My siblings and I are going to sell my parents’ early 1960s house. None of us has any interest in doing a lot of fixing up to get more money; we are inclined to take the cash and run.
Has anyone here used one of those We Buy Ugly Houses-type places to sell a home? Or something like that? Or even worked with a Realtor who doesn’t insist on lots of upgrades? What was your experience? Pitfalls? Things we should know?
This has been a well-cared-for home, but no real updates have been done. It definitely looks like two 90+year-olds lived and died there. Two houses near it are for sale right now, one for $299,900 (lots of upgrades on a corner lot and larger than our home) and one for $225k (some upgrades but definitely smaller). I’d be thrilled to get $200k from a flipper as it’s a great corner lots with mature trees. Any thoughts?
Great idea to start with a Realtor. We used to live in an upscale suburb with tons of tear downs. I had been tracking developers for years and when we were ready to sell, I got in touch with a number of them who had been building in our neighborhood. This was in the Chicago suburbs and I was able to sell direct to a developer through an attorney specializing in realty. No Realtor or commission involved. If there are a lot of flipped homes in your area, or new construction, that might be an avenue to explore.
My husband insisted on consulting a Realtor and she basically said we would have to make so many concessions for things needing fixing, that any potential extra money selling that way would be used up by the concessions.
I know two friends who sold parents home (I think both old ranches). Both used realtors, different locations in CO a few years ago. Both got the same advise to refrain from doing updates. Leave bath and kitchen as-is. Let a young couple qualify for the lower cost and plan to put their own stamp on it someday.
Make sure you verify that the homeowner’s policy is in place before you have potential buyers traipsing through. That’s my only “lived experience” in the as is realm… anyone can trip and fall over a lumpy carpet or stumble over a cracked front step… you and your parents may have gotten used to the problem areas and knew to step around them, but someone in the house for the first time is more prone to injury. Learned the hard way. Call their agent before you have strangers in the house (realtors, appraisers, potential buyers).
We sold my MIL’s house as is through Open Door last fall. I would absolutely do it again in a situation like yours. Was easy as can be. Just had to disclose everything we knew that was wrong with the place or things that needed repair. We were given a cash “take it or leave it” offer. We also consulted with a real estate agent, who told us what she would list the house at if we were to make a bunch of repairs and updates.
Then we compared the 2 options and went with Open Door. Turns out that was a good move because it took Open Door awhile to sell it after they’d bought it from us…they had to drop the price a couple of times and ended up selling it for something like only $6-7k more than they bought the house from us for. So they hardly made a dime on it. We definitely would have had to spend more than that on stuff to put it in a ready-to-sell mode.
No direct experience, but “hear-say” about “We Buy Ugly” type companies, is that they might originally place a slightly higher value on a property to get your interest, and then return with a list of extensive problems, and significantly lower estimate.
DD would LOVE to find a mid-century home at a slight discount that needs work. Don’t discount young adults that just can’t afford much in today’s market. Homes from the 50’s or 60’s are popular, ESPECIALLY with original cabinetry. Facebook has a number of Groups that focus on mid-century homes (many modest ones, not just the ‘designer’ styles).
Definitely get several realtors’ estimated value, or potentially an appraisal.
It totally depends on the home market. How much of a sellers market is it where this house is located? In a true sellers market, or a market where people like to buy older homes and basically tear them down to build new ones, selling an old house as-is is common and not a big deal. Doing an old as-is home in a slow buyers market is definitely leaving money on the table but if you don’t want the hassle or the risk, that’s certainly your call.
I would start by making appointments with 3 different local realtors and get them each to quote you what they think they could get if you sell as-is. Make it clear up-front that you want to sell as-is and aren’t interested in being convinced why you would do better if you upgraded first. Getting three, which is free and just takes a little of your time, is super informative to find where the true market is. One could be very misleading and two is better than one but doesn’t allow you to triangulate the market. For example, if you get two quotes far apart how do you know which is right? With 3, two are likely to be closer together than the third. (FWIW, if in doubt I always assume the low quote is the most accurate – big mistake to be seduced by the high quote; very likely they want your business and would list it hight then tell you in a few weeks you need to lower it.)
All that said, a couple things the consider. First, even if you don’t want to do major work almost every market has a general handyman type service and it may be worth it to at least have such a person do little obvious fixes – not a kitchen remodel, just things that look easily fixed but are visually deterring. Second, it may be worth painting. Some handymen will quote that too, and often less than a paint specialist. This of course depends on what the walls look like now. But a fresh coat of paint is cheaper than most upgrades and has a massive difference in perception, particularly if this old house was of the era with old wallpaper.
Lastly, totally your call, but while most upgrades aren’t worth it, if you have cheap laminate counters, it may be worth upgrading them. We did this in one house we sold and it more than paid for itself. Took less than a week and maybe $5K. Probably increased offer value $25K+.
I agree with this. 60s is very in and a young couple might love the some of the old vibe paired with their own chosen updates.
How’s the real estate market in the area of the home? If it’s like many places you can empty it, get it a good basic cleaning, lost any faults with a realtor and make some decent $$$ - don’t sell yourself short!
@kjofkw That’s what we’ve heard about Ugly Houses, too. Make an initial offer sight-unseen and then get there and try to further lowball it.
I agree about multiple Realtors. We are going up there next week to, I hope, meet with some. My sister knows one, my brother knows another so I think I’ll make some calls and come up with a third person.
I would love nothing more than to sell to another sweet Hispanic family looking to get into its first home, just like my parents were. My dad had just retired from the Air Force, and I was 6 when we moved there. The neighborhood isn’t great, though we’ve always felt safe there, and our house is within walking distance to all the schools.
sold my parents home ‘as-is’. Was in a hot market (CA Bay Area). Home was 100+ years old and spent a lot of time with a couple of Realtors discussing marketing ideas. However, there were plenty of uknowns: what level of upgrade woudl trigger code upgrades (from grandfathered-in revisions.? For example, house only had a 60 amp electrical box and still used fuses…would we have to add a new panel and rewire thru original plaster walls?
Did not try ‘we buy ugly’ but our Realtor did reach out to a few investors that he knew to see about a price in which they woudl flip (buy and upgrade and resell). Of course, they were low ball, but were professional to deal with. We thought we could do better to market ‘as-is’ and we did. Would we have gotten a higher price with upgrades? No doubt.
But I made it clear, that any upgrade had to have at least a 2:1 payoff, preferably 3;1, otherwise it was not worth the time and effort. (Why spend $50k to upgrade a bathroom when it only raises the sales price by $50k?)
We are going to have a tough time with this, when either my mother sells her house, or she passes away and we get stuck with it. A realtor we’ve dealt with said he’s interested in buying it at that time, but I have the feeling that he’s looking for an exceptional deal.
The positives: the house is a three story with basement, about 3500 sq ft, good sized lot, structure of it is built like a fortress. It’s in a hot area of Seattle, where much smaller homes sell for 1-1.5 million.
The problem: this house was bought by my parents as a tiny 1 bed/1bath, and they expanded it on all sides, added two stories and dug a basement. They did it themselves, with no permits, over 50 years ago. The top two floors are unfinished, but there’s a lot of space up there. It’s still considered to be a 1 bed/1bath. It’s a major fixer, but no way a teardown. This house has the potential to be very nice, but it’s going to take a lot of effort. I have no dang clue of what is the right thing to do, but right now we’re having her fix the decks, which seem hazardous. At least she can be safe while she’s there.
I sold my aunt’s house “as is” through a real estate agent. we made no warranties or disclosures. None of the ugly house companies worked in her area. I had an independent appraisal done for irs value at death so that was our starting place. First offer fell through after inspection. Inspector was super picky and scared the young couple. The second offer was a few thousand less but they knew what they were doing and only had one contingency that was easy to clear. The great part was the agent dealt with everything since I lived 600 miles away.
How is it they even get an inspection for an “as is” sale? Maybe so they can get all the information, but since you sold it “as is”, they can’t ask you to fix anything?
The buyer would pay for an inspection in order to:
know exactly what is wrong with the property, what needs to be repaired, etc.
use it to adjust the price offered
be prepared so they know exactly what is wrong with the property so they don’t end up inadvertently buying a money pit. My sister has a friend who did this and it was a huge disaster…it’s been, like, 6 years and they’re still working on it.
Inspection of an “as is” house usually means no repairs or price adjustments; it simply gives the buyer the opportunity to walk away if anything major is uncovered. Most sellers selling “as is” do not allow inspection contingents. Our kids have been house shopping and have seen a ton of these clauses…