Selling our house - investors or realtors? (Please Help!!)

Lender · CA · Member since 2018 · 637 posts · 393 votes

2y

Can you convert it back to an Airbnb for additional income and use the proposed rents to offset the mortgage so you can buy your new home? You may have a few different options and I would be happy to help in anyway I can if you wanted to coordinate some time to chat

1 Reply

Ryan Earl

OP

Member since 2024 · 16 posts · 7 votes

2y

Thank you so much for the reply!! Unfortunately, with our financial situation (we are essentially broke and need money like now for medicine, food, etc), hence us being so eager to sell, even for below market value… so turning it back into an AirBnB wouldn’t work for us.

We wish this sale hadn’t fallen through. I got the impression his partner wanted to do financing through them over 15 years and the main investor wanted to buy outright… i assume that’s why it fell through. if we sold the place to an investor, we’d need to sell outright and would need the money upfront (instead of financing). We just want to move into that energy efficient house and be done with this.

So, I’m not sure if a realtor or investor is the right way to go given all of that (if we could even find an investor willing to partner with him or just outright buy for the low 400k area, we’d likely just do that, but idk. Perhaps if we forgot about the house we want to buy, the realtor way would make us more money in the end… (we do own our house outright so thankfully there’s no mortgage to pay off)

0 Reply

Clayton Silva

Lender · CA · Member since 2018 · 637 posts · 393 votes

2y

Is Airbnb permittable/legal in the area?

1 Reply

Ryan Earl

OP

Member since 2024 · 16 posts · 7 votes

2y

I’m quite certain it is, since the couple we bought the home from 6 years ago rented it out as one, and we heard it was quite successful since it’s near Dodge Ridge ski slopes… it was perfect for us because it’s just 5 minutes from the general store and great food, and less than ten from gorgeous hiking. 1.5 hours from Yosemite… so that’s why it did so well… I think that’s why the investor sent us that letter in the mail originally

0 Reply

Theresa HarrisPro Member

Member since 2019 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes

2y

I'd sell it through a realtor to get top price. Talk to a couple of realtors in the area to get a market assessment and see what they think it is worth, how long it might take to sell and look at comparable sales for both (sales price and days on market). The realtor will also make sure everything is done properly.

7 Reply

Ryan Earl

OP

Member since 2024 · 16 posts · 7 votes

2y

Roger that! Thank you so much for the info & advice! We will likely get a realtor in that case… I hope we can sell in time to get the energy efficient passive solar property we want/need, but I’d suppose it’s still possible if we get the ball rolling with a the local realtor soon. Thank you again!

1 Reply

Rick Albert

Real Estate Agent · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes

2y

I'm an investor and a Realtor, so I have two hats to wear.

As an investor, I am looking out for myself. I want the best price. You looked at Zillow, which is notorious for being inaccurate, so if it is worth more and you are going based on that, who am I to disagree? There is a chance you could be short changing yourself.

You can go the Realtor route, which will cost you in commissions. You can make the argument that if an investor wants it, they will submit an offer whether it is listed with a Realtor or not. However, most buyers are looking on major sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, etc. They can only be there if it is posted with a Realtor. Some sites have a For Sale By Owner section but most don't go there, so it would arguably take even longer to sell.

Your area sounds very unique. I would interview agents who are familiar with your area and knows how to reach the right buyers. Every home will sell for the right price. You may want to consider pricing it under market in order to get a bidding war. Talk to a local Realtor about that strategy.

4 Reply

Ryan Earl

OP

Member since 2024 · 16 posts · 7 votes

2y

Gosh, thank you SO much for the advice! All of you; thank you. I will be sure to ask some local realtors about that strategy. I know it’s a unique property, so that could either work for us or against us, but given it was successful on Airbnb likely would mean the former (hopefully). Thank you so much! I will be sure to follow your suggestions!!

2 Reply

Scott TitusPro Member

Rental Property Investor · Lake Ozark, MO · Member since 2017 · 102 posts · 86 votes

2y

Quote from @Ryan Earl:

Hi there, I need advice and I thought what better of a place to ask than a place dedicated to the type of people I (think) I should be trying to find (to buy our property). This is not an ad (and please let me know if I’m violating any rules, and I’ll adjust accordingly!), but we are in a situation & desperately need some help/advice.

Basically my question is: Given our situation (which I’ll state to come), would you guys recommend we go about trying to find investors to buy our property, or go about things the traditional route and find a realtor? And, if we do wish to go about finding investors, how do we?

Our situation: My father is a cancer patient, and I am a permanently disabled adult in my 30’s that is in severe chronic pain after a workplace accident. Both of our medical needs (and costs) have resulted in us needing to sell our house. We have a property we very much want to buy where the low utility/property tax bills would allow us to be able to thrive living in with our limited income, so we are hoping to sell immediately. However, we are afraid that our dream property won’t be around if we take the realtor route and wait who knows how many months before it sells.

I suppose where you all can be of assistance (and thank you so very much… I’ve never heard of bigger pockets until today) We have a super unique house to sell. We own all our equity. And we had an investor who sent a piece of mail asking to buy land from us, which we said “yes, we were about to work with a realtor in about 2 weeks, but if you could get things done faster for us, we’d love to work with you if you could take care of all the issues that come with the house”. They agreed, including them paying all closing costs, and we had set a price in the lower 400ks… I asked for more money, which they obliged to add about 10k to, but just today they said their partner pulled out. The main investor still wants to go through with it *if* they can find someone to go in half’s with them, but I’m afraid they won’t be able to find someone to go in with them in time.

Here’s some more info, if it makes a difference, so you could give more spot on advice: the house is extremely unique in California, three hours east of SF in the Sierra Nevada mountains & and was built by a bridge maker as his own residence back in the 60’s, so it’s one of a kind. Zillow says it’s worth over 500k, but there are things wrong with it:

The pellet stove needs a new tiny door to work, two sliding doors are off kilter, needs some cleaning and the deck could use painting. Septic may or may not need help (not sure, but it works great as of now). 3 feet of leaf gutter got bent from a falling branch. May need new carpets in bedrooms (or just steam cleaned). One of the cheaper shed doors needs replacing…

However, it’s a dream house in a dream area (25 minutes to dodge ridge ski resort) and was our dream home because of how perfect it was for us at the time. It was a very successful AirBnB before we bought it. We just can’t afford to live here with our medical bills that aren’t covered under Medicare/medi-cal (California’s Medicaid).

Should we try to find an investor, or should we wait out (likely missing out on our dream property) and go for a realtor? I mean… Would we even get THAT much more in the end with a realtor, given that (as I understand it), most investors pay all closing costs and we wouldn’t have to pay a realtor fee?

Here is what it used to look like when we bought it:

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/20636-Hekeke-Ln_Mi-Wuk-Village_CA_95346_M10713-53953

here is like… “market research” I did by seeing what similar houses sold for within the area in the past couple months… although some are lesser square footage than ours. Our house is 2,776 square feet, has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths…

https://postimg.cc/gallery/ppzpdgs

Given all that, what would you guys recommend?

And thank you so very much for any advice. Again, if this violates any rules I’ll change it! I really appreciate any advice from the investor thinking side of things. We are just… at our wits end currently …. and just want to be done with this stage in our lives, yet we are running blind here…

Ryan

I would strongly encourage you to use a realtor, I have purchased quite a few properties and own a property investment company, you will definitely make more selling through a realtor…even after paying commission. I would try to find one that is very familiar with your location/area and has knowledge of what those properties should be valued at. There is no reason for you to take a bath in the sales if you don’t need to.

If you’re in a situation where you need out “now”, then an investor may be a better option, but I would suggest you not do that unless you absolutely have to.

2 Reply

Nick Maugeri

Real Estate Broker · Modesto, CA · Member since 2023 · 192 posts · 77 votes

2y

If the house is paid for you should talk to a lender and refinance. Those funds won't be taxed and you can use them to buy your food, convert back to an Airbnb for income, and use some of it for a down payment on your dream home.

You can put your dream home that you've identified under contract now, with a Realtor, and make it contingent on selling your home.

It sounds like you may have no income which would make it difficult to refinance. You could approach a creative lender or private lender for a type of HELOC. Even at 60% LTV, you would have access to what sounds like $300K. That should be enough to get Airbnb going again, then if you want to sell it - sell it to a proper investor (versus those pulling out and wasting time, i.e. many wholesalers) as a permitted and functioning Airbnb. It would no longer be valued at $500K based on comparable sales.

Since you're in a unique location, a Realtor is the best way to go for this. You'll need to comply with buyers insurance and defensible fire hardening if there's a lender. Then, you're going to be negotiating with an investor on repair requests and concessions - have you ever read a book on negotiation or taken a class, or negotiated a deal like this? If not, it's probably worth having someone represent you and paying them well to do so.

2 Reply

Bill SchrimpfBusiness Member

Real Estate Agent · Reno, NV · Member since 2014 · 349 posts · 189 votes

2y

@Ryan Earl, sorry to hear about your situation.

For the place you want, will they accept contingencies? Ask the listing agent and talk about your current situation.

As other have mentioned, selling with an agent will result in more $, but will probably take more time. An investor will probably pay 75%-80% of the value, but it can be fast.

Talking the the listing agent from your dream house, should be your first stop. They will be motivated to get a buyer on the current listing and list your current place. Then, talk to at least one other agent in the area, and pick the best.

Hope that helps

[email protected]775-741-2326

ERA Realty Central - Bill Schrimpf58 Reviews

Website View Page

2 Reply

Ryan Earl

OP

Member since 2024 · 16 posts · 7 votes

2y

Scott, Nick and Bill… thank you guys so very, very much. I’m seriously touched by the time & information you’re giving and it’s helping me see the situation a whole lot clearer. Thank you!! I’ll be talking to a realtor today and seeing if they can start the process asap as the property we want won’t accept a contingent sale. I’ll bring up everything else you guys mentioned, too. Thanks a million!!

Ryan

1 Reply

Luka Milicevic

Real Estate Agent · Nashville, TN · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes

2y

@Ryan Earl

I would do the following:

-Search "we buy houses (your city)" and have a few of the investors come out and give you an offer

-Get an offer from opendoor and offerpad.

-Interview realtors to find a good one and then have them meet you at the property to give you an accurate assessment of potential sales price and fixes/upgrades needed to get you to that price.

You have all the information you need now to make a decision.

With all the above mentioned steps you are under NO OBLIGATION to accept anything that is presented to you.

2 Reply

Scott TitusPro Member

Rental Property Investor · Lake Ozark, MO · Member since 2017 · 102 posts · 86 votes

2y

Quote from @Ryan Earl:

Scott, Nick and Bill… thank you guys so very, very much. I’m seriously touched by the time & information you’re giving and it’s helping me see the situation a whole lot clearer. Thank you!! I’ll be talking to a realtor today and seeing if they can start the process asap as the property we want won’t accept a contingent sale. I’ll bring up everything else you guys mentioned, too. Thanks a million!!

Ryan

Best of luck, let us know how it all works out. Hate to see people in bad situations, but there's usually a resolution that everyone can win in.

2 Reply

Craig SmithPro Member

Investor · Hixson, TN · Member since 2014 · 25 posts · 6 votes

2y

I sent you a message. I’m glad to see average days on market for your new house if you want. As a realtor and investor I would want the best deal for myself if I bought it. As a realtor I’d do everything to get you the most for the property.

1 Reply

Craig SmithPro Member

Investor · Hixson, TN · Member since 2014 · 25 posts · 6 votes

2y

It may also help if you have any documentation from the air bnb? If it cashflowed well enough I suspect it would be worth more to an investor if you can show that it stayed rented.

2 Reply

Henry T.

Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

2y

Sorry about your situation. That's a very interesting house. Being close to a resort can pay off big. In my opinion you need the most exposure possible. Don't wait for an investor who may or may not come thru, and most likely will jerk you around in the fine print. With investors, make sure that it's YOU and your Real Estate attorney that write any sale agreements, not the investor. I would list with Redfin (lowest commission 1.5%) and massive exposure. I've personally sold 3 properties with them thus far and have high praise. What a cool place, hope things work out for you.

1 Reply

Michael Lirones

Real Estate Broker · MI · Member since 2016 · 71 posts · 7 votes

2y

Since your tight on funds and need to sell fast, I recommend a Flat Fee Listing Brokerage that accepts a flat fee to be your Listing Agent. Your location is HOT. Getting into the MLS is key to get exposure to all Agents in the area who has pre-qualified and/or CASH. An example Gold Realty. They charge only $499/0% listing commission or just Google Flat Fee Listing. Feel free to reach out to me for any questions and/or advice.

1 Reply

Katie Smith

Member since 2023 · 348 posts · 190 votes

2y

Hi Ryan! Fastest option would be to sell it to an investor, and they either pay cash for it OR if it would qualify for a DSCR loan (for rentals) it can close in 25-30 days. How much rehab do you think this needs? What condition is the roof, hvac, plumbing and electrical in?

1 Reply

Ryan Earl

OP

Member since 2024 · 16 posts · 7 votes

2y

Thank you all so very, very much. I’m reading each post multiple times and they all mean a lot to us… thank you… I’ve been sharing them with my father, who I’m selling the house with (and we will be moving together into the same house). The house we want won’t accept a contingency, and unfortunately we are currently dirt poor due to our disabilities and dad’s cancer, so I don’t think we can qualify for certain loans. We don’t really understand the AirBnB and lending world, so while we are really impressed by what we are learning, we’d want to go the simplest route possible for us, which would likely be finding an investor to buy the place (or go half in with the original investor) or a local realtor to sell like a lot of you have been suggesting (thank you so much! We will likely do that if we don’t find an investor soon). We didn’t even think of commissions, so that advice helps a lot. We will look into the flat fee listing brokerage and Redfin.

For anyone interested, I’ll let you know what happens in the end. Thank you so very much to all of you!!

Katie, the roof is in good condition (except for a large branch that fell and bent three feet of gutter at the corner of the house (easy to reach, fortunately), the electrical is great (although we have an energy bill we will pay out of escrow), hvac works great (has whole house heating that works great via a propane tank, and also a pellet stove. The pellet stove needs a new front door/panel to work). Upstairs air conditioner works great. There’s a huge downstairs air conditioner that was never plugged in because we needed a different electrical input than was in the wall (so it should work great once that electrical input is… put in). It needs new rugs. Septic needs to be looked at; it was working just fine the last year we used the system (but there was a rough patch a year ago with the leach field when we didn’t maintain it).

Other things would be the deck needs new paint, the sliding doors are off kilter and need to be replaced. We also have an adjacent plot of land that we’d include in the sale to make it a total of half an acre. The views are much better than in the pictures… the cheaper, smaller of the three sheds needs its door replaced (it’s a little bent). The realtor when we bought the place said if you place a marble at the deck side of the floor, it will roll slightly before coming to a stop, but I never tried. One of the toilets is likely cracked near its base (it leaked “clean” water when flushed) so we were going to replace it… that and the whole house needs some cleaning (we are already spending 10k of our own escrow to clean the place and move items out. That’s done. Now we will likely pay through another escrow agreement to a cleaning company to deep clean, so likely another 5k… but that will come out of our pockets during/after escrow. Those are the only things I think that are wrong with the place…

Thank you all again so very much… your advice has helped us immensely

0 Reply

Henry T.

Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

2y

Do the best you can to get things presentable. But remember EVERY house has things wrong with them, so don't let a wheeler dealer jerk you around on this.

3 Reply

Steve K.

Realtor · Boulder, CO · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 5k+ votes

2y

Talk to some good local lenders. I bet there are options available to you such as using a "buy before you sell" (orchard, homelight, homeward, etc.) bridge-loan type program, or you may be able to use a HELOC or other bridge financing. Talk to a good local lender, ask for a rec from your real estate agent. I'd also highly recommend getting an appraisal or at least having your real estate agent provide a BPO prior to negotiating with any "investors".

2 Reply

Ryan Earl

OP

Member since 2024 · 16 posts · 7 votes

2y

Thank you *so* very much, Henry and Steve. The cleaners/moving people I found on Yelp and asked if they’d accept money after we sold (through escrow cash) and they agreed. I feel like I’m in a new world with all the terminology I’ve never heard before, but each I am looking up and understanding a little more each time. Still, it feels a bit vulnerable putting myself out there (but I know it has to be done; progress has to be made for both dad’s sake and my future, hopefully in our dream place). Thank you all again for the advice and encouragement. I understand this site isn’t really for someone like myself, but I appreciate you all being so kind in informing me about things. I’ll look into orchard, homelight and homeward. I’m not sure if we’d qualify for a bridge-loan program if we are so poor right now? (I exclusively caretake full-time for dad, with the limited amount I am capable of doing from my disability). I will look into it! Thank you!!

Browsing the site, I saw there’s a classified section, so I thought I might as well post there, too. I’ll link to that, like I linked to this post so the people interested can know about our situation/property).

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/517/topics/1189499-seeking-buyers-investors-for-my-home-near-ski-resort-in-the-california-sierra-s

Thank you all again for the advice (I know I sound like a broken record! But an appreciative one!)

1 Reply

Iani Varga

Wilmette, IL · Member since 2009 · 1 post · 2 votes

2y

Investors won't have your best interests at heart. List the house with a good realtor.

2 Reply

Ryan Earl

OP

Member since 2024 · 16 posts · 7 votes

2y

Quote from @Steve K.:

Talk to some good local lenders. I bet there are options available to you such as using a "buy before you sell" (orchard, homelight, homeward, etc.) bridge-loan type program, or you may be able to use a HELOC or other bridge financing. Talk to a good local lender, ask for a rec from your real estate agent. I'd also highly recommend getting an appraisal or at least having your real estate agent provide a BPO prior to negotiating with any "investors".

Steve, I just looked into Orchard and the like - wow! that would solve all our problems … that way we don’t have to accept a low offer and can take our time with a realtor with Orchard. Wow, that would be great! Do you know if someone like us (disabled, with low income and currently poor) would be able to qualify for that? We do have full equity in our home. I will see tomorrow morning if I can contact the company to get something going… thank you so much!!

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Selling our house - investors or realtors? (Please Help!!)

Selling our house - investors or realtors? (Please Help!!)

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