Selling a House As Is: A How-To Guide
Selling a house as-is has its pros and cons. If you’re wondering how to sell a house with foundation problems or considering selling a house that needs work, the following information should provide some clarity.
Have you asked yourself, “can I sell my house as is?” Of course, you can, without having to make any repairs to the property. However, selling a house that needs repairs can be a stressful process.
Before you commit to selling a house as is, you should be aware of precisely what this entails. There are many downsides to selling a house in poor condition, and sometimes paying for repairs can add vast amounts of value to the final sale price of a property.
Selling Your House As Is: Understanding The Basics
When you sell your home as is, a buyer agrees to purchase the property in its current state. During this process, an agreement will be signed stating that no repairs will be made to the house, meaning that it comes with all its current issues and faults.
If you’re buying a home as is, you will have to sign paperwork indicating that you fully understand the terms of the transaction. This information will be included in both the sale and purchase agreement.
How to Sell a House As Is
Can you sell a house as is? Yes, indeed, and it’s easier if you follow these four steps:
- Work with an experienced agent
You have two options when you sell your home as is: selling to a cash buyer or selling with an agent on the open market. In the second scenario, it’s vital to work with an agent with prior experience dealing with as is sales.
- Find a cash buyer off-market
Many investors are looking to purchase and ‘flip’ homes off-market. While this option has its advantages, it will impact the price you can command for your property. If the buyer is an investor looking to make a profit, their price will decrease in line with the repairs they have to arrange. That said, many sellers in this position can negotiate a fair price.
- Disclose information concerning repairs and maintenance
Selling a house as is isn’t a loophole to trick sellers into buying a property that needs serious work. You always have to be transparent and disclose as much information as possible concerning the required repairs. Many states have mandatory disclosure in place to ensure honest exchanges are being made. Failure to disclose vital details can carry severe penalties.
- Factor ‘as is’ into your sale price
Your sales listing price should be a strategic decision based on your property and the condition in which you’ve decided to sell it in. However, the actual sale price is dictated by the terms you set as a seller. If you don’t want to make repairs, your final sales price will be affected.
For this reason, many realtors will not recommend selling as is unless it’s essential, as repairs are often cheaper than the amount of money you could lose by selling as is.
Pros and Cons of Selling a House As Is
There are advantages and disadvantages to selling as is. These include:
Pros
Easy to sell quickly
The main advantage of selling a home as is is your ability to sell quickly. In most markets, as is homes, particularly those priced below market value, will sell pretty fast. As with most purchases, everyone is searching for the best deal possible.
Avoid repairs
Selling your home as is means that you can avoid paying for repairs. If you haven’t got the time or the energy to deal with repairs, selling the house in its current condition is probably a great decision.
Cons
Lowest price
Chances are that you’ll end up getting the lowest price possible for your property if you decide to sell as is. Be prepared for this, as your house will probably get snapped up by a real estate investor.
The buyer can still sue for damages
Ensure that you are fully transparent about the state of disrepair your property is in when you sell as is. Failure to disclose information could see you facing legal action and penalties.
Talking to Your Realtor & Pricing Properly
Realtors use competitive market analysis (CMA) to determine what similar properties have sold for in your area. Using this information, you can calculate a fair price, which keeps your home from being listed on the market for too long.
Additionally, real estate agents have access to multiple listings services (MLS), exclusive databases operated by property professionals. This makes it easy to find buyers that are looking to purchase a property as is.
Get a Cash Offer Today
Now that you know all there is to know about how to sell your house as is, we can help you out.
We will make a cash offer for your property in just five minutes. We pay cash for single- and multi-family townhouses, homes, or apartment properties as is in Texas, Georgia, and Florida.
For a free, no-obligation estimate, call (855) 931-4635 or fill out this form on our website today.
