property-inventory list as quickly as possible. Of course, this was due to them being situated in a competitive market where more than a few tactics were being used to quickly make offers to anyone that would be interested in buying and selling… (its an Occidental world…).
If you’re a homeowner, you’ll want to figure out where to set aside some money for some repairs that need to have a few look-sees:
- Some may be okay
- Some not okay
- Seriously not good
Pricing Your Home Competitively
Get the right price—fast. There’s no mincing words here. Your house is what it is—maybe outdated with some repairs to complete. The house will likely be cleaned out and that’s it… unless the seller takes on a massive renovation to get it ready for a “traditional” sale … which most don’t. These houses are great for bargain shoppers or people with the ability to see the current condition and don’t care about the underlying cosmetic problems/damages. They are only looking at the market to set a good price for them to buy. Many have cash, are able to make the repairs themselves, and want a “deal.”
Thus, for a sell your house “as is” scenario, you’ll be looking carefully at the house and the market! Price it to sell … right away! Of course, size up the house, but then look deeply at comparable houses and your competition also. Assume a ready, willing, and able buyer will be doing the same or similar. It’ll be a down-and-dirty comparison of your house with respect to theirs simultaneously:
Haircutting the price—stay on the market. Consider a price to sell—not one that will result in your home sitting on the market indefinitely. Overpriced houses will not sell. Too little a comparative price and a homeowner will be arbitrarily lowering the price of their house on the front side. Just don’t make that mistake if at all possible.
Old home = haircut
Nice home = bonus dollars
Repair costs: another haircut
Minor fixes: homeowner does some, buyer does some; another haircut—at the closing
Protracted marketing time: more days sitting on/off the market
Selling the “as is” house properly priced = sold—and quite well at that!
Marketing Your As-Is Home Effectively
Making an attractive listing is key to every sale, but it’s especially important when a home is being sold as-is. Show the home’s potential. Most buyers can’t imagine what a home might look like from looking at an empty room or a slightly cluttered one. Removing unnecessary furniture or moving it around and cleaning the property does wonders. Very few people are going to visit your home perfect the way you want it. You’ll have to stage the home to enhance key areas around the property and appeal to their emotions. If you emptied the home out completely, rent furniture monthly for one or two rooms. Stage it to evoke some emotion or stage it heavily if one of the unique selling points of the home is the interior design. It doesn’t have to be expensive furniture but enough to show people what they could do with the property themselves or what they could live like in that home. Since you were already doing this as part of getting the home ready, you may consider taking photos earlier when moving furniture around and unloading the home.
Excellent photos of the property are a MUST. Use only professionally shot photos. Listings with better photos get more comments. Naturally, the more comments you get, the more people would be interested—the more people interested, the higher the chances of success.
Lastly, use “sell house as-is fast,” “sell your house as-is,” “selling a house as-is quickly,” and other related key phrases in the post. This would help search results and allow you to position your “product” to more potential customers/buyers.
Not all audiences are the same. Some may be “eager-beavers” who are looking to buy a home fast. There are also some who might be “bargain hunters” looking for the most value out of the home they’re going to get. Then there are the “redecorators,” the innovative geniuses who can see a home’s potential for what it can become rather than what it is now. Get a feel of who the “perfect” buyer is, given the investment that you’ve done on “Repairs” and “Staging” (if any at all!).
It’s important to understand the specifics of exactly what selling your house as-is means for your preparation to sell. You won’t have to undergo any massive projects of fixing the floor plan or any kind of repairs or remodeling, which will save you lots of time, money, and stress from labor. It will allow you to determine issues within your house so that you can price your property accordingly for marketing. By understanding your “as-is” house’s value compared to the other houses you are competing against, you will be more capable of expecting realistic advertisement reception and the types of buyers who will approach you.
The price you determine for your house is a very important matter to deal with. Take the benefits you can take from the pricing of houses similar to yours in your area to compare and contrast with the price you desire to sell your house. Especially since selling as-is houses give good media over the “regular” type of a house sale, you can use this to your advantage to have it influence the “advertisement appeal” of your property. Many buyers who prefer paying immediately with only cash, for example, intentionally seek after as-is houses, which speeds up the steps leading to closing and reduce cancellation rates that are likely to happen as trade-offs. How should you close the price of your house? After doing all the research you can over your competitors and where your house stands among them, do the above strategies to bring over as many potential customers you can, and simply negotiate with their estimates. Be prepared to get strong counteroffers, so you must be very willing to refer to your non-negotiable “bottom line”. If you understand how far you can go with a buyer’s negotiation before it actually starts (knowing what you’re looking for takes efficient analysis and prediction), you can take just the right ones for your time instead of blindly jumping for every customer. If you want to take the step to find out exactly what’s a good strategy for you to sell your house as-is, please contact me for a 100% free consultation.