How to Sell Your Abandoned Home in Grand Rapids Michigan

It can be challenging to sell your abandoned home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This article will show you how to sell your abandoned house and why you should sell your abandoned house. This article will also show you how to buy an abandoned home in Grand Rapids, MI.

Why you should sell your abandoned home in Grand Rapids MI

Owning properties that are abandoned can be very risky.

Unnecessary costs

There are government taxes and ongoing utility payments that you will have to pay for. If your abandoned home is going against any city violations, then you could have to pay even more. Some examples of city violations are high grass, unsafe structure, and illegal use. These taxes and fines grow if you are not paying for them, and your monthly bills will go up. If you fail to pay, then the government will take back the property.

Crime

Abandoned homes are hotspots for illegal activity. Drug deals and even human trafficking happen in abandoned homes. Studies have shown that crime rates are around double in abandoned blocks.

Health issues

Abandoned houses can put neighborhoods at risk because of crime rates. Living near abandoned buildings and abandoned land can lead to health problems such as a higher risk of chronic illness and mental health issues.

Avoid Squatters

Squatters are people who occupy unused land, such as abandoned homes. Squatters can be a big issue if you are trying to sell your abandoned home. They are usually homeless people, and they can destroy the house.

Property deterioration

The more and more you let your abandoned home sit there, the worse condition it will get into, especially if you or no one is checking up on the abandoned home. The longer you let it sit there, the more money you are losing in the long run.

Improve the surrounding community

Living next to an abandoned home is not very appealing. Not only does it look bad, but people looking to buy a home typically do not want to live next to an abandoned home. Selling your abandoned house would positively benefit the neighborhood and the surrounding houses.

Signs that a home is abandoned

Some signs that a home is abandoned include no curtains in the windows, high grass and weeds, newspaper piling up on the door, filled mailboxes, and boarded-up windows. During the winter months, if a driveway or sidewalk has not been plowed, another sign is there are no tire tracks or footprints in the snow.

How to sell your abandoned home

Assess the condition of the home

Before selling your abandoned home, you need to understand its condition to know how much it could sell for. If it has any significant problems, then you should try and fix them. Sometimes if you have too many issues, and it would not be worth spending any money to make repairs, then you can sell as-is to an investor who could give you a cash offer. If you want, you could hire a home inspector expert, who could identify any significant issues with the home, and they would let you know if the issue is worth paying to fix.

Decide how you are going to sell

There are different options to sell your abandoned home. You can sell by yourself, sell with a real estate agent, or sell with a local investor.

Sell the house yourself

FSBO or For Sale By Owner is when you sell the home by yourself. Selling on your own is a good idea if you have experience in real estate and selling homes. If you sell on your own, it can save you some money from realtor commission fees and other market costs.

Sell with a real estate agent

When selling your abandoned house, selling with an agent is not always possible. If your home is in terrible condition, it’s not possible to list it on the market. If your abandoned house is in good enough condition to list on the market, working with an agent could get you the most money your home is worth. On the downside, there would be a 6% realtor fee, so if your home sells for $100,000, you would only get $92,000.

Sell with an investor

The fastest and easiest way to sell your abandoned home in Grand Rapids would be selling with a local investor. They will give you a fair cash offer for your abandoned home. Selling with an investor can take as little as a week. It also eliminates realtor commissions and other time-consuming things such as house showings. Investors also will purchase the home as-is, so you don’t have to make any changes or repairs if you don’t want to.

Decide if you are going to make changes

Before selling your abandoned home, figure out if you will sell it as it is or if you will make repairs that could make you a little more money. If there is an issue with your house that is super expensive to repair and would not be worth fixing, then selling as it is to an investor would be your best bet. If you could make a couple of minor repairs that would help you sell your home for more money, like repainting your walls, then doing that would be a good idea.

How to buy an abandoned home

Now that you know how to sell your abandoned home, you will learn how to buy an abandoned home.

Finding an abandoned home

The first step in buying an abandoned home is finding one, which can be difficult. There are different ways to find them, and here are some ways.

Look for homes that look abandoned

Some signs that a home is abandoned include overgrown grass, damage to the house, dirty siding, no cars in the driveway, and no light on at night.

Hire someone to look for you

You can hire people to look for abandoned homes for you. You can train them to scout vacant properties so you can spend more time making offers. A good idea would be to have them take pictures of the home so you can see what it looks like. You could also have them take pictures of the surrounding houses so you can see the neighborhood.

Ask your mailman

Asking your mailman if they see any homes that look abandoned on their daily route is a good way of finding an abandoned home. The chances are that they pass at least 1 abandoned home on their daily route. If they answer with a yes, ask them for the property address, and if they don’t know, you can ask them for the home’s whereabouts.

Ask your local realtors

More than likely, your local realtor will be aware of any abandoned homes because it can affect their business. Most people do not want to buy a home next to an abandoned home.

Make sure the home is actually abandoned

Ensure that the home you are looking at is actually abandoned and no one is living in it. If someone is living in the home, then you could be held accountable for trespassing. To make sure no one is living in the home, go up to the house and look through a window or door into its interior. If it looks like nobody has been inside for quite some time, then it is probably abandoned.

Find who owns the home

The next step is to try and find out who owns the property. A way of doing this is by checking your county’s tax assessor website. Once you figure out who owns the home, you have to contact them and let them know you are interested in buying the home.

Inspect and make an offer on the home

Before buying the home, you want to make sure to inspect it. Look for any damage to the home. Make sure to account for the renovations it will need to make sure you will still profit from buying the home. After you have inspected the home, it’s time to give an offer. Make sure to account for the costs of repairing the home before you make an offer.

Selling your abandoned home in Grand Rapids

Selling an abandoned home can be challenging. The first step is to understand the condition the home is in. After that, you want to figure out what way you are going to sell. The easiest way to sell an abandoned home would be with a local investor. Finally, figure out if making any changes or fixes to the home would get you more money.
If you are looking to buy an abandoned home, the first thing you need to do is actually locate an abandoned home. Next, you want to figure out the owner of the abandoned property. Finally, you want to inspect the home to find any problems with it. After that, you can give your offer. You want to account for the repairs you need to make and make sure you will still profit when buying the home.

Brett Riggins

Founder of Connect Home Buyers Brett Riggins started his real estate journey after graduating from Western Michigan University in Construction Engineering. After completing his first few residential flips, him and his wife Arin started Connect Home Buyers LLC, and today, they help homeowners sell their property quick and hassle-free.