Do you have a house? Do you want to sell it? Are you afraid you won’t be able to sell it because the house is in a poor condition? Are you constantly bothered by such thoughts? If you are then this article was made for you in particular. Pay keen attention to this article and read every single word because, in today’s guide, I’ll be teaching you how to sell a house in poor condition.
When is a house said to be in poor condition?
I’ve once needed to sell a property in poor condition. To be specific, I had to sell my house as is without going through any renovations or improvements. Now, a home can be said to be in poor condition if it’s totally uninhabitable, requires visible repairs, or it’s outdated & requires cosmetic repairs.
Totally uninhabitable
If your house is tagged as being totally uninhabitable, it means that the current condition of the house makes it unsafe for people to live in. A totally uninhabitable house requires a lot of repairs because it has several problems. These problems include:
- Extensive and/or severe roof damage.
- Asbestos and/or lead.
- Acute foundation problems.
- Acute chimney damage.
- Inoperable HVAC.
- Acute electrical problems.
- Acute plumbing issues.
- Black mould.
- Termite infestation and/or damage.
Requires visible repairs
In this case, your house is inhabitable but it has several issues and requires repairs. For these type of houses, home inspectors rate them as fairly good houses. The problem here is many buyers don’t seem to know or recognize that distinction and as such will believe your house is in a poor condition. The issues that are prevalent in these houses include:
- Minor electrical problems.
- Roofing problems.
- Minor foundation problems.
- Outdated and/or damaged bathrooms and kitchen.
- Non-functioning or damaged light fixtures and faucets.
- Minor plumbing problems.
- Wood rot.
- Damaged floors.
Outdated & requires cosmetic repairs
In this case, the house is structurally good but requires some general repairs. In this type of house, the features within the house are usually outdated and as such, they are still viewed as poor houses by potential buyers. For such houses, improving the market value isn’t difficult, all that’s required is to invest in updating the house. When you embark on updating your home, consider updating the following to increase the marketability of the house.
- Floorings
- Bathrooms.
- Kitchens.
- Fixtures and finishes.
- Landscaping.
- Interior and exterior paint.
How to sell poor condition houses
At this point, you should have identified the poor condition category your house falls into. Depending on the state of the house, there are different ways to go about selling it. You can sell it as is, make small repairs before selling, or perform major repairs before selling the house.
Sell as is
Selling the house as is, is for people who are want to move out of the house as quickly as possible and are not bothered about the price the house will be sold for. In this case, they wouldn’t need to make any repairs and the buyers will have to buy the house the way it is.
The Property Buying Company services can help you sell your house fast. They also reduce stress and are a great way to ensure your house sells at the best price possible
If you have decided to sell the house as is, then you’ll have to carry out pre-inspection and disclose everything reported in the inspection report because intentionally hiding known problems will result in legal issues. Some buyers may still require an inspection to determine the full extent of the damages and necessary repairs they’ll have to make. Note that, when selling your house as is, you’ll be forced to sell the house for a price that’s well below its market value.
Selling your house as is also come with some advantages. If you are not a big fan of the agent’s commission, then selling the house as is will help you avoid the agent’s commission. Additionally, if you sell your house as is to real estate developers they can help you pay off all your outstanding tax liens, house payments, and all other financial obligations.
Make small repairs before selling
If you are not in a hurry to sell off your house and you want to make more money from it, then investing in low-cost repairs is the best way to go. Making such repairs will significantly increase the value of your house and the number of buyers will also increase. Some buyers don’t mind buying your house for the full asking price and then make a few cosmetic repairs as long as you have done the important repairs. You don’t have to spend too much money in repairing the house, perform some of the repairs yourself and for the ones you can’t handle yourself, hire an expert in the field.
Invest in major repairs
Major repairs are often needed for uninhabitable houses. These repairs are needed if you want to sell the house. It’s not impossible to sell uninhabitable houses as is, you can sell them to developers or flippers but when you do it this way, the offer you’ll get for your house will be low. If you want better offers for your house then you’ll have to carry out some major repairs – you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to renovate the entire house, you can just carry out a few major repairs. Doing that alone will increase the value of the house.
Do you want to increase the value of your uninhabitable home but you don’t know what to invest in? Then you can consider replacing the roof, installing new water heaters, repairing the pipes, updating the electrical panels, and updating the HVAC.
