Moving into Your Inherited House

If you’ve inherited a house in the town or city where you already reside and you don’t already own the home you currently live in, chances are you will choose to occupy the inherited house. However, sometimes inherited houses are not in tip top shape and necessitate a remodel.

In these cases, if you don’t have the money to renovate the inherited home and the house you currently live in is in better shape than the inherited house, you may choose to sell the inherited house as is, make some money off the sale, and continue to rent. You may even be able to use the money you make off the sale of your inherited house to make a down payment on a different house you wish to purchase.

If you live outside the area in which your inherited house is located, you will need to decide to either rent out or sell the house if you’re not willing to relocate in order to occupy the inherited house yourself. If the inherited house is in good condition, it may be a good investment to keep as a rental.

Out of area homeowners may be faced with extra challenges as a landlord, especially if the house is older and will needs a lot of maintenance and repairs. You will most likely need to hire a property management company to oversee the rental and deal with any maintenance, repairs, and tenant-related issues.

Selling Your Inherited House

If you are unable to occupy your inherited house yourself and don’t want to deal with the hassles of renting a home or paying someone else to oversee the property, selling the house is an excellent option. The majority of inherited houses are sold and never occupied by the people who inherited them.

However, if the inherited house is not in sellable condition and you are not able or willing to prepare the house to be placed on the real estate market, an excellent option is to sell the inherited house to a company that buys houses. A house buying company can pay you cash for your inherited house immediately before preparing the house for a resale themselves.

Now that you understand your options, will you live in, rent out, or sell your inherited house?

Being in this situation is not what you anticipated when you scraped and saved for your home. However, if you can adopt the philosophy that homes and material things are replaceable, you can get through the situation and aim for a fresh start.  Short sales, foreclosure, or  bankruptcy can provide this. What you should aim for is the solution that has the smallest long term impact on your credit score and the greatest chance for you to move onto the next step with dignity.

Preserving your credit score is important. Not only is a good credit score necessary to get future credit and get it at a decent rate, it may impact your ability to rent or buy a house, get insurance, and even get a job. If you fall on hard times, you will take an inevitable hit.  Your concern should be with preserving your score as best you can. The means that in order of the least damage to your credit, it is short sale, foreclosure, and bankruptcy.

Short sale: If your home’s value is not enough to pay off the mortgage, you could ask your lender to authorize a short sale where you can sell the home for less than you owe.  This approach saves the lender time and money compared to a foreclosure and allows you have more time to plan your nest move as the process takes a while. You will lose 80 to 100 points on your credit request, but within 18 months the impact on your score should lessen.

Foreclosure: When the bank takes your home, you lose 200 to 300 points on score and can’t buy another home for at least three years.  Given the large numbers of foreclosures these days, foreclosure might have a relatively small social stigma and economic impact over time.

Bankruptcy: Bankruptcy will remove your debts or allow you to repay them over time, depending on whether you file Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy.  The number of points you lose depends on what your credit score was before you filed, but the event will stay on your record from 7 to 10 years. Despite the effect on your credit rating, this may still be the best choice if you are burdened down with a lot of other debts besides your mortgage.

Any of these methods can offer a fresh start to you if you are in trouble.  If you want to sell your home now, Express Home Buyers can offer exciting alternatives. Whether you are in financial trouble, face foreclosure, have a property that needs a lot of work, or have an inherited house, we can sell your house fast. Because with us, it’s Guaranteed2Sell.

Chances Are You’re Reading This For One of Three or Four Good Reasons.

First, you may have fallen on hard times. If anything, the current economy has taken any shame out of this position. There are few of us who aren’t affected to a greater or lesser degree. Second, your house may be in a condition in which you can’t sell it unless you spend lots of money fixing it up – money you don’t have. Third, you may have inherited a house through a family event like a death or retirement. Finally, your house might be close to foreclosure, and you simply don’t know what to do next.

Here’s a Simple, Winning Strategy – Sell Your House Now. Then, Buy Another You Can Afford!

It is really that simple. If your situation is such that you need to get out of your present personal economic crisis, then stop trying to make the huge profit on your house you think you deserve. In any one of the four situations described above, you probably can’t.

But you can profit.

Many real estate investment companies (like ours) are in a position to buy your house outright very quickly. As part of the purchase plan, you will be required to pay off all the debt and difficulty associated with the property. But when you do, you will be free and clear of the house and its troubles when the dust settles.

Now, here’s what to do with the cash you have left.

Simple. Buy a House You Can Afford!

Take the proceeds from your selling off of your personal asset – your house – and use it as a down payment for a house you can afford. Now.

Interest rates are low, houses are at their lowest prices in years, and you are now free and clear of all the financial mess that got you here in the first place. What’s to stop you from buying a new house, and a new start?

Look for the Best Value You Can Find.

For us at Express Homebuyers, this is the fun part.

Our business is buying your previous house, and selling you another, similar home that we have fully renovated. Lots of the folks whose houses we buy turn around and buy one’s we have already remodeled. With new gourmet kitchens, granite counter tops, ceramic floors, and completely reconditioned bathrooms and bedrooms, our houses represent one of the best values on the home marketplace today. We buy houses in Prince Georges County, Montgomery County, Washington DC and Virginia.

We close on them pretty quickly, too – usually in under 30 days.

So, one month from today, you could be walking into a newly remodeled home instead of worrying about the one you’re in. And as a personal economic stimulus package, we think that’s pretty neat.

So, need to sell your house fast? Sell it now and improve your overall financial position. We buy houses like yours every day.

After all, at some level, it’s a home you’re selling. Here are a few things to look for in a company that buys houses:

1. Does the Company Have an Office?
Has the buyer told you where their offices are located? You might want to set up an appointment to meet them at their office. Make sure that they have a permanent office where you can reach them anytime. Don’t be put off by multiple phone numbers – house buying companies and real estate firms typically use many 800 numbers to track where their calls are originating. But DO make sure the company is solvent and answers the phone!

2. Do They Have a Staff?

If they are a well-established company, they will have experienced staff who will be able to guide you through every detail of the selling process and gladly be available to answer all your questions. Watch out for delayed voice mail responses in the evening to calls you made during normal business hours.

3. How will They Finance the Purchase?
We can’t emphasize this one enough: Most “homebuyers” are looking to sign a contract and immediately “flip” the house for a relatively small profit. AND THEY DON’T PAY YOU UNTIL THE HOUSE IS RESOLD! A reliable company will have the cash or an available line of credit to buy your house. Remember, if it is sold on contingency, you will have to wait to get paid. This doesn’t stop foreclosure, back taxes, forfeiture or liens. Don’t be shy; demand proof that they have the cash. Even more, ask them for a deposit of $5,000. If they are serious about buying your house they will provide it gladly.

4. Is the Company Accredited by the Better Business Bureau?
If not, why not? Call the Better Business Bureau at (202) 393-8000 or look for the company information at the Better Business Bureau website. If they are, this logo should appear on their website:

Click on it, and it will take you to their report. Checking with the Better Business Bureau will enable you to know if the company is reliable and give you some concrete history of their business.

5. Finally, Read the Contract Carefully?
Although we shouldn’t have to tell you this, let’s face it…we’re all in a hurry! Take your time. Selling your property is one of the most important decisions in your life. Don’t let the buyer pressure you. If you need more time to go over the contract demand it. Look for weasel clauses that are the big “outs” that nobody sees. These “outs” allow those snakes to slither out of your contract up until the last moment.

Obviously, We Meet these Criteria.
We are in this business to make money, true. But we also strive constantly to provide a safe haven for people who need to sell their houses fast. We know our customers want to deal with trustworthy, reputable people. That’s how we’ve managed to stay in business reputably since 2003. Need to sell your house fast?

Give a shout.

Happy New Year!

It may not seem the best time to continue our discussion about avoiding foreclosure, but let’s face it, more of us than ever before are reaching what seems to be the point of no return. However, as we mentioned last time, you can take very positive steps to avoid foreclosure without sacrificing your credit or, finally, your ability to buy a home.

We discussed bankruptcy as your first option in our last blog. Now let’s look at another option that just might work for you as well.

Option 2: Make Up Your Payments in a Lump Sum or Installments.

You might be surprised at how much your lender wants to work with you to avoid foreclosure. You see, they stand to lose as much, if not more than you if they have to sell your property at auction. For them, it’s not a very good roll of the dice.

The truth is, they are very willing to work with you. The most common reason lenders don’t work with homeowners facing foreclosure is that the homeowner never asks before it’s too late.

Let’s look at some options.

If you are able to prove to the lender that you can make the payments you have missed plus make your current payments over a period of time (up to 24 months), it may be possible to keep your home. This option requires significant negotiation and discussions with your lender, but look on the up side. You get to keep your home. It’s worth it, don’t you think?

Keep in mind that you will be charged late fees, modification fees and other fees once an agreement is reached. Also, you may be subject to new, higher payments once you’ve renegotiated the terms of your loan. But if you are in the middle of a short-term cash crunch – layoff, hospital bills, emergency – this might be your best option.

If the cash crunch you are in is long term, this option simply may not be possible. the only way you can find out is by contacting your lender. Before you seek this option, be sure you have the cash on hand to pay the up-front fees as well as the patience and persistence to work with the lender.

The upside, you may be able to keep your house. The downside is that this option can be expensive, not to mention time consuming.

Obviously, we’re in the home buying business where we buy houses, fast. We’ll discuss that option in a later post. What is important today is to understand that you can work with your lender to avoid foreclosure. A counter-intuitive statistic is that most financially-pressed families pay off their credit card payments and let their mortgage payments lapse. Yet, when you think about it, what’s more important, your home or your credit rating?

Talk to your lender, today. See if this option works for you. If not, stay tuned.

It is a tough time. More people today are facing financial decisions they never thought they’d face. An unfortunate, real situation for many of us can be summed up in a single devastating word: Foreclosure. Figuring out how to pay your mortgage much less the rest of your bills can be overwhelming. Whatever the reason, whether you are one or five mortgage payments behind, foreclosure is looming, and you may feel there is no way out.

Don’t underestimate the seriousness of your situation: foreclosure can permanently damage your credit and prevent you from ever being able to buy a home again. You need to exercise one of your options before the bank forecloses on your home and jeopardizes your chances of owning another home in the future!

Option One: Declare Bankruptcy

Declaring bankruptcy is viable option for avoiding foreclosure. But use it only as a last resort. Although you can exclude your home from a bankruptcy filing, you should only pursue it if you know that you will be able to keep up with your future mortgage payments. Otherwise you’re just postponing the inevitable, and the longer you wait, the less money you will walk away with from your property.

Declaring bankruptcy can be costly—legal fees and negotiated settlements can strip you of much needed cash during the process of filing. When declaring bankruptcy you will have the option to declare either Chapter 7, 11 or 13 bankruptcy. These refer to different parts of the bankruptcy law which relate to your degree of debt and your need to renegotiate with lenders. Your bankruptcy attorney will help you determine whether you can truly walk away from all your debts, or only some of them. However, be warned that because you can only declare bankruptcy every so many years, certain future debts might not be eligible even for bankruptcy protection.

So, is it for you? Many homeowners find that declaring bankruptcy is not an “easy way out” and does not eventually save them from foreclosure. A bankruptcy will be reported on your credit report for up to 10 years, depending on how you file. The bankruptcy will also be reported in the financial section of the newspaper—it’s a requirement from the bankruptcy court. By declaring bankruptcy, it will be very difficult to get a loan in the future for a car, home or education, or even getting a credit card.

Before you exercise the bankruptcy option, you might ask, “How can I sell my home fast?” or “How can I sell my house for cash?” Consider selling to one of the many companies that buy houses like us, Express Homebuyers. It’s a viable alternative that can prevent bankruptcy, salvage your credit, and prevent foreclosure.