Selling a house with fire damage can be tricky, but it's not impossible. Fire damage make selling a home more difficult due to the fact that rehabbing the property takes a special buyer like ourselves. We buy fire damaged houses, so we can give you an A-Z guide on selling a fire damaged house.

There are several ways to sell a fire-damaged house, and which method of sale you choose does depend on the state of the property at the time of sale. For example, as we will see below certain methods of sale are more suited to selling fire-damaged property in its "burned house" condition, and some methods of sale are more suited to a fire damaged property that has been restored post-fire damage.

You can learn more about each method below (Just keep scrolling down). Selling to a specialist like us, you wont deal with cancelled contract, clean up, managing a general contractor, arranging for restoration experts and other licensed professionals to visit your home, the costs involved with agent fees and commissions and all the downside. You will deal with all cash, fast closing and much needed relief when it comes to your home after a fire!

Selling any of the other 4 ways leaves you at right of non experienced agents and home buyers cancelling or terminating your contract due to underestimating the rehab cost and special processes involved in restoring the property. Not only can you end up wasting time if no one buys the property at the auction or the market but you'll find yourself more stress than when you started.

The routes to sale above show that there are several ways to go about selling a house with fire damage, and the final choice will depend on several factors such as closing costs, speed of sale, and whether an actual cash offer is being made.

Scroll below the in-depth benefits and potential downside to each avenue of selling.

The ranking of states with the most fatal house fires can change over time due to various factors, including population density, fire safety measures, and socioeconomic conditions.

states with higher populations tend to have more fatal house fires simply due to the larger number of households. States with older housing stock and extreme weather conditions, such as those prone to wildfires, may also experience a higher incidence of house fires.

States with the most fatal home fires per capita, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, California, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia

Sources: A Secure Life

After contacting the insurance company, in order to sell a fire-damaged house you have to decide whether to sell the property or house as is, or whether to carry out restoration works to return it to its pre-fire condition and then look to sell. There are several routes to market when selling a fire-damaged house, and different ways to go about each of these options.

Depending on whether you choose to sell a fire-damaged home as is, or whether you go down the route of repairing fire damage, it will dictate the best and most effective method for selling the property itself for the most money possible.

Once this is decided there are 5 main options to sell which we will look at below.

There are several benefits if you want to sell a fire-damaged house as is as opposed to going through the restoration works, however, this could also mean having to sell the property for a heavy discount and losing out on the potential uplift if works were to be carried out.

Pros

Cons

We only buy fire damaged properties. If you're looking to sell your fire damaged house as is for fast cash in any of these states, we'll buy it:

Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington, Arizona, Tennessee, Massachusetts Indiana, Missouri, Maryland, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Oregon, Connecticut, Utah, Nevada, Puerto Rico, Iowa, Illinois, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Idaho, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Hawaii

Pros

Cons

The routes to sale above show that there are several ways to go about selling a house with fire damage, and the final choice will depend on several factors such as closing costs, speed of sale, and whether a cash offer is being made by a cash buyer on a fire damaged property.

Below are the benefits and potential drawbacks to each route to market:

The routes to sale above show that there are several ways to go about selling a house with fire damage, and the final choice will depend on several factors such as closing costs, speed of sale, and whether an actual cash offer is being made.

Even if its an apartment building, self storage facility or a commercial building, we'll purchase it!

Below are the benefits and potential drawbacks to each route to market:

Selling to a real estate investor be it a local private investor or a larger company such as Fire Cash Buyers is one way to ensure a quick sale with the added benefit of zero closing costs with there being no real estate agent involved in the transaction. This can save several thousand dollars in the overall sale and give you a clearer understanding of the purchase price and your proceeds. 

As mentioned above this firm is a cash home buyer and will usually make a cash offer for the property in its current condition and then due to their experience, they are able to repair fire damage and prevent further damage themselves with their own team of contractors and front the repair costs. When going down this route you just need to ensure they make a cash offer and do not attempt to offer well below what the property is worth even in its fire-damaged state.

This can be a great option if you are looking to carry out all the necessary work to your fire-damaged home or real estate, and bring it to the open market in an almost brand-new condition. They are then able to help you maximize the newly refurbished state of the property and achieve a better price.

However, selling through the traditional method of a real estate agent can be tricky if you are looking to sell your fire-damaged home or real estate without carrying out any work as some agents are reluctant to sell a fire-damaged house in its unfinished condition.

This is due to the fact that many home buyers on their books are those looking for a "ready to move into" home or one that needs some minor work being carried out but not necessarily to the level of a fire-damaged home.

The other issue with selling "unfinished" fire-damaged houses via a realtor is the price tends to get lowered as experienced home buyers tend to look for further issues with the property and negotiate a lower price. This is where the option of selling at auction can be an excellent option.

Although selling a house with fire damage is not necessarily the easiest task, as works are being completed you can advertise the property yourself with a board outside the property as well as put the word out locally that the house will be available for sale once work is completed. This way home buyers can be notified about an upcoming purchase, which can again save on agent's fees.

We specialize in buying fire damaged houses. As real estate investors, we see an opportunity to not only help you out of a traumatic situation but also restore the house.

We've helped sellers in really bad situations like, the city putting an interest bearing lien on the property making it near impossible to sell. We know who to talk to, how to talk to and how to negotiate with the city. Our process is made SIMPLE for sellers, learn how it works. The last thing you need is a complicated selling process.

We just closed on a property, it took 28 days (5 days before the scheduled closing day), we bought it as is, we paid in cash, we paid all closing cost, the city tried to block the transaction but our team are experts at getting around this, the seller sat back and collected her check and we can do the same for you.

We'd advise before finishing the article consider a no pressure, no obligation cash offer to discuss your property with Joel or someone on our team to get started as soon as possible.

We can assure you, if you're ready to sell, you've come to the right investor, just look at our reviews.

You can visit our full guide on house fire victim assistance to find more available options if you're interested in selling or not.

This is where the option of selling at auction can be an excellent option.

The main benefit of selling at an auction is that investors or would be owner occupiers compete against each other therefore driving the price up, in fact in many cases some investors actually specialize in the purchase of fire damaged houses.

When the property is sold at auction there are no comebacks. This can be a quick and hassle free method to selling fire damaged property.

Some disadvantages are:



• Most auctioneers either require fees paid to them or have hidden fees

• The final bid may be a lot lower than you expected

• The property might not sell at all, making it a waste of your time

• Only a handful of investors would even buy a fire damaged house
  

In most states, selling to a company that specializes in the purchase of fire-damaged homes is another good option as many of these companies focus on exclusively properties that have been subject to a home fire and are prepared to do all the work.

Due to their specialty, a company looking to purchase a property with fire damage and even smoke damage and water damage is a normal day in the office for them, and will not put them off purchasing.

They will then look to restore the property themselves and sell on. The benefits here is that the company will make a quick cash offer and can be more reliable than smaller real estate investors due to these firms having larger amounts of liquidity, therefore, reducing the time between offer and closing.

There are several ways to approach selling fire-damaged homes, and the first is to decide whether to sell the home as is, or whether to factor in repair costs and carry out the restoration works caused by a home fire and then sell yourself. This will take the longest and create the most stress.

Which option you choose depends on various factors such as if you want to sell the house fast, if there is significant damage, what the repairs costs include, and whether the insurance company or insurance agent offers a high enough payout to cover the property damage.

For example, if you are in a position where you do not want the stress and hassle of undertaking the works to rectify the fire damage and going into temporary housing, it may be worthwhile selling to an investor or specialist company that buys houses with fire damages and take the work on themselves by completing necessary repairs.

Also, if you are like most people and not in a position to fund the repair works and just want to sell your house fast this is probably the best option. This would be the best option or easier solution if you're just wanting to focus on getting your life back on track after the damage caused by a house fire.

However, if you are able to wait several months, have the funds, and are able to take on the time consuming work that come with repairing the damaged caused by water, smoke, and fire in a fire-damaged home, it can be very profitable as you would be restoring the property back to its former glory, achieve a higher price or the most money possible, and most importantly, attract the right home buyer in the best way possible after sustaining residential fires.

For more information about fire damaged homes, check out our recent articles.