Selling Distressed Homes

Selling a distressed home can be a little different than your every day home transaction. When you have a home in good condition, no legal or financial problems, it can be beneficial if you have the time and patience to list on the MLS and Maximize your profit. When selling a distressed home this can make things a little more difficult.

1. Time When listing your home on the open market you could be waiting months if not years depending on many different circumstances including, market, location, homes shape… If you have a home in good condition that isn’t facing foreclosure, or have a re -possession pending, this is most likely your best option. Most Distressed Homeowners don’t have this kind of time. Once a mortgage payment is missed your on the clock before the foreclosure process begins. Homeowners wait too long to find alternative routes to foreclosure and tend to lose their homes to the bank. If this sounds like a situation you have found yourself to be in and you don’t have the funds to fix up your property, it would be advisable to look into one of the following options: A Fast Cash sale, Payment negotiation, Loan modification. These are all ways to avoid the hurtful penalty of foreclosure. If your Distressed home is sitting empty you face even more issues as you still must pay property taxes and in most cases your mortgage, which means your essentially loosing money. Delay in selling your vacant distressed home also posses the threat of having Problem tenants or as some may call “Squatters”. These Problem tenants worsen the value of your home even more and can be difficult to remove them from your property as they have rights as well. Homeowners can also put them selves at risk by not maintaining their property which can result in city fines for safety hazards that violate local codes. At the end of the day it is better to take action as soon as you realize you have a distressed home and it is costing you, before it costs a whole lot more! Depending on your situation one of the best options as mentioned if you don’t have the funds to restore your homes shape is to look for a cash buyer, they can close fast and take all your headaches away.

2. Fix It Up
Some distressed homeowners who are needing to sell may think that it would be a good idea to fix up the home a bit before they sell. This could be beneficial if you intend to fix the home close to 100% complete. If you’re not able to afford this because of material costs, carrying costs while home sits empty or other reasons it may be better to just sell right away. Most likely you will be looking for an Investor buyer who will be needing this home at a discount to fix and flip, even if you fix it to a certain point they will still need a discount and you may lose money from time and materials you’ve put in to your home. You are better off to not let any extra cash come out of your pocket and sell.
Many selling homeowners don’t believe this to be true and they end up sitting on their property for months, maybe years while its sitting empty and essentially costing them in more than one way. Take the cost of repairs you were intending to do to your home and take it off your selling price, this way your not taking money out of your pocket and risking not selling fast and your home sitting.