Home maintenance is a hot-button issue, especially when it comes to individuals who simply can’t afford to keep up with the level of maintenance their home needs. In fact, there are some 35 million homes across the metropolitan regions of the United States alone that have at least one potentially hazardous repair incomplete according to the National Center for Healthy Housing. That’s around 40 percent of such homes – and that’s no laughing matter.
However, many homeowners simply don’t have the financial wherewithal to have repairs of any type done. This can jeopardize the health and safety of those living in the home, but it jeopardizes the ability of a home to be sold on the open market. If you need to sell your house but you can’t afford to repair it, here are some important steps you can take to remedy the situation.
Ideally you want to ensure your house is in the best condition it possibly can be when you list it for sale, as this will result in it netting the highest asking price. If you don’t have the money available to have the repairs done directly, options such as taking out a loan or refinancing your mortgage are unlikely to be helpful – especially if you’re looking to sell the house. What you can do instead is look to see if your state or municipality has any grants available to homeowners in order to help pay for repairs and renovations to your home. These grants are usually few and far between, but, unlike a loan, grants don’t need to be repaid. This makes it much easier and affordable when it comes to ensuring your home is in the best shape it possibly can be prior to listing it on the market.
Sometimes you just don’t have any options open to you but to still sell your house. However, you do have a way to sell the house without exposing yourself to liabilities involving having responsibility to fix any major issues with a home prior to the sale being finalized. The process, known as selling the house on an “as-is” basis, which saves you from being responsible for fixing any issues as long as you disclose them properly to the seller. However, just because you can sell a house as-is doesn’t absolve from the fact that you have a responsibility to ensure the seller knows each and every single flaw about the house that you’re aware of. You won’t be held liable for things that are discovered during a home inspection that you didn’t know existed, for example, and you won’t be responsible for fixing those problems before the house changes hands, but if you’re found hiding the truth in any way, you could find yourself in some very hot water.
While selling a home as-is might seem like the best idea ever for a homeowner that can’t afford to repair his or her property, there are some drawbacks. Chief among those is that you’re not going to get top dollar for your house, as cash buyers will be spending additional cash on repairs and upgrades. This can lead to disappointment in a seller if they were anticipating a certain amount of money from their house sale. However, when you simply don’t have the money to effect any repairs on the property, selling as-is is likely to be your best option.
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