Advice needed to prepare for as-is sale - West Hartford, CT

[Roy Marks]

Hi everyone,

My parents have owned a 3bd/1ba investment property in West Hartford, CT for 20 years. The property has been rented for nearly this entire time.

The house has a good amount of deferred maintenance, is not updated, and has some water damage which we only recently (two weeks ago) became aware of. We have since gotten estimates from contractors. All in all, the property will likely require north of $50k in repairs/updates to be put into a market-ready condition. 

Since my family and I all live in CA, we are not sure this project is something we want to take on.

The house is in a great location in a "hot" market in CT (West Hartford). 

What is the best way for me to prepare for selling the house "as-is"? My questions are:

1. How can I find cash only, no contingency buyers? Are there online marketplaces/platforms or investment groups that I can reach out to?

2. Do I need to work with a real estate agent? A lawyer?

3. What do I need to do to ensure that we disclose all necessary information (i.e. re: repairs required, damages, that we are aware of) to buyers?

4. The house has some evident water damage. What do we need to do to ensure we are not liable for damage that a buyer might uncover later, that we are currently not aware of?

5. Any tips for how I can get the best price possible? For example, the exterior house could use a good power washing, and also needs a new roof. Are these things that are worth addressing before listing "as-is", or will fix-and-flipper really not care for these things? 

6. Suppose I had a cash buyer ready to go. What is the step-by-step for how to develop and finalize the transaction? Who else needs to be involved?

7. How do I determine the price I should list the house at? 

If you are an investor that is interested in learning more about this property, please do not reply here in the forum, send me a message. 

Thanks for all of your help!

[Karen Margrave]

As a Realtor I would suggest that you hire a Realtor in the area to list the property in "as is" condition, seller will not be doing any repairs. They can get it on MLS, make sure all the legal disclosures are done, and show the property. I would suggest getting a pest inspection, and home inspection that has photos included, then have the agent upload those and note "bids on some items are available". Be sure to put that Buyer to do their own due diligence, including any and all inspections they feel necessary, and that any inspections, reports included on listing are for buyers convenience only and do not guarantee they cover all items needing work nor the price of doing work, etc.

Get a video walk through so that buyers can see condition, types of finishes currently in the house, etc. PRICE ACCORDING TO ACTUAL CONDITION, NOT POTENTIAL. Getting into doing the work beforehand will be time consuming, materials and labor are very tight right now, so ask if it's worth it.