So you need to sell your house, and you’re aware of unpermitted work on your home. If you find yourself in this situation and are unsure what step to take to get started, you’re among many homeowners in the same spot. In any real estate transaction, disclosure is a serious legal matter, and you could find yourself in legal hot water should the work be discovered after the sale.

Retroactive Permitting 

Unpermitted work should be inspected and brought up to code. These codes exist for the safety of the home’s occupants and surrounding properties. However, homeowners are often overwhelmed by the cost of having the previous work removed and the project completed under a retroactive permit when they want to sell a house with unpermitted work in Baltimore. Remember, the county may also charge fees for the unpermitted work, and you could face problems with your insurance company as well. You’ll need to consider the time it will take for the job and the expense of the work itself. In addition, when you’re adding up the costs to fix the problems, when you’re holding property, time is money. Any mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, and maintenance charges will continue to pour in month after month, not to mention the commissions, fees, and marketing expenses you’ll face. If you select this route, seek guidance through the complex process of retroactive permitting. Another question to consider is how long the home may be on the market when it is ready to sell. If time is of the essence, consider a direct sale to Clipper City Home Buyers because the closing could happen in a matter of days. 

As-Is 

Because it may require a tremendous outlay of cash, another option to consider selling as-is to sell a house with unpermitted work in Baltimore. When you go about pricing your home, consider valuing the home as if the addition doesn’t exist. For instance, if you find an unpermitted additional office space was added to the house, deduct the value from comparable homes with a private office space. Unfortunately, a great deal of time with the home on the market may have already passed if an inspector discovered the unpermitted work during the inspection phase of a sale. When a buyer seeks financing, and an examination reveals the issue, the lender will deny the loan. Contacting a trusted professional to help you assess how much to discount for the buyer’s problems might help.

Clipper City Home Buyers 

A direct sale to Clipper City Home Buyers is the best option for you to sell a house with unpermitted work in Baltimore. At Clipper City Home Buyers, we work with simple, straightforward contracts and take the time to listen to the problems you face and offer solutions to help. Then, with the power of cash backing Clipper City Home Buyers, you can close in a matter of days or delay the closing if you need a few more weeks to for your plans. The direct buyers at Clipper City Home Buyers will explain every step of the process. Clipper City Home Buyers will even explain how much you would realize from the sale if you were to list with a traditional real estate agent or work with us. When you work with a direct buyer from Clipper City Home Buyers, our goal is that you agree that our offer is fair for your home as-is.

Contact us today at 443-218-3133 or fill out our quick cash offer form here.

The standard checklist for what buyers expect of a listing in the real estate market has evolved, and in many ways, technological advances have influenced these changes. As a result, the world of real estate has transformed. Therefore, it’s helpful to understand what buyers of today are seeking when scrolling through listings online. 

No matter if you select to sell your home for yourself, typically referred to as an FSBO, or work with a real estate agent, you’ll need to pay attention to these selling tips for homeowners in Baltimore.

Updates, Upgrades, and Repairs 

Our first selling tip for homeowners in Baltimore is to refresh the appearance of your home with some paint and any minor fixes, such as squeaky doors. These little things matter as buyers walk through the property during showings. Significant repairs are an entirely different matter and can become a stumbling block to selling your house in Baltimore. There is also the matter of legal risks when it comes to disclosure, and it could be costly should a homeowner attempt to hide problems. If you don’t want to do any significant repair work or can’t afford to, Clipper City Home Buyers will take all of the risks and buy your home as-is for cash.

Marketing

Technology leads us to this selling tip for homeowners in Baltimore. First, it’s worth hiring professionals for high-quality digital photography and 360-degree virtual drone tours, which require professional pilots. Second, as an additional aspect of marketing, you should also invest in staging your house. Along with the changes in technology, staging has become an industry-standard because it increases home sales, as buyers can more easily imagine themselves living in the property when touring the home during a showing, whether in person or virtual. Finally, you can skip the showings by selling directly Clipper City Home Buyers for a price you’ll agree is fair.

Pricing

Our next selling tip for homeowners in Baltimore is numbers of your asking price, known as run the comps. Compare the homes that are the most like and nearest your own house sold recently, adding or subtracting the values of any differences in the features. If you price high, buyers know when you miss the mark and will pass on your listing, just as pricing too low can be highly costly as buyers will assume a problem exists. Either way, property that lingers on the market sells for less. A professional investor from Clipper City Home Buyers will let you know your current market value and what you’d earn by listing with an agent, FSBO, or selling directly to Clipper City Home Buyers. 

Clipper City Home Buyers

The options available to homeowners ready to sell have evolved, leading us to our final selling tip for homeowners in Baltimore, begin your home selling process by starting with the experts at Clipper City Home Buyers. If the idea of showings makes you uncomfortable, you’re not alone! Maybe you just don’t want to deal with the headaches of the selling process and interruptions in your daily life. Are you selling due to financial troubles or a time crunch forcing a quick move? At Clipper City Home Buyers, our guaranteed closing date can be in as few as seven days. And if you need a little more time, we can hold off the closing until the date that best suits your plans. 

Clipper City Home Buyers wants to help you decide which sales method is the best option for your circumstances. We want you to feel good about the sale long after the closing, so Clipper City Home Buyers is transparent about our offer, and you won’t have to worry about commissions or hidden fees coming off of the top at closing, either. Contact us today at 443-218-3133 or fill out our quick cash offer form here.

You’re ready to sell and don’t want to pay all of the commissions and fees that come with a traditional real estate agent, you also aren’t keen on all that is involved with listing the property as for sale by owner. At Clipper City Home Buyers, we’ll take the time to listen to all of your questions about the process and the potential savings involved with a direct sale, get started today by calling 443-218-3133 or by fill out our quick cash offer form here.

Besides avoiding all of the headaches of listing your property on the market, as a seller, you can save yourself money in the following ways by making a direct sale of your Baltimore property.

No Repairs or Renovations 

Inspections and appraisals are an integral part of the traditional home selling process, leading many to put thousands of dollars into a home that they’re ready to walk away from. In order to pass inspections, it’s possible that you could end up facing overwhelming repair bills for an issue you weren’t aware of previously.

Pack and Go 

Cleaning? Sell direct and forget it! Experienced real estate agents know that most buyers don’t have the vision to see beyond your clutter or any apparent decorative flaws. They’ll advise that nearly every surface be free of objects. Most especially photographs or items that are of a more personal nature. Today’s real estate professional will likely advise that you store your own belongings and spend further on staging the home, both for advertising publications and showings. In addition, you’ll need to keep up the exterior curb appeal for these reasons. This allows the buyer to more easily visualize themselves living in the home. You can save all the costs involved in a deep clean of your Baltimore home when you sell directly. In many cases, you can just leave behind any items you’d rather not take along to your new residence. 

Forget Closing Costs 

You’ll save money when you sell directly in Baltimore by eliminating most of the normal fees associated with traditional closings. You’ll also forego the fees normally associated with the required reports from appraisals and inspections in most cases. Especially on newer or more recently renovated properties. 

No Marketing Expenses 

Whether you are working with a real estate agent or selling your home on your own, any marketing expenses will be passed on to you. Naturally, the more you spend, the better your advertising vehicle and reach to the public. As a part of the marketing plan, you’ll need to have your home picture perfect. 

Monthly Costs Eliminated 

The monthly costs of homeownership can add a lot of pressure, especially if you’ve already had to relocate for work or personal reasons. These costs can run into the thousands, including taxes, mortgage, insurance, utilities, and maintenance. If your house is aging, repair bills are usually depleting your funds on a more regular basis and can be extremely expensive. The financial burden and personal stress can add up quickly. By choosing a direct sale, you could quite literally save yourself thousands! Just pack what you want to keep and sell your Baltimore property directly. You can leave the monthly payments behind sooner than you think. Call Clipper City Home Buyers today at 443-218-3133 or fill out our quick cash offer form here.

What the heck is it like to work with a real estate investor? Are we like working with an agent? Below are a few of the most asked questions we’ve gotten.

Will you list the house on the MLS or will you buy it?

We’re not agents and we don’t list houses. We are home buyers, buying houses in Maryland (and other areas) that meet our buying criteria. We may repair the house and resell it or keep it as a rental.

Do you pay fair prices?

Most of the properties we buy are below market value (so that we can resell it at a profit to another home owner). We are looking for a discount. But in our experience, most of the sellers we work with aren’t expecting a large windfall on the property but want that fast cash, and quick closing. The other aspect is that our sellers don’t have to do any work to the property or spend anything to get things fixed up. An example of this is a house that was inherited, that needs a lot of work, and is in another state. It’s a big headache to get the house ready to sell, so the seller works with us, gets a fast cash offer and sometimes doesn’t even have to go back to the house at all.

How do you figure out the price to offer on my house?

It’s pretty straight forward – we look at what other houses in the area similar to your house – same square footage, bedrooms, etc, that have sold recently. Then we figure what repairs are needed to get the property in the same shape. Then we decide what we can offer based on those factors and a few others – such as the current market, the current costs of repairs, and costs of operating our business.

Are there any fees or commissions to work with us?

There are NO fees or commissions when selling to us. We make you an offer, if it works for you, we’ll buy your house, paying for the closings costs, and you walk away with that original offer (minus anything owed).

Am I obligated if I give you my information?

Not at all! After you’ve told us a bit about your property, we’ll figure out what we can offer, then it’s up to you to work with us or not.

If you want to see if you’re a fit for us, fill out this form here.

If you need to know how to sell a distressed property in Baltimore, we can share with you some of the options available. A traditional listing for a distressed property isn’t always the best because buyers aren’t as interested, it can take a long time to sell, and it can be costly for most owners.

Your house can fall into disrepair, we get it, life happens. Maybe there was a death, divorce, someone got sick or lost a job, which meant you had a loss of income or you have to move quickly.

Professional Buyers

A professional buyer is someone who can buy your property for cash. This can be a great thing since cash sales tend to be fairly quick, sometimes in even as little as 7 days.

Another great thing about selling to a professional buyer is that the sale is as-is. You won’t have to make any costly repairs or spend time getting the property repaired. You’ll also save on closing costs, because a professional buyer will pay all the closing costs.

Since the professional buyer is taking all the risks, their offers are below market prices. Be sure to do your research when looking into using a professional buyer. We’ve heard of folks with horror stories of working with dishonest professional buyers.

Do-It-Yourself

It may sound appealing to sell your distressed Baltimore property yourself. You won’t be responsible for auction or agent fees. If you know marketing and have a sense of the legal side of things, while you may need to invest a lot of time, you can save money by selling it yourself.

Unfortunately, if you’re inexperienced in marketing and the legal details, you may end up holding the property for a long time, not get the best profit and have a legal nightmare on your hands.

Professional Auctioneers

Not having to show your property is definitely a positive aspect to an auction. Going this route means you can close within 30-40 days and sell as is.

You do want to keep in mind that the fee for the service is typically high, sometimes 10 percent of the final purchase price. But, because of the nature of auctions, you don’t have a guaranteed outcome.

Whatever you decide, we wanted to share a few options. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you with your distressed property, you can give us a call today at 443-218-3133 or fill out our quick cash offer form here.

What was it like working with us? When did we settle? Anything surprising or easier than you thought?

Check out what one of our sellers had to say about working with us in this quick video.

If you’re selling your house in Baltimore Maryland, there’s no guarantee, or way to estimate when it will sell. It can be a big let down when you think you’ve sold your home and you’re ready to move forward with plans for the new home. While it doesn’t happen every time, it’s wise to be aware as you enter the market, of the reasons a buyer falls through and what, if anything you can do to avoid it.

Backing Out

If you’re selling your house in Baltimore due to an urgent reason for relocating, the stress of the sale falling through can be disheartening. It can also be expensive when you’re forced to make arrangements due to the buyer backing out.

Inspection

It’s advisable to have an independent inspection done by a professional when you’ve decided it’s time to sell your Baltimore house. Depending on the age and condition of your house, failing the inspection is a deal-breaker.

What can you do?

If you’re facing time restrictions, don’t want to have to invest even more into your property, of you just want to simplify the process of selling your house, one thing you can do is a direct sale as your exit strategy. Here at Clipper City Home Buyers, we buy homes directly and can close quickly. You can give us a call today at 443-218-3133 or fill out the form below.

Clipper City Home Buyers buys houses and land in Baltimore and surrounding areas and counties in Maryland. It is owned by Bret and Jennilyn Gaitan. After serving in the US Marines, Bret moved to Maryland and married Jennilyn, a native of Baltimore.

Bret graduated from Towson University and worked as a teacher in Baltimore County while building his real estate investing business. Bret and Jennilyn started their business with a desire to spend more time with their own family and friends, to invest in the communities they’ve lived in, and to help people who have property they need to be free from. He brings the same integrity and dedication he had while serving in the Marines to running his business. From teaching, he brings what he told students was one of the most important things he could teach them: Treat other people the way you want to be treated.

Here’s what a recent seller had to say about working with us.

“What I liked was that I didn’t have to empty out the house. It was a huge weight off my shoulders to not have to worry about it.“
John – Parkton, MD

See how we can help you by calling 443-218-3133 or by filling out the form below.

We often hear from folks in Maryland needing to sell their house because they’re relocating. We’re able to help a lot of those sellers sell their house quickly.

Moving And Need To Sell Fast In Baltimore? Here’s Some Steps You can Take

Figure out what your house is worth. You can figure this out using a real estate agent or by reaching out to us to give you a no obligation offer on your property.

Figure out how fast you want (or need) to sell your house. We’re able to close fairly quickly, sometimes in as little as 1-2 weeks.

Figure out the value of selling fast vs. selling with an agent. Don’t forget to calculate the holding costs when figuring this out, things such as your insurance, taxes, etc. You’ll also want to calculate the agent fees of typically 3% to your agent and 3% to the buyers agent. It may make sense to sell for a discount below the retail price.

Make a decision. Whether you go with an agent or with someone like us at Clipper City Home Buyers, you’ll want to get started soon. If we can help in your decision making process, let us know now. You can give us a call today at 443-218-3133 or fill out the form below.