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My wife and I recently inherited a 1980's built home that's worth about $550k, and don't want to put the time, money, or effort into fixing it up for sale. We are looking into selling as it is, does anyone have experience selling a home this way?
I just sold a 1972 home without doing any fix-up prior to listing it, other than moving out and having it professionally cleaned for $200. I didn't sell it "as is" but I didn't prepare it for sale, fix it up, stage it, etc. This home had never been remodeled and I had lived in it for 13 years.
I got a great offer for it in half a week which was a wonderful surprise. The buyers then wanted me to complete a long "laundry list" of repairs in response to the 70-page report provided by their home inspector. Unbelievable! NONE of the repairs were the bigger, expensive ones I would have done to prepare my home, that I thought were the most obvious and necessary. Basically was a lot of little stupid stuff. Well, maybe not stupid but for example, they wanted the outdoor electrical outlet on the roofed patio to be a GFCI outlet, when it hadn't been for 43 years since the house was built. OK, point taken but had it been me, I would have done that myself after buying the house.
The expense wasn't that bad; just $4,075 total for that very long list of repairs, despite getting them done extremely quickly. They had to be done in time for a fast closing, so I didn't even have time to obtain multiple estimates.
Playing general contractor when I know nothing about the trades, and trying to find any licensed people at all who would actually do the work in time, in the middle of a hot summer in New Orleans, was unbelievably stressful. Almost everyone was on vacation or couldn't get to the work for weeks. One actually bailed out on me and flew to Cancun where he was unavailable by phone or email for weeks, after seeing what needed to be done but before even providing an estimate.
If I had to do it over again, I would have offered the buyers $$$ instead of having the repairs done.
Is the house in rough shape? Writing "as is" in the listing can scare people away as they often think the house needs a lot of work. You should probably consult a local real estate agent for this kind of advice. I suggest interviewing multiple. Three is usually a pretty good number. If you don't feel comfortable with the first three then interview three more until you find the right person.
Also, the mods should probably move this to the Real Estate forum.
Is the house in rough shape? Writing "as is" in the listing can scare people away as they often think the house needs a lot of work. You should probably consult a local real estate agent for this kind of advice. I suggest interviewing multiple. Three is usually a pretty good number. If you don't feel comfortable with the first three then interview three more until you find the right person.
Also, the mods should probably move this to the Real Estate forum.
(Bold) This is very true, plus it brings out the super lowballers.
In my lifetime, I have purchased (IIRC) 4 houses. It was understood that all of them were "as is, no warranty expressed or implied".
All four were done without any "home inspection" other than my own.
If/when we sell this place, I will price it so that I can afford to give a "discount" to any potential buyer that wants a bunch of stuff done before closing. The buyer can take the discount and get whatever repairs done his little heart desires. The place will be clean. If the buyer wants more than that, he can do it!
I will walk out of closing with the money I want in my pocket, and the buyer will think he got a smokin' good deal.
Everybody will be happy.
All the houses I sold were sold "as is". While it wasn't stated in the listing, it was understood.
The last house we sold was in Bridgeport WV, a 1970 built brick colonial. We had done some improvements, a few major, but it still needed 'work'. A first time buyer came in with an inspector with a laundry list, and I shot back the items I would agree to 'fix' and those that I would not. Some of the stuff was really off the wall and beyond comprehension. I stood fast and basically told the guy "You're the first offer, so I'm willing to wait"..
In the end they took it. It was a desirable neighborhood and only 2-3 homes for sale, and the others hadn't been touched at all.
Well if your basing your $550k on comparisons, and your property needs work, you will need to subtract for those things that need fixing. So if comps are $550k and your property needs $25k in work, your likely to receive offers for $525. Just remember this when you receive low offers.
Our contracts are "As Is" by default. But the buyer has an inspection period during which they can ask for repairs and seller can negotiate what, if anything, they are willing to do. Buyer can cancel without penalty if not happy with seller response.
I don't know your house or your market, but I do find that buyers tend to "double dip" when a house isn't clean and in working condition. Dated is one thing, leaky faucets, electrical issues, etc. is another. So first the buyers discount their offer due to the condition, then they ask the seller to repair it during the inspection.
Ask your realtor what is recommended. Sometimes a good cleaning and a days worth of work from a good handyman can make a huge difference in the price of the home.
Ask your realtor what is good for your area, as has been said.
We also find fixing a little problem can be a lot cheaper than what the buyer wants to take off the price for the problem.
We also have found while a buyer won't really notice what one might call an improvement because it's been a couple of weeks in the yard fixing the landscaping. Because, to the buyer, the house now looks normal. BUT the buyer will notice the tall grass or an overgrown bush too easily.
You can state in the listing that your home is sold as-is, is priced accordingly, no further work will be done, and, if you like, a buyer may do an inspection but that would be for buyer information purposes only as home is sold as-is. (And you may still get offers. For some reason people like to take off from the list price for any issue....even when they know the list price is already reduced for just such issues.)
That said....you really want the house to be able to appraise for a loan so get with a knowledgeable experienced realtor on that.
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