“Sell My House As Is” – What does it exactly mean?
In a nutshell, it means selling your house in its current condition as it currently sits. No repairs, no renovations, no modifications, nothing. What you see is what you get.
You might think that this is always the case, but I assure you it is not. Let me walk you through an example:
Typical House Sale Timeline
You’re in contract to sell your house to Jane. Your house needs a fair amount of work — new roof, termite repair, new paint and some foundation repair. Jane knows this and puts in an offer anyway. During her inspection period, Jane mentions all of the repairs that the house needs, mainly the ones she was already aware of. She then reduces her offer by $20,000 or else she’s going to cancel escrow.
You can negotiate, accept her counter or cancel and go back to market in search of another buyer who will take on your property with all of the needed repairs. Of course this also means more time on market which increases your holding costs: mortgage payments, taxes, utilities and insurance.
This tactic by home buyers is very common. Of course, it’s perfectly reasonable that new information can come up during a professional home inspection — that’s why you get an inspection in the first place. But it’s often used as a way to tie up a property and negotiate a lower price.
Of course, if the repairs are big enough, Jane may not be able to get certain loan types anyway.
Selling Your House As Is
The better method is to sell your house as is to someone who can see beyond all of those repairs and pay with cash. Professional Hawaii real estate investors (like us) are used to buying properties “as is”. In fact, we prefer it because we want to renovate it according to our own tastes and specifications. We have our own contractors who can handle roof repair, termite damage and the like. And since we pay cash, there’s no risk of a loan not going through because of a shifting foundation.
When you need a no-nonsense buyer with cash instead of a buyer who’s going to play games and nitpick over every minute imperfection, then perhaps it’s the right time to contact us for an “as is” cash offer for your property.