Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My cousin passed away and his house is pretty bad. Lot of cats, rats and pigeons. We have to wear a gas mask to go in. There is cat urine and feces everywhere. I spoke breifly with an attorney and he said if the estate is less than $50,000 we do not need to file probate, there is no will. So would I get an appraiser or a Real Estate agent to price the house. The whole house will need to gutted.
First while I do not consider myself a "flipper" in the traditional sense of the word I have bought houses that were in poor condition and then I fixed them up to the point of making them suitable for rentals to make some income off them. I did eventually sell these houses when the appreciation seemed to be greater than the likely rent. So I can sorta understand why you'd think a "flipper" might be good to get advice from, BUT that is really a bad place to start...
Second it is a really BAD IDEA to assume that your property has lead paint. If it was built in the 60's odds are SLIM that is has any signficant amount of lead paint, as by then most paint manufacturers were not selling paint for residential use that had a lead base. If you do not have lead paint it is easy and safe to repaint the house to GET MUCH MORE MONEY at selling time!!!
Third anytime you have "folks interested in the place" it is VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAVE AN ATTORNEY LINED UP TO PROTECT YOUR INTERESTS AS WELL AS A PROFESSIONALLY PREPARED ESTIMATE OF THE MOST LIKELY MARKET VALUE OF YOUR HOME IN CURRENT AND POTENTIALLY IMPROVED CONDITION -- this is NOT something that an appraiser will supply! They will supply an appraisal that reflects their professional opinion of its current condition only. You may need that for tax purposes!
My gut says that you are about to sell this property for far less than it may be worth...
First while I do not consider myself a "flipper" in the traditional sense of the word I have bought houses that were in poor condition and then I fixed them up to the point of making them suitable for rentals to make some income off them. I did eventually sell these houses when the appreciation seemed to be greater than the likely rent. So I can sorta understand why you'd think a "flipper" might be good to get advice from, BUT that is really a bad place to start...
Second it is a really BAD IDEA to assume that your property has lead paint. If it was built in the 60's odds are SLIM that is has any signficant amount of lead paint, as by then most paint manufacturers were not selling paint for residential use that had a lead base. If you do not have lead paint it is easy and safe to repaint the house to GET MUCH MORE MONEY at selling time!!!
Third anytime you have "folks interested in the place" it is VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAVE AN ATTORNEY LINED UP TO PROTECT YOUR INTERESTS AS WELL AS A PROFESSIONALLY PREPARED ESTIMATE OF THE MOST LIKELY MARKET VALUE OF YOUR HOME IN CURRENT AND POTENTIALLY IMPROVED CONDITION -- this is NOT something that an appraiser will supply! They will supply an appraisal that reflects their professional opinion of its current condition only. You may need that for tax purposes!
My gut says that you are about to sell this property for far less than it may be worth...
You are responding to a thread from 2008. There is a new post at the end.
Yep, I see that now. My answer is still the same -- dirty houses can be MONEY MAKERS for the buyers that can get 'em cheap. Depending on why exactly the place was infested with vermin it can be very cost effective to just clean it up. You might be very surprised to see just how little work goes into taking out finish materials (like carpets, trim and even drywall) and making everything clean and new looking. If local codes do not require you to update the infrastructure systems it may be possible to turn a filthy vermin infested mess into a pretty nice property in a very short time, and do so with minimal cost.
Without an attorney to protect your interests and other seasoned pros the poster with the filthy house could be waving good bye to a nice chunk of change...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
