Suddenly Finding yourself as Owner of a House, where you don’t live?
You might think, Who buys and sells houses from out of state?
There are numerous reasons why someone would decide to sell a residence that is geographically distant from them. The primary reasons are as follows:
- You’ve relocated for work.
- You have been named executor of an estate after a relative has given you the home in their will.
- A parent living in the house may be entering residential care.
- You’re getting married and selling your house to live somewhere else with your new husband.
- A family member need care at their house, and you are selling yours to move in with them.
- Because of a peaceful divorce, you and your husband want to dispose of assets quickly. You desired to begin somewhere new
Whatever the reason you are trying to sell a home when you are unable to be present, there are several factors to consider:
The Broker or Real Estate Agent
Unless you already know a reputable real estate agent or broker, you will need to interview many of them to ensure you are working with the right person.
Once you’ve identified a real estate agent or broker, you’ll need to give them specific directions on how you want to handle the house. This can include, how you want to communicate with the agent, Types of pictures for listing, Signing working with realtor authorization papers, negotiating back and forth on the pricing etc. This process will not cost you any money, but it will take a significant amount of time.
A real estate agent or broker will not charge you any upfront costs; instead, they will be compensated through a commission on the final sale price. This commission is usually 6%, so on a $250,000 sale, you would pay your real estate agent or broker $15,000 in commission.
Remember that this amount is deducted from your sale price before any outstanding loans, etc
Other Financial Obligations
You may believe that paying a real estate agent or broker’s fee is the only cost of selling your home, but you would be mistaken:
Repairs & Fixes
When selling your home, you are usually advised to make any necessary repairs. Dripping faucets, leaking due to peeling shingles, unstable toilet seats and unevenness in the walls must all be addressed before buyers are shown around the house. If you are there, you may be able to do these repairs yourself at a low cost, but if you are selling from a distance, you must hire someone to do the work for you. And hiring a new contractor or handyman to do these tasks comes along with its own management headaches and dollar payments.
Clearing the House
Did you inherit a house from an elderly relative who had amassed a large collection of possessions? Maybe they were a total hoarder. If that’s the case, you’ll have to pay for a junk removal service to come in and empty the house. Hiring a junk removal company can cost you anywhere from $1000 – $4000 depending upon the amount of trash in the house. The junk removal companies charge for labor and city landfill fees both. You can take time to travel yourself and clean up the place but most of the times we find it too overwhelming and end up spending on travel and then hiring a local junk removal company.
You have make sure to hire the right Junk removal company and there has been numerous cases where people have break into the house and took anything they found valuable and left the house in worse condition. Don’t hire a local day to day worker from social media or craigslist without doing their background checks
Decorating & Staging
Decorating, like repairs, can be as inexpensive as a can of paint when done yourself. You could still take time out of your schedule and go through the time, trouble, and expense of traveling to the house to decorate it yourself, or you could hire someone to do it for you. It will cost time, money, and effort in either case.
When selling your home, many real estate agents or brokers will advise you to use a staging service. This may appear to be a good idea, especially if you are not present to ensure that your home looks its best. However, you will not only be charged for the professional coming to your home and arranging it, but you may also be charged for furniture rental. A professional staging company can cost you around $2000 – $6000 depending on number of rooms, the level of beautification and location of the property as well.
Costs Not Included
Even if the house you’re selling is in excellent condition, there are still expenses to consider if it’s on the market with no one living in it.
Vacant house insurance generally covers the house in the event of a fire, hail, wind, lightning, storm, or other named event. Most standard policies do not cover frozen pipes, broken windows, or other vandalism. They also do not cover your liability if someone breaks into your home, injures themselves, and decides to sue you.
Utility bills – It is possible, but not recommended, to disconnect utilities in an empty house.
Repairs and maintenance may be required as time passes and your home remains on the market.
Maintenance – Depending on the time of year, you will need to keep the yard looking nice by cutting the grass, weeding the beds, and so on. IF you fail to keep these exterior maintenance items unchecked, your house might attract squatters.
It All Takes Time
All of this, of course, takes time. It can take weeks to find a real estate agent or broker and have prospective buyers view your home.
1. You must find a real estate agent or broker you can rely on to follow your instructions.
2. The house must then be prepared for sale, (Repairs, Staging, Bills etc)
3. You have to wait while photographs are taken and advertisements are prepared and posted.
4. Then there’s the wait for a buyer who wants your house and is willing to pay a price that you’re comfortable with which comes with negotiation and a lot of back and forth with your realtor.
5. Depending on the municipality, you must then go through the processes of surveys, title searches, home inspections, and, in some cases, occupancy inspections.
6. You finally sell your home, hopefully before your equity is depleted by holding costs (insurance, maintenance, and taxes).
Other Concerns When Selling Out-of-State
If you leave a house empty for an extended period of time, you may be victimized by vandalism or, worse, squatters. The stresses and costs of going through the legal process of illegally evicting someone from your home are enormous.
Not only that, but You have to put your entire trust in a real estate agent or broker you have never met in person.
There is another option:
How H&M Home Solutions Can Assist
When you contact H&M Home Solutions, you will speak with someone who is concerned with providing you with the best possible sales experience in the shortest amount of time. One of our team members will schedule a time that is convenient for you to talk over a phone call, and if you decide to sell, they will make a cash offer to buy your house “as-is.”
That offer could be made within 24 hours.
H&M Home Solutions professionals are not interested in having you decorate the home, nor do they require any costly repairs. You do not need to go to the house to prepare for the evaluation.
Consider the time and effort you will save by not having to take time out of your busy schedule to travel to the house, clear any junk that has been left behind, clean through the house, make repairs, or decorate. Furthermore, you do not need to hire a professional staging company.
There are no real estate agent or broker fees, no repair costs, and no waiting for the other party to decide if they want to buy with H&M Home Solutions. Consider how easy a house sale would be without negotiations.
You don’t have to dread the phone call informing you that your buyers didn’t get their loan and will not be proceeding, or, even worse, that they want you to make costly repairs or lower the price.
We do this all via phone and don’t require you to travel to the house if you prefer that. Even at the closing table, we have systems in place where you can close on the property while sitting on your couch in your home town. We can do this all-day by scheduling a in-person notary who will come to your house and assist you to sign all the documents and on top of that we don’t charge you for any of these services, in fact we pay all the closing cost.
We excel to make these transactions as simple and stress free as possible while keeping full transparency throughout the process. Get a all cash offer for your house below: