Frequently Asked Questions

These are the questions homeowners actually ask us, answered directly. No pitch. If your situation is not here, call 615-436-8003 and ask. We buy houses in any condition across Nashville, Clarksville, Murfreesboro and Middle Tennessee, and we will tell you plainly when listing with an agent would net you more.

How fast can you actually close?

Most closings run 7 to 14 days, or on your timeline if you need longer. The fastest I have closed is 7 days. The limit is usually the title search and county recording rather than us, and if you need more time we will work to your date instead of ours.

Are there fees or closing costs?

No fees. There is no agent commission because there is no agent in the transaction, and no listing costs, repair credits, or charges deducted from what we offer you.

How do you calculate your offer?

In Nashville I pay 80% of the after-repair value, minus repair costs. Outside Nashville it is 75% minus repairs, because thinner markets carry more resale risk. So if a house would be worth $300,000 fixed up and needs $40,000 of work, the Nashville offer is $300,000 x 0.80 – $40,000 = $200,000. You can check the math yourself. For teardowns and land I need a 20% to 35% return on the project for the risk to work, so the offer backs out of the finished value, the construction cost, and that margin.

Can I stay in the house after closing?

Yes. We offer free lease-backs if you need more time in the home after the sale closes, which lets you take the cash and move on your own schedule instead of moving out on closing day. Most cash buyers do not offer this, so it is worth asking about anywhere you are getting an offer.

Can you sell a house as-is in Tennessee?

Yes. As-is means you make no repairs and offer no repair credits, and the buyer accepts the property in its current condition. You still disclose known defects, because as-is limits repairs, not honesty. More on this.

My house needs repairs I can't afford. Can I still sell it?

Yes, and it is most of what cash buyers handle. Once repairs pass a certain point the buyer pool shifts from families needing mortgages to cash buyers, because lenders will not finance a house with major roof, structural, or system problems. More on this.

Can I sell a house with a bad roof?

Yes. A bad roof does not scare us off, it just becomes a line item. A replacement runs $10,000 to $15,000 for a simple single-story ranch with a budget crew, and $20,000 to $30,000 through a name-brand roofing company on an average Nashville home. If the deck underneath is rotted, add $75 to $100 per sheet of plywood. I get a real replacement bid, subtract it from the offer, and we move on. You do not fix it. We price it. More on this.

Can I sell a house with foundation problems?

Yes. Middle Tennessee clay makes foundation movement common. Crack injection and minor repairs run $2,000 to $5,000. Pier work runs about $1,200 to $2,000 per pier, so a typical stabilization lands at $8,000 to $15,000, and a serious settlement case with fifteen or more piers plus drainage correction can reach $25,000 to $40,000. I get a structural bid and it comes off the top of the offer, same as a roof. The only foundation problem that kills a deal is one bad enough that the house is worth more as a teardown, and even then I will make a land-value offer. More on this.

Is it better to sell as-is or fix it up first?

It depends on whether the repair raises the price by more than it costs. Cosmetic work often does. Roof, foundation, and mechanical replacements usually do not, because you pay retail for work the market treats as expected rather than exceptional. More on this.

What is not worth fixing before you sell?

Structural and mechanical work, if you are selling to a cash buyer, because you would be paying retail for something already priced into the offer. Cleaning, hauling, and yard work are the exceptions: cheap, and they change how a house shows.

Can I sell a house with fire damage?

Yes, and the price depends on one question: is the structure worth saving? If tearing down is the right move, I offer land value minus demolition, and demo on a house runs $10,000 to $20,000. If the house is salvageable, meaning smoke damage or one affected area on a sound structure, I price it like any other flip: 80% of after-repair value minus the repair bid. Light smoke remediation runs $5,000 to $20,000 and structural fire rebuild runs $50 to $150 per square foot of affected area. Anyone who quotes a price on a burned house without answering the teardown-or-save question first is guessing, and anyone promising full market value on one is not being straight with you. More on this.

Can I sell a house with water damage or mold?

Yes. A small contained mold problem runs $1,500 to $4,000 to remediate, a whole room or crawlspace $5,000 to $10,000, and a full flood-out including drywall, flooring, subfloor, HVAC and electrical starts around $60,000 to $80,000 before demo uncovers whatever is behind the walls. I analyzed a flooded-out Tennessee house listed at $120,000 that would have been worth about $197,000 fixed up, but remediation and rebuild penciled at $70,000 to $80,000 minimum and a rehabbed flood house resells at a discount because buyers and appraisers know its history. The math put it at $50,000 to $65,000 to any investor. I passed, and so did everyone else. That gap between what a damaged house feels like it is worth and what the math says is the most common reason these houses sit. More on this.

Can I sell a hoarder house without cleaning it out?

Yes, and you can leave all of it. Junk removal in Nashville runs $500 to $800 per full truckload and a true hoarder house is four to ten or more loads, so $3,000 to $8,000 for a standard cleanout and $10,000 to $15,000 if there is biohazard involved. That is my cost and it is already priced into the offer. Take what you want and leave the furniture, the boxes, the garage and the attic. There is no reason to spend a month of weekends filling dumpsters before you call. More on this.

Can I sell an inherited house if my siblings don't agree?

Not by yourself. If the deed lists multiple heirs, every owner has to sign. When heirs deadlock, the usual routes are one sibling buying out the others, or a partition action in court, which is slow and costly. More on this.

Do I have to go through probate before selling an inherited house?

Usually, unless the property passed outside probate through a trust, joint ownership with survivorship, or a transfer-on-death arrangement. A house still titled to someone who has died generally cannot be sold until the estate is authorized to convey it. More on this.

Can I sell an inherited house that still has a mortgage on it?

Yes. The mortgage is paid off at closing out of the proceeds, the same as any other sale. Payments generally need to keep being made until then, or the lender can begin foreclosure against the estate. More on this.

Can I sell my house if I'm behind on the mortgage?

Yes, as long as the sale covers the payoff, and the payoff is bigger than most people expect. It includes every missed payment, accrued interest, late fees, and often forced-place insurance the lender bought when your policy lapsed. Someone 6 to 12 months behind typically sees a payoff 5% to 10% above what they think they owe, and once the loan goes to a foreclosure attorney add another $2,500 to $5,000 in legal fees. Order your payoff letter early. It is the only number that matters and it has an expiration date. More on this.

Can I sell my house after the foreclosure sale is scheduled?

Often yes, but the window is shorter than people think. Tennessee is a non-judicial foreclosure state, so there is no court case slowing things down once the notice runs, and sellers who assume they have months usually have weeks. The fastest I have closed is 7 days, and if there is enough equity and title is clean, a week is realistic. If your sale date is closer than that, call anyway. Sales can sometimes be postponed once a legitimate contract is in place, but that is a conversation to have with days to spare, not hours. More on this.

What if I owe more than the house is worth?

Then a normal sale cannot close, and the paths are a short sale needing lender approval, or bringing cash to the table. A short sale takes longer than a standard closing because the lender has to sign off on the loss. More on this.

Can I sell a house with a lien on it?

Yes. Liens, whether tax, mechanic’s, judgment, or HOA, are paid off from the proceeds at closing, and the title company identifies them during the title search. They reduce what you walk away with; they rarely stop the sale. More on this.

Can I sell a rental with tenants still in it?

Yes. A lease transfers with the property, so the buyer takes the house subject to the existing tenancy. That is a dealbreaker for a retail buyer who wants to move in, and no obstacle for an investor. More on this.

Do I have to evict my tenants before selling?

No, and usually you should not. I have been through the eviction process as a landlord myself. Uncontested it runs 6 to 10 weeks: 14-day notice, a detainer warrant at $100 to $250 to file and serve, a court date 2 to 4 weeks out, a 10-day appeal window, then the writ. Contested, 3 to 4 months. The filing fees are not the real cost. The real cost is 2 to 4 months of lost rent, $3,000 to $8,000 on a typical Nashville rental, plus attorney fees and whatever the unit looks like when you get it back. All in, $5,000 to $12,000 is honest. That is why I buy tenant-occupied properties: sometimes selling the problem is cheaper than solving it. More on this.

What if my tenant won't cooperate with showings?

Sell to a buyer who does not need showings. Tenants have a right to quiet enjoyment, and access rules are set by the lease and by state notice requirements, which is why tenant-occupied properties often go to cash buyers who will purchase without walking through repeatedly. More on this.

What if someone is living in the house who has no lease?

That is a squatter situation, and it has its own process separate from eviction. It does not prevent a sale to a buyer willing to take the property as it stands. More on this.

How do we sell the house during a divorce?

Both spouses on the deed have to sign, regardless of who lives there or who pays the mortgage. Many couples sell before the divorce finalizes to convert a contested asset into cash that is simpler to divide. More on this.

What if one spouse wants to sell and the other doesn't?

Then it usually waits on the court, unless one buys out the other. A judge can order a sale as part of the property division when the parties cannot agree. More on this.

Can I sell a house that has been sitting vacant?

Yes, and the sooner the better, because insurance is the killer. A standard homeowner’s policy typically will not cover a house vacant more than 30 to 60 days, and a vacant-property policy runs 1.5 to 3 times the normal premium, or $150 to $350 a month. Add utilities you have to keep on at $100 to $200, property taxes at $150 to $400 a month on a typical Davidson County house, and lawn care and upkeep at $100 to $200. An empty house costs $500 to $1,100 every month before any mortgage payment, and before the risk of vandalism, copper theft, or a frozen pipe nobody catches for three weeks. Twelve months of waiting for the market can quietly cost $10,000. More on this.

Can I sell vacant land for cash?

Yes, and land often sells to cash buyers by default, since financing raw land is harder and more expensive than financing a house. Access, utilities and zoning drive value far more than acreage. On a Crieve Hall street I analyzed, a house in the flood zone needing work sold for $485,000 while an updated house on the same street sold for $635,000. Flood status plus condition was a $150,000 swing on the same block. More on this.

Can I sell a lot I can't build on?

Yes, though the price reflects why. Five things cut land value hardest: no road frontage or landlocked, which needs a recorded easement to be buildable and commonly takes a 30% to 50% haircut; floodplain; no utilities at the street, where extending water, sewer or electric can run $20,000 to $50,000 before you pour a footing; steep topography, where engineered foundations and retaining add $30,000 to $80,000 to build cost; and zoning or lot size that will not permit, which leaves you assemblage value to a neighbor rather than lot value. The dirt is only worth what you can legally and physically build on it. More on this.

Do I have to clean the house or move anything out?

No. Take what you want and leave the rest. Cash buyers handle cleanout as part of the purchase.

Will I get less than market value?

Yes, and that is the trade. A cash sale exchanges price for speed and certainty: no repairs, no showings, no financing falling through, no months of carrying costs. If the house is in good shape and you can wait, listing it will net more, and any honest buyer will tell you so.

Is selling to a cash buyer a good idea?

Sometimes. It is the right call when the house needs work, the timeline is fixed, or the situation is difficult. It is the wrong call when the house is market-ready and you have time.

Are we buy houses companies legitimate?

Many are, some are not. Check that the buyer is a real registered business with a verifiable track record, get the offer in writing with no hidden assignment terms, and never pay an upfront fee. Getting a second offer costs nothing and tells you where you stand.

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