5 Tips For Selling Your Home “As Is”

Selling your home can be hard work – repairs, yard work, updating old kitchen cabinets, and more. Much more.

Fortunately, there is an easier way to sell your home: selling it “as is.” Rather than investing time and money sprucing up your property, you just sit back and do nothing at all. Instead, you let the property speak for itself, warts and all, and you wait for someone to love your home just the way it is.

Why would someone want to sell this way? Maybe they need to relocate quickly because of a job opportunity. Or, they can’t stand the idea of living in a construction zone. Or, they’re just lazy and don’t mind admitting it.

Whatever the reason, many people are selling their home “as is” in this seller’s market we’re currently in. Buyers are much more willing to overlook blemishes in a home when competing buyers are lined up and not asking for much in the way of concessions, including fixing things.

At Cities Real Estate, we’ve worked on hundreds of transactions with “as is” sellers, and we’re happy to share these five tips with you about the process and its pitfalls.

Tip #1: Tell everyone it’s for sale “as is”

There are bargain hunters galore out there in today’s market, and advertising your home for sale “as is” serves as a beacon for them. In addition, it saves you from wasting a lot of time with potential buyers who want to haggle with you over fixing things.

Out of fairness, keep in mind that when you tell the market that you’re selling “as is,” you need to price it accordingly. For example, if a fair asking price for your home is $250,000 and your roof needs to be replaced for $25,000, you should knock that off of your asking price.

Tip #2: Disclose known defects

If you want to avoid a buyer taking you to court after the sale of your home, you need to tell them “everything you know about” when it comes to your home’s condition.

Ignorance may not be bliss when it comes to your health, but it may be when it comes to defects when you sell your home. If you don’t know about them, a judge will probably not hold you liable if you didn’t disclose something you should have. For example, if you inherited a home and didn’t know about something like lead-based paint used years ago, you probably would have nothing to worry about.

If in doubt, ask your realtor.

Tip #3: Expect an inspection

Even though you won’t be responsible for fixing anything, your buyer may still want to perform some “due diligence” by ordering a home inspection to see what kind of shape the home is in. And, if they don’t like what they see, they may walk away from the deal with their deposit clasped firmly in their hand.

Worse yet, you’re legally required to share that information with future buyers now that you know about it. It may not scare every potential buyer off, but it will likely open up discussions about repairs or compensation.

Tip #4: Lenders may want an appraisal

If the buyer’s getting a mortgage, their lender may require an appraisal to make sure they’re not lending money on a “lemon.” With an appraisal, they’ll dish out only what they deem the house is worth, which can always mean bad news. You might need to cover the difference or make repairs the lender demands. Of course, you can always refuse, but the buyer can walk away from the deal, too.

Tip #5: Work with a realtor who has “as is” experience

There’s definitely an art to selling “as is.” It seems simple enough, but a realtor without experience in this market niche can make some simple mistakes that can be costly to you as a seller.

David Pannell of Cities Real Estate, Fort Worth, Texas, is an “as is” expert. He’s successfully closed deals like these throughout Texas since 2005 – it’s how he cut his teeth in the business.

David is a realtor you can trust. He served in the United Marine Corps and as a City of Arlington, Texas, police officer. Call David today at (817) 797-9047 and let him know what your real estate goals are in 2022. Put his experience to work for you; you’ll be glad you did.