Depends on whether the contract specifies a contingency for a mortgage. If the contract did not include a contingency for a mortgage, the buyer would have to come up with enough extra cash to complete any repairs completed that the bank required.
When I sold my folks house, we had no contingencies including inspection and mortgage. Their offer did indicate that they planned on obtaining a 60% mortgage, and the rest was downpayment. My RE agent confirmed that they had the cash for the downpayment, so any mortgage woudl be ‘low-doc’ and simple. The buyer did ask permission for an inspection, after the earnest money cleared, but the buyer was on the hook for anything and everything. Or, if they walked, they lose their 3% earnest money.
Real estate investor here. I’ve sold two homes in a sellers market-nowhere near the degree of sellers market we are in now- by owner and I would not pay realtor fees for a sale that will undoubtedly go quickly. I did show the homes but the attorney and title company handled everything else. I think the last attorney fee I paid was $1800—that was 2019, but even considering inflation that is obviously a fraction of what you would pay in realtor fees.
Having said that, if you are sure your only options are to either use a realtor or sell directly to a investor/flip company, then consider that realtors are all clawing for business right now. I am certain that many(maybe nearly all) would be willing to take an “as-is” listing and they will all get you a considerably better price than any “We Buy Ugly Houses” company will offer.
I sold my mom’s house as is after my dad died when she moved up to a retirement place near us. We did consult a realtor but ended up doing a for sale by owner because a neighbor wanted to buy it for her grown daughter. It was pretty easy.
I think what makes sense depends on the goal. Sometimes we are just desiring to sell a property with the least amount of effort and personal time invested/lowest chance of a hiccup – in which case at least for me, selling real estate attached to an estate would definitely not be something I’d tackle myself. It isn’t always a case of best price obtained.
I wasn’t suggesting anyone do it him/herself…i was suggesting that, in the case of a true as-is property, (when you really aren’t going to do anything to prep or stage the home) it might be just as easy (and more profitable) to be represented by an attorney as opposed to a realtor. I sold a home by myself once-meaning no attorney or realtor (perfectly legal in my state). Big difference.
IMO, realtors are for situations where you really care about having an agressive marketing and negotiating representative. In this situation, the OP doesn’t need either.
The fact there is an estate involved-for me-would be a big factor in my desire to leave the commission based representative completely out of it.
The Trustee/Personal Representative has a moral, ethical and legal obligation to get the highest net price. (Now, all of the heirs can decide collectively that they don’t care about price, but still, the Trustee/PR has to weight that against their job.)
The heirs can decide that for any number of reasons, they value “sooner” over “later”. That’s not exactly not caring abour price, but putting a price on time and effort.
As the executor/managing trustee, you would probably be well-served by confirming alignment on plans with the heirs. Fwiw, have been pleasantly surprised every time I have had to bring up something along these lines.
If ONLY I were in charge. My brother, the oldest and least equipped to do the job, was named executor as he has one thing my sister and I don’t .
He and his wife entertained the idea of buying my sister and I out, but that was mostly driven by my SIL, and she’s been vetoed by him. I have sent them comps in the area (from $225k to one that keeps getting reduced and currently is at $299.9K) and reminded them that the county appraisal that we just got is less than $145k. I set the stage by saying that I’d be thrilled to walk away with $60k for my third so I hope they think that getting $200k is a steal and won’t try to get some amount we definitely can’t. All the comps have much better upgrades than anything my parents did, and Dad closed in the two-car garage so I don’t know how that will affect the value.
In good news, I control the savings account and said that I won’t start handing out money until the house is sold as we don’t know what kinds of costs we might incur. I’m using the cash as leverage to get movement on the house. But, really, so far this has been easy-pease, and we are getting along well.
If it were me I’d definitely try the FSBO route. I wouldn’t do any upgrades but I’d clear out any clutter and make sure it’s reasonably clean. Then I’d put it on Zillow by owner and put a sign on the property, in both cases saying something like “estate sale, “as is”, $200k”.
If any realtors call, they’ll them to add their commission to the price.
I tried to sell my parents house “as is”. The realtor was insistent we put it on the market in March to capture the spring market, which left us no time to do anything. We knew the kitchen was a gut job but figured the buyer should do it to their taste, so just marked the price down. In March the flowers and grass weren’t out so the beautiful lot looked like nothing. Inside, the house had been lived in for 40 years and not upgraded except for the bathrooms (10 years old) and a sunroom addition. No one made an offer despite the house being on an upscale street, with a huge lot, and listed at a significant markdown because it didn’t look fresh at all. Finally got a stager in who recommended we remove several doors to give it better flow, paint the deck and railings, and paint a few rooms inside. We did that and by then the lot looked great as well because mid-summer. It sold almost immediately after we did these visual upgrades.
When I sold my sister’s place after she passed we didn’t make the same mistake of trying to sell as is (my sister had been sick for 10 years so her place had not been maintained). We painted inside, refaced the kitchen cabinets, pressure-washed the deck and siding, cleaned the carpets, got a stager in to identify any visual issues and addressed them. It sold in 3 days, above asking with an unconditional offer. We had spent 15k in upgrading it before sale, but it sold 75k over what the realtor predicted because the interventions made a huge difference visually.
If I was local I would be willing to oversee some cosmetic changes, but I’m not and no one who is local is interested in doing much of anything, which, again, is fine with me. My dad died four years ago, and my brother has done nothing to sell items worth many thousands of dollars related to my dad’s expensive hobby. The idea of this house sitting for months and years is a major stressor for my sister and I, so we are happy to take a lower amount.
Upgrades = more money
Sanity = priceless
Normally, I am a maximiser. In this instance, I am a satisficer. For those who don’t know that lingo, here’s a link:
I get it, estates dragging on, unfun My grandparents’ place was huge and could have been subdivided into multiple lots for a large increase in selling price. However, the only person living anywhere close had 3 small kids and could not take on the legal hassles of subdividing along with the existing hassles of maintaining an empty house, so satisficing was the route taken, and allowed everyone to move on.
For the co-owner account (like I had with my mother), you will eventually need to transfer the money into a new account with your own SSN. But that would be down the road after everything on the estate was settled and closed.
You’ll need to consult somebody more knowledgeable, in your own state. My novice understanding is that it is considered your money, separate from the estate. Probably you could track expenses and split whatever is left at the end with your sibs.
That was my understanding, but your post sounded different to me. I took the paper work signed by my mom and I into a local branch a few months ago to make sure that my understanding was correct, that the money is now mine and that I’ll need to disburse.
You are a nice person, so I assume you will disburse as needed and then share. (That’s what I did).
Sorry for the confusion. My point was only that you can’t keep account#. the same forever. My mother and I both used the same credit union. So I thought I would just leave the her/my account as-is, keep the money segregated from the account I have with my husband. But the bank explained that I would need to eventually switch to a new account number, which I did about a year later.
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My grandparents’ place was huge and could have been subdivided into multiple lots for a large increase in selling price. However, the only person living anywhere close had 3 small kids and could not take on the legal hassles of subdividing along with the existing hassles of maintaining an empty house, so satisficing was the route taken, and allowed everyone to move on.