You may have seen the tell-tale sign of termites in your home. The mud tubes running up your foundation, the hollow sound you hear in your walls, or mounds of fine dust droppings near your door are signs that you have termite colonies eating your house. Despite the pest’s presence, you can still sell a house with termite damage.
Selling a house with termite damage won’t be easy: it makes your home unattractive to potential homebuyers and may make it unsafe for habitation due to structural damage. Termites cause distress for homeowners and are incredibly stressful for homeowners who want to sell. Even if you have an infestation, you can still sell a house with termite damage.
In this article, we’ll discuss how to identify termite activity, rid yourself of an infestation, and sell your home despite termite damage.
Termites Caused Damage: Can I Still Sell?
Even if termites caused damage, you could still sell your home. It will be more challenging to sell your house to traditional home buyers. As a seller, you must disclose all material facts that may impact a sale on a seller’s disclosure form. A termite infestation or prior termite damage is one of the things you’ll have to disclose.
What happens if you don’t know about a termite infestation?
When a potential homebuyer wants to make an offer on your home, part of the process is getting a home inspection. A buyer’s home inspection will reveal your home’s termite problem and likely precede a more in-depth termite inspection.
Either way, the buyer will find out about the termites. Then one of three things will happen: the buyer won’t be able to get financed on the home because of the termite’s presence, or the buyer will use the presence of termites as a bargaining chip and ask for a deep discount on the sale price, or the buyer will only buy the home if you pay for repairs.
So it may still be possible to sell your home, but it will come at a much lower price than you initially anticipated.
Another way you can sell your home is to a real estate investor or cash buyer. That type of buyer typically buys your house “as is,” which means you don’t have to worry about the damage or making repairs. Usually, this type of transaction is the fastest because they don’t deal with banks.
Selling a House With Termite Damage As Is
Termite control, termite removal, and making the necessary repairs may be cost-prohibitive. It may be the case that you don’t want to invest time or money in such a big project. That’s perfectly understandable for home sellers.
There are some advantages to selling your home “as is” to a buyer who gives a cash offer that we’ll go over below:
Discounted sale price
If you want to sell your home with termite damage and skip on repairs, be ready for a price cut.
For buyers who purchase a home in its existing condition, offering below the market value price is expected. This allows room for potential future costs associated with getting the property ready for sale, such as pest extermination and repairs needed due to prior damage or neglect.
Duty to disclose
Even if you’re selling a home “as is,” you should still disclose the presence of termites if you know about them. Disclosing termite damage or infestation is most important if you sell to a buyer who is not an investor.
Your potential buyer must get an inspection as part of the home-buying process. The inspector will inevitably discover the termites. It’s better to be transparent so you don’t burn up any goodwill you might have had with the buyer.
Skip expensive repairs and showings
When you sell “as is” to a cash buyer, you don’t have to make any repairs. It also means you don’t have to list your house on the open market or deal with a real estate agent.
Because you’re not putting your house on the market, you can skip the tedium and hassle of cleaning your home, staging, and showing. That means no back-breaking landscaping or deep cleaning. You get the comfort of selling your home in its current condition “as is.”
Removing Any Termites Before Repairing Damage
To mitigate the harm from a pest infestation, it is critical to bring in a pest control company to help immediately. You may not be able to detect all the contaminated areas at once with just your eyes, meaning you can miss out on essential elements of your house that have already been destroyed.
Hiring professionals for pest inspection of difficult-to-reach spots like crawl spaces or drywall interiors ensure these damages are controlled and cared for properly.
For more significant infestations, do-it-yourself solutions are often ineffective in exterminating them entirely.
Protecting your home from termite infestations is of the utmost importance. While small numbers may only affect areas you can easily see, larger colonies have the potential to spread even into attics and basements where there are abundant food sources for all types of termites. The damaged wood may go unnoticed by you.
To quickly spot where these kinds of issues are located, install traps throughout your property. Insecticides provide an additional defense against further damage from present or future pests.
A professional team deploys an odorless gas to eradicate termites from your house permanently. Treatment usually takes one to seven days, depending on your home’s infestation size.
Getting Termite Damage Repaired Before Selling
Although it can be alluring to take on the challenging task of wood repair yourself, the truth is that a professional can handle these areas much faster and more dependably. If you are attempting to fix a small space, then DIY repairs may suffice; however, larger rooms usually need various types of wood combined for an enduring structure.
When it comes to restoring the wooden elements of your home, replacement is often the best option. Unless you’re an experienced carpenter or have a termite specialist on hand, filling in holes with fresh wood isn’t recommended, as this can attract more pests and may affect the aesthetics of your abode. Working closely with professionals when selecting materials for repairs will help ensure you achieve desirable results without compromising safety.
With some parts of the wood, you can repurpose it to construct new structures. To ensure these pieces remain in place and support the platform for a duration, fill in its gaps with putty or hardeners and patiently wait for them to dry out. Once that process is finished, you should test its stability by prodding at the surface – if your structure passes this examination, then great! Your woodwork will be able to hold up against future forces.
Reevaluating Your House to Sell After Termite Damage
If you neglect to take care of the pest problem, your house’s value could drastically decrease. Don’t delay any longer: contact a reliable pest management service immediately when signs of an infestation appear. This is your best course of action for preserving the well-being and marketability of your home!
Your potential buyers may still be wary if you have addressed the termite problem. To combat this fear, get a certified inspection before listing your home and ensure it is free of any evidence of pests. Disclosing previous findings will prove beneficial, so include recent results in the paperwork package. Also, ensure that your termite warranty is transferable to future owners.
It’s a relief that an infestation of pests does not always lead to future issues. If pest control involves installing preventative measures such as protective barriers, you should not worry about future termite infestations.
As a seller, you must reveal any termite issues to potential buyers; they may use this information as leverage for lower prices. Depending on the market and other variables, such as your neighborhood, it is likely that you will have to reduce your price slightly.
For interested buyers, the history of termite damage might seem intimidating. Thus, they may demand protection for their investment, such as contract negotiations that include termite treatment and property repairs or even a decreased sales price.
Contrary to common belief, many house flippers and investors aiming to revamp a property will not be deterred by termite damage – as long as the impact hasn’t left the home on the brink of destruction.
Conclusion
Ultimately, deciding what to do when selling a home with termite damage depends on your circumstances and desired results. If you’re aiming for an expedited sale so that you can move forward, it might be better to offer “as is.” On the other hand, if you identified the infestation or harm in its early stages, investing in treatment and repair could yield significant returns.
If you plan on selling to prospective buyers, you should act immediately when you notice signs of a termite infestation. Unless you’re prepared to pay for expensive repairs and treatment, potential home buyers may think twice about investing in a property with hefty repair costs from significant termite damage.
Don’t worry; you don’t have to give up on selling your home yet!
We Buy Houses for Cash has got you covered. Our agents will help you get a transparent offer and close the deal in just a few weeks – no matter if termites or repairs are needed. Contact us today and learn how easy it can be to sell your house with We Buy Houses for Cash!
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