Are you thinking about selling an old house? Maybe you’re trying to resolve financial issues or expedite a move, or you just inherited it from a relative. Whatever the case, you’re probably trying to weigh how old it is and how much it will impact the value of the house… and whether to invest time in renovations or get off your hands.

Continue reading for everything you’ll need to know when selling your old house.

How to Sell a House that Needs Work

Option 1: Do the Work

Selling an older home isn’t always as challenging as it sounds. Depending on your situation, it could just mean a few cosmetic updates. Perhaps you’ve lived there for decades, and it’s due for a new coat of paint, or it was left to you by an aunt with questionable interior design taste. Outdated décor is one of the top dealbreakers when selling a house that needs work. In those cases, even a few thousand dollars can improve aesthetics and make the property more attractive to prospective buyers.

On the other hand, you may be dealing with more serious issues — like an old, broken-down house with severe foundation, subfloor, or roof damage. You may consider handling major repairs with this type of run-down property.

Before selling an old house on the open market, the most important home improvements include addressing termite, mold, or water damage, updating the electrical panel, and repairing pipes, the sewer connection, or the septic system.

Option 2: Selling Your House to Flippers

That said, repairing and renovating an old, broken-down house can be a ton of work — and you may not have time or capital to invest in full-scale renovations. If you work the numbers and find that major repairs won’t yield enough of an ROI to make them worth your while, you can sell a distressed house as-is, with the home’s condition factored into the purchase price.

This will likely mean selling your house to flippers, in which case there are a few tricks for how to sell a fixer-upper house:

• Focus on the positives in your listing. When selling an older home, shift attention away from any needed improvements by highlighting location, lot size, or floor plan.
• Price it appropriately. Remember, for most buyers, a considerable portion of their available cash will go toward immediate repairs. Consider this when selling an old house, and factor it into your list price.
• Disclose everything. Most lenders won’t extend financing without a professional inspection, so all issues with a run-down property will come out anyway — after which you’ll either lose your buyer or face a future lawsuit if they discover something you failed to inform them about.

Option 3: Selling Your Old House to a Home Investor or Cash Buyer

Then again, a run-down property isn’t the only issue you might face when selling an old house — in which case, you may want to avoid listing it on the open market altogether. These conditions include houses that:

• Have title flaws, code violations, or past-due taxes and fees
• Face foreclosure or are under troublesome mortgage terms
• Have been or are about to be condemned
• Are located in an undesirable neighborhood or environmentally hazardous area

In these instances, your best option may be to selling your old house to a home investor company. Not only do they purchase your house as-is, they’ll also give you cash in-hand — with no closing costs or realtor’s commission. Because they don’t have to wait for lender approval, they can bypass the usual 30-day closing period — making the selling process even quicker and more efficient.

Interested in selling your old house in Tampa? Give us a call.

Look no further if you’re trying to figure out how to sell a house that needs work. KM Home Buyers is the number one home-buying company serving Tampa and the surrounding areas, and we can take that old, broken-down house off your hands with a cash offer in as little as 7 days. To learn more about how we can help you, give us a call at (813) 213-4884 or request an offer here.