Fire damage in a house can be a pretty severe situation. If you were looking to sell your home before the fire, you’re probably wondering how to make that happen.
Similarly, if you’re looking to sell your house because of a fire — probably the psychological effect it’s had on you, you’d be looking at how to make this happen. So, here’s how to sell a house with fire damage.
What Are the Factors that Affect Selling a Fire-Damaged House?
When attempting to sell a house with fire damage, two major factors are responsible for how the sale goes:
- The location of the fire
- The extent of the damage
The Location of the Fire
If the fire happened in a bedroom, for instance, or some other room that isn’t overly significant, then you don’t have much to worry about. Provided the fire was restricted to such an area, you only have to fix it up.
However, if the fire extended to other areas, such as the attic or basement where the HVAC system is present, you’re looking at a more delicate situation. If certain fixtures, such as electric wires, are compromised, too, you would have to approach this differently.
The Extent of the Damage
Minor damage is easily fixable. You’d probably just need a fresh coat of paint and replace some fixtures. For instance, if you have a fire in your bedroom, you’d likely only need to work on the walls and flooring. In this case, the fire didn’t do a lot of damage.
On the other hand, if you’re dealing with extensive damage like a fire that affects the roof and sidings, this is a different situation. Similarly, if the fire spreads wide within the house and burns through several rooms, this damage can impede your home sale.
When Should You Sell After a Fire?
Selling your house that has experienced fire damage mainly depends on factors like sale timing because some periods work better than others. Other factors you’d also need to consider are the extent of the damage and whether you have personal funds or funds coming in from insurance.
When you sell is also determined by when you want to move out. If you aren’t quite ready to move just yet and you’re still trying to put some things together, then there’s no need to rush. However, if you’re hurrying to leave the house, you’d likely need the fastest route to make a sale.
You’ll have a clearer vision once you’ve determined how you want things to go. Whether you want to make an immediate sale or you’re still putting things together, you need to be sure the house isn’t a safety hazard. To confirm, you’d likely need an extensive inspection.
What Are Your Selling Options?
There are two main options to explore when selling a fire-damaged house. You can sell the traditional way by using a real estate agent and listing your house. The second option is selling as-is.
Traditional Sale
You can’t proceed immediately if you want to explore a traditional sale. Here are the various steps you would need to go through first.
Repair and Restore
Home restoration after a fire damage can be pretty expensive. Fixing fire and smoke damage, according to HomeAdvisor can set you back between $2,975 to $40,956, and the average nationally is $21,531. If the fire causes major damage to the kitchen or roof, repair costs can be between $15,000 and $25,000 to fix.
The main factories determining the specific cost of these repairs are:
- Fire damage extent
- Fire extinguisher cleanup
- Smoke damage
- Water damage
- Water cleanup
Ensure that you contact your insurance representative or adjuster to review your policy and see what is covered. Usually, standard insurance policies cater to fire damage, provided it wasn’t caused by negligence or arson. Insurance could also cover the costs of potential damage caused to your neighbors’ property.
Full Disclosure
Even after making repairs and there are no traces of fire or smoke left over, following your state disclosure laws, you would likely have to disclose the fire. One way or the other, potential buyers would still find out that there had been a fire.
So, the ideal way would be to get ahead and let them know. You can also let them know all the repairs and renovations you did and the measures you put in place to ensure you met the codes and standards that apply to homes.
This way, you take away the potential stigma that could come with a home like that.
Keep Restoration Records
You’d have to keep comprehensive records of all the work and repairs that have gone into your home to fix the fire damage. In addition to standard inspections, potential buyers would also go over the property with a fine toothcomb.
They would likely request certain specialized inspections such as:
- A structural home inspection to certify that the property structure is still intact
- An electrical inspection of an electrical issue caused the fire
- A chimney inspection in case the fire began in the fireplace or chimney
- A roof inspection to examine the roof and confirm its integrity
- An HVAC inspection if the fire resulted from poor ventilation or a faulty heater
Recall that you would still have to advertise your property for a while in addition to all the extra time that repairs and inspections would take.
Selling As-Is
Depending on the level of fire damage, you may consider choosing not to fix up the property or make repairs. If you’re looking to dispose of the property quickly, you probably don’t want to go through the entire traditional selling process.
In situations like this, selling as-is is a viable alternative to explore. You can skip repairs and get the value of your house by selling to a local cash buyer. You can even close in as little as seven days.
Who’s going to buy? We can help out with that! We buy houses that need serious repairs or are in various other conditions. At dsouzahomebuyers, we can provide you with a cash offer for your house in no time!
You don’t have to deal with any of this hassle. No need for repairs or renovations!
Fill out this form to get the process started, and we could be closing in as few as 7 days! Remember, no fees, no commissions, no closing costs!
If you have any other questions, definitely call us at (925) 503 8193.
Final Thoughts
Selling a house with fire damage can be quite difficult without repairs. Even with repairs, the house would still come under a lot of scrutiny. To avoid the complicated process that could result, consider selling as-is and getting the cash value of your home quickly.
