So are you thinking about selling the house that’s in poor condition, but you still want to make sure you’re going to get top dollar?

Well, today I’m going to talk to you about three things that you really need to be careful of when you’re selling the house that’s in poor condition.

If you still want to get top dollar, oh my gosh, you guys, there are some really unethical people out here that will take advantage of you if you aren’t careful and give you bad advice.

So I’m here to tell you three things to look out for when you’re selling a house that’s in poor condition, but still want to get top dollar.

Listen to me today.

That’s what I’m talking about.

Hi again. It’s Annie Baker. I’m a realtor here in Silicon Valley. Specialize in selling homes, especially if they’re in trusts and probate or downsizing seniors or downsizing people that just want a smaller house.

So what I do all day long pretty much is think about how to help my clients make money when they’re selling their house, okay?

That’s my specialty and in my little niche, oftentimes the house is really in poor condition. So when you’re asking the question, how do I sell a house that’s in poor condition, you have found the expert, okay, I know I’ve got the best advice for you on this.

So number one, huge red flag. Huge. No-no, don’t do this. Neon signs flashing. Do not sell your house to one of those companies. It’s we buy ugly homes. We pay cash for house in any condition. And the reason I’m telling you that, I’m not saying you can’t sell to them, but don’t just see one sign or one ad and think, oh gosh, this will make my life easy.

This house is in such disarray, I just want cash. And to make it simple, you’re going to leave so much money on the table by just calling that one investor because that’s all they are. It’s some kind of investor group or an investor, realtor, investor person that just wants a deal, wants to get a house off market. And to them, a house that is dated with 20 years versus a house that’s dated by 60 years, it’s the same cost to fix up to them. They aren’t scared away by seeing mold seen floors ripped up, bathrooms not even working, doesn’t make a difference to them. Buyers on the other hand will be like, oh my gosh, what do we do here? Such a weird. So these people that really advertise, they’re good at online, you’ll see signs around town, they really want to take advantage of you in the sense that they will make it really easy.

They will say, you can leave anything in the yard, anything in the house, don’t worry about it. And they’ll give you a cash offer.

That might be what you want and a quick close, and not to lift a finger, but the problem is every investor has different criteria of what is important to them. And so the guy with this sign says, we buy ugly houses versus the guy that says, we pay cash for houses that need work.

One person might be willing to pay 500,000 for a house, and this guy might be willing to pay 550,000. I take the one that’s 550,000. So at least interview and meet with a few people, a bare minimum of three. If you’re doing this on your own, find at least three investors and get their value.

Don’t leave money on the table. Number two, don’t talk to one realtor and them say to you, oh my gosh, this is so much work.

Buyers are going to be scared away.

You know what?

I’ve got an investor, it’ll make it so much easier for you. I have a great relation with him. Oh, he’s such a good guy, or she’s such a great gal. They’re trustworthy, they have integrity. They’ll give you the best price, and I promise it’ll be easy. They’ll pay cash. Sure, you can leave the cars in the yard, leave everything in the house, get what you want and just leave and they’ll take care of everything.

We don’t have to do inspections. I don’t have to market. We don’t have to try and do open houses. I mean, this’ll be so much easier, okay? The problem with that people is that realtor has their own interests at heart because if they have one investor that they like and they bring that one investor, that one investor might even pay them extra than what you’re paying them in commission.

Plus, when that investor fixes up your house and goes to sell it, that realtor gets the second sale. So they sell it from you to that person and then from the investor to another buyer.

So for them, that’s a two for one deal. They get it and they might not have your best interest at heart. Really have to be careful. Some realtors out there, there are a lot that don’t have integrity, and they will tell you things that works in their benefit.

I’m not saying that they won’t get you an easy deal and a cash deal, which is maybe what is really important to you, but I don’t know. To me, 50,000, a hundred thousand dollars is a big deal, and a lot of times you’re leaving that if not more on the table.

If you’re a realtor just tells you to go with their one investor, don’t do it.

What I do in situations like this, I have had a handful of times when my sellers don’t want to put it on the market.

They’re like, Annie, I don’t know. I want it to go to an investor. I don’t want headaches. I don’t want questions. We’re selling it as is. I don’t want to remove the cars. Come on, just sell it to investor.

Well, what I’ll do is do open house for all my investors. So I have a pretty big database of investors and I’ll let them come and then they’ll bid it up.

So I know I still got my seller the best and highest offer, and it was still cash. They didn’t have to do anything, and it was simple, and we can still get it done within two weeks. No problem. If you want to still go ahead with selling it off market, make sure you do have your agent do an open house for investors.

Okay?

Nothing wrong with them representing one of those investors, but let’s just make sure they show it to at least 10 investors.

Okay?

Third, final red flag thing to look out for is nosy neighbors. Okay?

I’ve seen this a couple of times where neighbors will come in and give advice. Oh my gosh, you can’t even call a realtor until you fix a little bit of this place up.

Oh, you need to change out the carpets. Maybe they have their own sort of agenda being a neighbor, they could have good intentions, but they might say, you need to fix up the landscaping.

Oh gosh, you really need to change out the windows. And they have no idea what is important or not important.

So that’s when you need professional advice.

Get at least two different realtors to come in and give you opinions. Some might say, oh yeah, you need to do everything.

Some might get it and say, what are your goals?

If your goals are just to sell it as is and get a high cash offer, even if it goes on the market. Some regular buyers are thrilled to get a house that needs a ton of work.

Maybe they have a family member in construction, so they’re like, this is great. It’s a blank slate. We’re happy to take on all the problems of this deferred maintenance house.

Sometimes it is better to do nothing, so don’t listen to nosy Nancy Neighbor that’s just trying to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do.

Get professional opinion on where you start the remodeling and where you end it, or if they’re just like, oh, no, don’t do anything. I’ve got one investor. Don’t listen to that. So get a couple, at least two realtors to, I love this kind of sale.

It’s really my favorite because everyone is different, and it’s not because I say it’s different. It’s because the seller is different. Some sellers are all in, Annie, let’s do everything. Let’s fix this up.

So yeah, I might have to wait a couple months to put on the market, but I might get a couple hundred thousand more. I’m all in, and sometimes my sellers are like, Annie, I’m done. I’m tired. I’ve gone through a lengthy process just getting to this point. I just want to sell it as is.

But how do we still get the most money for this house that’s in poor condition? So always reach out. I really love talking about all this.

Reach out with any questions.

Comment below if there’s other questions you have or other topics you want me to do.

And until next time, have a good one.