Selling Your Outdated Home

To stay competitive in the home sales market, having an up-to-date home can be anywhere from extremely useful to absolutely necessary when trying to gain an edge on other homes in the area. How important these updates in décor can often depend on the home market you’re entering, however, having an up-to-date home is always advantageous for both making a sale quickly and fetching top dollar on the market. Although it won’t be impossible to secure a deal on the market, many buyers will choose a home that has already been updated rather than taking on that project themselves. Seeing the home with outdated décor also limits their vision on the home’s true potential once it has been renovated. For both of those reasons, selling an outdated home on the market may take a very long time or may never be successful.

Lastly, if the home functions as designed – all appliances work and the kitchen cabinetry doors and drawers open and close with ease, the home may, *may*, pass lender guidelines. However if any of the outdated items have seen better days – completely worn out carpet in some places, non-functioning appliances or crumbling kitchen counters, etc, the lender may not approve the house. The appraiser may cite the issues during appraisal and the loan will be denied unless the seller agrees to make necessary repairs. Additionally, most buyers will do a home inspections and if items are found to be severely outdated requiring immediate cash investments, the buyer may not want to take on a large project. The vast majority of buyers are looking to buy a move-in ready home with only minor required repairs, if any at all…

For the previously mentioned reasons, you’re essentially left with two options to make a sale:

• Sprucing up for the Open Market
  The first option is to renovate the home yourself or at the very least bring it move-in ready condition. Depending on how extensive of a renovation your home needs, this may be a viable option. Something like simply re-tiling the kitchen and removing wallpaper to paint can be fairly cheap. However, the cost of these renovations can quickly add up as you undertake more and more projects. Replacing appliances, cabinets, flooring, and counter tops can make an expensive endeavor, costings thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars. This might be out of the price range for many sellers or may simply be more money and effort than they want to put into the home. These projects can also take quite a bit of time depending on what they are. The work itself may take weeks and it’s also wise to shop around a bit for a contractor to get the best price on the work. Gathering the various price quotes alone may take weeks, dragging out the sales process. .
• Selling to a Cash Buyer as-is
  The second option is to find a buyer that is willing to buy your home in as-is condition. Going this route offers the sellers several advantages over an open market sale. For starters, the process requires minimal effort on the seller’s behalf. No making a list of potential renovations, no gathering price quotes on the work, no managing contractors and dealing with delays; and no hosting open houses after your renovations are complete. Selling to a cash buyer will also allow you to save money on out of pocket costs. The direct sale allows you to forego hiring a real estate agent, which will typically cost you about 6-7% of your sale proceeds. Most buyers will want to do a home inspections and if any issues are found, and in an older home most likely there will be, the buyer will ask the seller to make the repairs at sellers expense. But even if the buyer might be willing to make said repairs after title transfer, once the buyers lender send out their appraiser to the house, should the appraiser come back with cited violations or ‘required repairs’, the seller will be required to address those prior to title transfer at the sellers expense otherwise the loan will be denied.

  Deciding to sell to a cash buyer and to leave the renovations to them will also, of course, save you from paying out of pocket to have the work done and items replaced. If that weren’t enough, the selling process is also much, much faster. Aside from the time it would take to renovate the home, open market sales typically take an average of 3-6 months. If you chose instead to sell to a cash buyer such as ourselves, we would scout your property once or twice and then give you a quote within 24-48 hours. After a deal has been agreed upon, we could close on your home in as little as 7 days or wait as long as you need if more time is required. This will likely make the entire selling process take less time than completing the renovations would, let alone the time your home would sit on the market.

  Our goal is to agree on a mutually beneficial deal that will allow you to save on time, money, and effort. If you or someone you know is trying to sell and outdated home, please contact us! We may be able to make your home sale a much more enjoyable, profitable, and hassle-free experience.