We know that transitioning from owning a home to moving to senior housing or assisted living can happen in a time crunch. So if you are helping a loved one move or you are a senior housing provider, we wanted to share a few ways that the Tuckers here at kcmoHomeBuyer.com can assist.
We Offer Options to the Senior Seller
Many of our competitors will tell you that they are not real estate agents and that they are ready to make a fast closing cash offer so the seller can avoid the hassle of getting a home ready to sell before moving into senior housing. And we can do that. But we ARE licensed real estate agents, so we can offer you more. . .
For the seller that has a home that needs repairs and updates, our fair cash offer that closes on your time frame may be perfect. And for the seller that needs to know their house is closing in 10 days and they are getting their cash, again this is a great option. But many seniors are in very well kept and maintained homes that don’t need a lot of work or who might have the financial ability to move into senior living and then take a few months to sell their home. For these seniors, listing a home with a qualified Realtor that will take the time to market it correctly, would in most cases net a higer profit overall, even after paying out real estate commissions.
So because we are real estate agents, we can offer you options: Quick Cash or a Traditional Listing. Tell us what you are trying to do and we can give you both options and let you pick the best one for you. We list over most of the Kansas City Metro area as Kim lives in on the north west side of the metro and Scott lives way out on the east side of the metro. Either way we have you covered.
What are the Costs Involved?
When you sell a house to the Tuckers at kcmoHomeBuyer there are no costs we charge. There will be closing costs at the title company, that the seller usually has like title insurance, closing and recording fees, and in KS a bit of taxes. But we could negotiate those into the purchase price as well, we just need to know what you need. We want to make sure our sellers get the most money when they sell to move into senior housing, and by figuring out exactly what all the costs are and negotiating them in the contract, we can help you do that.
Now if we list your home, you will have a real estate commission to pay out of the closing proceeds. That is also negotiable. We have found that while the listing retail model does take a bit longer, incurring a bit more in holding costs, that a home that does not have a lot of repairs needed, will often put a bit more money in the seller’s pocket. They are trading that extra time for the extra profit.
How Long Does it Take?
If a senior is selling their home directly to us, we can generally close in a week to 10 days. Unless there are foundation issues, we generally do not need to have any extra inspections, and we have private funds so there are no appraisals or loan approvals to hold up the process. The only delays we find are with getting title completed with limited court house access due to COVID and we expect that to improve in the coming months and when there are liens on the property or title issues that were not forseen.
If a senior is working with us to list their home, right now if we price the home correclty you can add about 30 to 45 days for finding a buyer and another 30 to 45 days for a buyer with a loan to do their inspections, negotiate repairs, get an appraisal and loan approval. The closing process when listing could take a bit longer or a bit less.
What about Repairs?
When a senior sells us a house for cash, we buy it “as-is” which means they don’t have to fix a thing. We don’t care if a knob is missing. Or if the carpet is threadbare. Or if the furnace does not work. Or if there is wallpaper from 1952 all over the house, well we do care and factor the cost of changing these things into our offer. But the seller does not have to worry about making these repairs. We structure our offer accordingly. (We have a recent post about cost of repairs)
When a senior lists a house as they transition into senior housing, we recommend that a few things happen first:
- Declutter
- Clean, Clean, Clean Inside and the Yard
- If there are any little annoying repairs, hire a handy person to take care of them.
The decision to make any other repairs before the listing is up to the seller. However, a retail buyer is going to want to do inspections just about 95% of the time. And quite often they will ask for about $2,000 to $3,000 in repairs to be made or to be taken off the agreed-upon price. And if the buyer is getting financing through FHA, often the lender will not lend unless those repairs are made. So if you are listing, it is always a good idea to make sure everything is in good working order before you list.
What about belongings:
When a Senior is moving to senior housing or assisted living or maybe just downsizing to something smaller, there are always items that they may not want to take with them. We highly recommend a garage sale, but understand that quite often this is not an option. There are also local thrift stores that will sometimes come and take things out of the house to be donated or sold through their store. We work with several of these ourselves to clean out homes when we can.
But as a seller, you can leave things behind, just make sure you let the buyer know what is being left behind in advance and get it in writing in your contract. When the Tuckers here at kcmoHomeBuyer buy your house, you can leave behind just most belongings. We did have a large printing press once we wanted to get out of the house beforehand, but the seller had better connections on printing presses than we did and we worked with them to get that done. And if we were to list the home through our sister company Realty Resource, you can also disclose what is being left behind. As long as the buyers agree and you get it in writing, you are good. Some buyers don’t care, although most prefer an empty house.
How do we sell our house or refer a seller to kcmohomeBuyer.
The fastest way is to fill out our short form below. And if you want to learn more about senior housing and issues around senior living, we suggest a visit to SeniorLiving.org and AARP.