If you’ve found yourself dealing with a house in disrepair, you may be experiencing feelings of shame and hopelessness when you try to put it on the market. There are a wide variety of reasons why homes may be in bad shape by the time they need to be sold. Often, this occurs when a homeowner hasn’t lived in a home for an extended period of time and has left it unoccupied. Perhaps you’ve been distracted by work or family commitments, or a long term illness. It’s also very possible that the home only fell into your possession recently, perhaps through an inheritance. Either way, dealing with an unattractive house can be overwhelming when it comes time to put it on the market.
But aesthetic is not the only factor that goes into selling a house; with the number of houses sold in Canada increasing by 529,000 from 2019 to 2020, there is certainly a demand present. You don’t have to wait around and sink money into repairs when you want to sell a house fast. It is true that a dilapidated house may be worth less than a house that’s in perfect shape, but that doesn’t mean it’s worthless.
How Can I Maximize The Return I’ll Get From A Dilapidated House?
The biggest question you may have when selling a rougher house is whether or not you’ll be able to get much from the sale. Obviously, the profit that you receive will be affected by how much you spent on the house. As previously mentioned, a lot of homes in disrepair are inherited, which means that when you sell a house fast in those conditions you’ll see a return anyway. If you spent a lot on the home in the past and are only now selling it, your return may be minimized.
But the state of the home is certainly not the only thing that affects its value. The size of the lot upon which the house sits is also a major factor. Whoever buys the home is also buying the lot, and if it’s large enough the existing home could be demolished and replaced by a larger house, or even several homes. Furthermore, the location of the house is just as important if not more important than the size of the lot. If the home is in an up and coming area, or perhaps a desirable neighborhood, it could still retain significant value. Consider these factors as you begin to market the home.
Should I Work With A Real Estate Agent?
There are a couple of reasons why you may want to steer clear of a real estate agent. For one thing, if you want to maximize your return, you need to think about how much you could pay a realtor commission after the home is sold. Do you really want to hand that percentage of the sale price over?
Furthermore, many real estate agents are not equipped to sell a more dilapidated property. They may fail to see the potential gains, and therefore will be less motivated to make a real effort. This could hinder your efforts to sell a house fast. A real estate agent may even encourage you to make renovations that you’re not comfortable with making, simply to increase the sticker price on the home so that they’ll make a higher commission; even though this will probably cost you more money than the potential return is worth. This is why you should look into houses for sale by owner, and emulate the practice.
Why Should I Consider Cash Offers For Homes?
The benefits of choosing to sell a house for cash are manifold, especially when the house is in disrepair. You can sell a house fast, as the full sale price is already available. Cash buyers also don’t expect homeowners to make repairs, the way traditional buyers do. They often buy houses as is, then flip them and turn a profit. Furthermore, you’ll likely gain more from these buyers due to their lack of requirements for repairs.
Though selling a dilapidated home comes with its challenges, it’s not impossible. You simply need to learn how to market the property, find the right buyer, and consider a cash offer strongly.