How to Sell When You Don’t Have the Time or Money for Repairs

October 12, 2016

Contrary to popular opinion, Every House Does Have a Buyer and sometimes homeowners of distressed houses just can’t get out of their own way to rid themselves of an ongoing and costly house problem. It’s not entirely their fault as the real estate industry does little to educate a niche market that they really have no interest in.

In looking at the numbers, it’s obvious that the core of real estate agents marketing efforts and budgets are focused on high dollar, market-ready houses that fetch fast sales and high commissions. Real estate agents are not interested in getting involved in houses that do not yield fast sales or high commissions. That means that nicer neighborhoods with nicer houses get targeted first while others tend to linger on the sidelines.

As a result, most homeowners of distressed houses just don’t know what their options are because the industry has neglected these homeowners for years. They are termed Ugly Houses, run down houses, tear downs, etc. and there are very few outlets for distressed houses in many neighborhoods.

I am also convinced that homeowners just don’t know where the resources are that they desperately need. Most of these homeowners I have talked to had a tendency to think that they were unique or they were the only ones going through the situations that plagued their houses. The truth is that many of their neighbors may have the same issues. Maybe the path to the distressed house was different, but it is still a distressed house and no one is speaking directly to them.

[Read more: Why Houses Don’t Sell]

Buyers Just Not Connecting With the Right House

While most communities only have a limited number of reputable real estate investors or cash home buyers, there are hundreds of real estate agents, it’s easy to see why the cash home buyers fail to connect with homeowners of distressed houses. Even my marketing campaigns including several “We Buy Houses” signs, postcards and mailers fail to attract the people that need to sell their houses. As real estate investors, we are drowned out and the conventional methods of attracting homeowners that need to sell their houses tend to win out often providing negative results for the homeowner.

No Repairs = No Sale

Many homeowners have told me that they tried to talk to the real estate agents but they were told that they couldn’t help them unless they had thousands of dollars to spend on repairs and updates. Many homeowners just don’t have that kind of money to risk on investments that they may never recoup.

I also am often told that “we are so embarrassed to be in this situation” and that calling someone else about our problem house is very difficult and we just didn’t think we had any options. We didn’t know that you existed.

Can you imagine believing that you are forever trapped in a house that has so many problems that you can’t afford to do anything?

There is no doubt that when it comes to the ongoing maintenance of a house, that homeownership is much more costly than renting. It is also understandable that so many houses fall into “Chronic Disrepair” for that very reason.

With so many people just hanging on by a thread, maybe it’s a loss of a job, stagnant wages, or a bad mortgage that is just consuming every bit of a paycheck, many homeowners that I have talked to barely have enough left over to make minor fixes let alone major repairs.

Do You Have the Time or Energy?

Another growing concern is with the aging of the population, especially among the Baby boomers, many are living on fixed incomes in houses that have zero balance mortgages, but the houses need so much work that the homeowners are afraid that even if they fix the problems that they won’t be able to recoup the expenses in a sale. They don’t realize that they could sell their house in its current as is condition and cash out rather than live in a house that holds them prisoner.

Houses fall into disrepair for a number of reasons but the most common and costly are the ones that receive little or no attention (known as Deferred Maintenance) and end up becoming chronic ongoing problems for the homeowner. What started out as a $500 repair quickly escalates to $5,000 in a matter of months or even years. House maintenance issues cannot fix themselves and left unattended will greatly affect the health of the rest of the house.

[Read more: How to Sell a House with Tenants]

The most common Deferred Maintenance issues can be traced to the following.

Deferred maintenance of a roof
- Water Damage; Dry rot, roofing decay, broken gutters, and interior damage
Deferred maintenance of a foundation
- Cracks and settling of the foundation can have a rippling effect in plaster and flooring. Large cracks begin to appear
- Cracked Driveways, Sidewalks, and Garages
Deferred maintenance of plumbing or sewer
- Water leaks from Toilets, bathtubs, and faucets cause mold, mildew, and decay to all surrounding areas. Termite damage is also common.
Deferred Maintenance from ‘Acts of God’ (fallen trees, flooding, and debris)
- Fallen branches have damaged garages and houses cosmetically or structurally.
Deferred Maintenance of exterior siding
- Dry rot and termites
Deferred Maintenance of Windows and Doors
- Water intrusion, dry rot, and termite infestation

What Can We Do About It?

We all have internal conversations about the things we’re convinced we can do nothing about, but mostly when a house is a persistent problem, those conversations are validated by the facts as we see them and sometimes it means that we just need a little more information.

Lack of Money to fix the problems so I can’t sell my house the way it is
Lack of Time
Lack of Energy, there is so much wrong I can’t sell it and nobody will buy it
Lack of knowledge or understanding of Real Estate transactions (we don’t know what we don’t know) We can help and we pay cash.
Lack of other Resources

Do You Really Think Your House is Unsellable?

Unfortunately, the vicious cycle will continue right up and to the point that we talk to someone that can actually do something for us. We will continue believing what we’ve been told by others or what we’ve told ourselves is true.

In every case where I have purchased a “problem property”, the homeowner was convinced that there was nothing they could do. But they all had one thing in common: they were amazed at how simple it was and how quickly I could make it all happen.

Whether prompted by a sign on a telephone pole that said “We Buy Houses in Any Condition” or an ad on Craig’s List, a letter in the mail, a postcard or search on the Internet, in every case, they took a leap of faith and picked up the phone, sent me a text message or an email looking for help. 209-481-7780

It all starts with a phone call, an email or a text message. At some point, someone initiates contact and the wonderfully simple process of selling a house for cash begins.

Two people; one needing or wanting to sell and the other wanting to buy. It does not get any simpler than this and the process begins.

I have talked with hundreds of homeowners that just didn’t know that they had any options to sell the house that had caused them so much pain and grief. Why?

We talk to the wrong people and sometimes they validate our hopeless beliefs!

Every house is different and has its own challenges and solutions. So as homeowners we talk to trusted family and friends, even trusted Realtors®. Let’s face it, everyone is an expert and everyone has an opinion and sometimes the people that we trust the most are just plain wrong.

Emotional attachment and guilt

Everyone would agree that owning a house comes with responsibilities, but sometimes we don’t choose to become homeowners. Sometimes that decision is made for us and we inherit a house with problems. We also inherit the emotional ties and memories and guilt at the expense of realistic conversations about how to best deal with the property.

We invent ideas about what Mom and Dad Wanted
Relatives Move in and wont leave
The House Needs a lot of work:
Unfamiliar with Cash Home Buyers
We don’t have the money to fix it
It’s my problem I’ll live with it
The House is not in my name and we have no money
The houses has unfinished projects
Some renovations were done without permits (I don’t want to get in trouble)
There are Code Violations
There are tenants living in the house that won’t leave
I owe back taxes
They Talk to the Wrong people
- They talk to friends and family
- They talk to Real Estate Agents
They wouldn’t buy themselves
They don’t know that we exist
They don’t believe they can do it by themselves
Conventional Wisdom says only a real estate agent can help
The House is not even in my Name (could not afford Probate)
The House needs a lot of work (Deferred Maintenance)
The House has one or several unfinished and non-permitted renovations
I owe Back Taxes
The house has code violations that are now liens
The bathrooms have severe water damage from leaky plumbing
The Plumbing is 50 years old and is cast Iron and I have water under the house
I have tenants living in the house that are not paying the rent and I can’t evict them

Whatever the reason, there is a solution when you talk to a real estate investor that is concerned with your specific situation. Like I said before, every house and every need is different. Learn More Here.

We Buy Houses in Stockton Give me a call – (209) 481-7780 Let’s see what we can do!

We Buy Houses in Stockton, Sacramento & Modesto

I Buy Houses Stockton Introduction (209) 481-7780 We buy Houses Stockton

My name is Peter Westbrook and I am a local real estate investor and the owner of We Buy Houses Sacramento and Westbrook Real Estate Investments. I am NOT a Real Estate Agent or Broker and for good reason. I purchase real estate and I am NOT going to ask you to pay a commission or a fee.…I pay CASH and because I do, I can close on the day that I tell you.

For those of you that already know me or have already called me you can attest that I answer my own phone and I return all phone calls. When you call me at 209-481-7780 you are calling me on the same number that my mother and my closest friends call me at.

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Contact the area's #1 And Most Trusted House Buying Experts to Sell Your Home. We buy houses in ANY Condition. There is no obligation or cost. What do you have to lose?

Hear What Others Have To Say…

The City of Stockton was getting ready to tear down my old house. I was no longer able to maintain the Stockton House and after years of trying to keep up with code violations, needed repairs and vandalism, I finally called Peter

Westbrook. He came right out and told me what he could do. He contacted the city and county and even cleaned up the property before he bought it. He paid the back taxes for me and gave me an advance on the purchase of the house. Without his help I would have lost everything. I called real estate agents and other investors but no one wanted to help and no one offered to pay as much as Peter Westbrook. He completely remodeled the house and I smile every time I go by. Thank you Peter.

Leonard S

We inherited our parents house with one of our brothers living there . The property taxes had not been paid and it was in Tax default. We called Peter Westbrook and he found that the title was still in our parents name, so the Stockton House never went through probate. Peter also found that there was an old auto loan that had a lien on the

title and an old bankruptcy ruling to take care of that lien had never been filed with the courts. Peter handled everything including paying the back taxes, paying for the hiring a Probate Attorney and filing the probate and paying for and hiring a Bankruptcy Attorney to finalize the removal of the lien. He was patient, understanding and he took care of everything including evicting the tenants that were living in the house. We talked to real estate agents and other I buy house people. None of them had the answers for our situation. Without peter we would have lost everything. We got paid cash.

Steve H

We inherited my parents Stockton house with a mortgage. We decided to rent it out. The tenants destroyed the house. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t have the money to fix it and the city had already issued code violations.. I called an “I Buy Houses Stockton Sign” on a telephone pole and Peter Westbrook answered. In 4 days he paid the bank and bought my house. We would have lost everything if it weren’t for Peter Westbrook.

Mike B

I inherited my mothers house with a mortgage. When my husband and I lost our jobs, we got behind in payments. Then the Bank posted a default with a auction date we didn’t know what to do.

We didn’t have the $15,000.00 and we only had two weeks to do something. We called Peter Westbrook and form the beginning he was confident he could stop the bank. Within 4 days he bought the house with cash, paid off the bank and stopped the Foreclosure. Without Peter we would have lost everything.

Brenda T

I saw a sign on a telephone pole and against my better judgement I called. The last thing I expected was a person answering the phone. I was surprised, Peter Westbrook answered the phone. I had a lot of questions and Peter had the right answers. My mother needed to get as much as possible out of the house and we had talked to several real estate agents and they all wanted to sell it cheap and wanted a 6% commission. They all told us unless we put thousands of dollars into it could not be sold for what we wanted. Not Peter. He made a fair cash offer and since then we have sold him another house. Peter and the title company handled everything. I couldn’t be happier and I would recommend Peter Westbrook to anyone.

Cathy W

I needed to sell my Stockton House. I called a phone number I saw on a sign and talked to Peter Westbrook. The City of Stockton said that they were going to take away my vacant Stockton house, knock it down and send me the

bill to do it. I did everything that I could to try to make them happy. A neighbor offered to buy the house and then Peter offered me twice as much. He did everything he said he would do and I just had to go to the Title Company and sign the papers. He did all of the work and now the City of Stockton is his problem. Thank you Peter.

Ann C

I inherited my Fathers Stockton house. The front porch was falling in, the walls had holes from being vacant and vandalized. The City of Stockton fined us, red tagged the property and forced us to put on a new roof so we had to get loans and we still couldn’t rent it out.

I called one of those “I Buy Houses” signs and Peter Westbrook came out and made a cash offer. The House closed escrow and we got our money for a house we though was worthless. Thanks Peter!”

Broderick R.

“Our Grandfather passed away and my brother, sister and I inherited his Stockton house. He was a junkman and hoarder. He was also 90 years old and had not made a repair to the house in years. He had garage sales almost every day. The house and the yard were full of junk. We tried to get everything out so we could just see the house. We had family and friends come over on the weekends but the cost and effort was consuming all of our time.The house was a mess.

I called Peter Westbrook and he made us a cash offer for the house and he said he would take care of all of the clean up. Thank God I called. The City had issued code violations and fines on the property and even before we closed escrow Peter and his crew had the house and yard cleaned (4 large Dumpsters later) . I recommend Peter Westbrook to anyone that has a problem house. They were fast and professional”

Connie J.

“I had tried to sell my Mothers Stockton house for two years. Realtor’s told me to tear it down. I didn’t have the money for that and my Brother and his family were living there. Peter Westbrook made me a cash offer and closed escrow with my brother still in the house. Peter Westbrook is my savior. I don’t have to worry about the house any more. If you have a Stockton house that has become a burden and you don’t have the money to fix it to sell it, call Peter Westbrook.”

Rosemary R.