Any homeowner can be quickly terrified by the slightest mention of the words “water damage.” Dealing with water in your home is a huge hassle, whether it results from a busted pipe, a leaky roof, a broken HVAC system component, or even the occasionally vengeful Mother Nature. The period immediately following a flood may be tremendously stressful and emotional for a homeowner. The stress can feel even greater if you find yourself in a situation where you have to sell a home with water damage. However, you can take some actions to lessen the pressure and position yourself for success. So look at these six tips for selling a house with flood damage.
Every Time It rains, It Pours
Water is a strong force that can destroy your house in minutes. It can drastically threaten your home’s structural stability and ruin or harm expensive valuables and beloved things. You will also pay the price for appropriately handling water damage.
If you’ve already started asking for estimates, you are aware of this. You’ll need to pay for costly equipment repairs and remediation for any interior home damage to resolve the issue and restore your property to normalcy (patching holes, replacing carpet and drywall, etc.).
You’ll probably also need to do a deep clean. Retained water within your home can cause the growth of serious mold and mildew if it is not immediately remedied, especially in a wet environment like Florida’s. Mold and mildew can pose a significant health danger to your family, in addition to making repairs more difficult. Allergies and asthma are two illnesses that can be brought on by exposure or made worse by it.
Perhaps the water damage to your house is substantial. Or maybe you ignored it for a while because you were overwhelmed and unsure where to begin. In such cases, you might have to leave the house so that repairs can be made safely and professionally. Therefore, you are free to include the price of other housing in your quickly rising bill.
Now that you are aware of the horror that water damage in your home can be, let’s dive into the list of the best six tips for selling a house with flood damage.
1. Potentially Reduce the Damage
Floods can occur suddenly and without a little previous warning. You must act quickly to limit the damage in whatever manner you can as soon as you can access your property. Your chances of avoiding a complete loss increase with the speed at which you solve these problems.
Remove any damaged gypsum or drywall as soon as possible to prevent water damage to the walls. Drying things out will also be helpful by turning on fans and dehumidifiers throughout the house.
Time is critical when eliminating water from your property because mold can form in just 48 hours. A home with water damage can still be sold, but it will be much more challenging if it also has a lot of molds.
As consultants from movesafari.com advise you, it’s also best to keep your belongings secure in climate-controlled, adequately insured, and constantly monitored storage facilities until you handle the damage.
2. Make an Insurance Company Call
To get an adjuster sent your way, start by contacting your insurance and telling them about your claim. After that, begin tracking all damage.
Make detailed notes and take pictures. Don’t discard anything, as your insurance provider might need to see the damaged things to honor your policy.
Some of the damages may be repairable and restorable with the aid of your insurance carrier. When you later try to sell your home, this could significantly affect the outcome.
3. Request a repair bill
It’s time to assess the extent of the damage after you’ve managed to stabilize the situation and, ideally, clean thoroughly enough to stop the growth of mold and mildew. Of course, this isn’t a prerequisite for selling your home, but letting potential buyers know that a qualified expert has inspected the property will give them peace of mind.
Having an inspector explain in detail what has to be done will be very helpful, regardless of whether you intend to fix the problems or not. You might even wish to solicit a few diverse viewpoints to provide a fully developed plan to any possible buyers. They should feel more at ease knowing what to plan financially.
4. Repair It
After this, you can decide to make some repairs before listing your house. It might be more affordable for you to undertake tasks like installing sheetrock or drywall yourself if you have experience with those materials. Or perhaps hiring a contractor to complete those jobs is something you can afford.
Smaller upgrades and cosmetic changes like new, neutral paint on the walls and polished flooring can significantly raise the selling price of your house. However, if your problems are more severe or structural, you should know that repair may cost a lot of money and may not be worthwhile in the end.
5. Never hide water damage
Do not attempt to cover up the water damage in any way.
You shouldn’t do this whether you’re selling to an investor or an interested buyer. It is legally obliged to mention any water damage when selling your home.
Water can bring dangerous substances into the house and eventually encourage mold growth.
You can end up in court if you try to hide the water damage. Inform potential buyers of the water damage in your home as a favor to yourself.
6. Attempt to Sell
What does it matter if you lack time, money, insurance, or the ability to make repairs? You always have the choice to sell the house “as-is” if you need to sell the house quickly due to water damage. Buyers are aware that residences in this condition will require some maintenance.
Fixer-uppers are constantly in demand, and many purchasers aren’t deterred by flood damage as long as they think they received a good deal on the house. You might choose the conventional method and work with a real estate agent, but keep in mind that you’ll be responsible for fees and commissions after the sale and that your home may lie on the market for a while (which could harm the final selling price).
Even in situations when you sell your home as-is, you need to make it more marketable. One way to do it is to remove all your belongings from it. Renting a storage unit can help you stay organized, keep your belongings safe, and speed up the sale.
The 6 Tips for Selling a House With Flood Damage Delivered
You have two choices when attempting to sell a home damaged by flooding: selling the home as-is or completing repairs before you list it for sale.
You can sell your home for more money if you have the funds to make renovations. However, this expenditure isn’t always worthwhile. Selling a house with flood damage to an investor is frequently a wiser move.
Investors will provide you with cash payments without expecting you to make any repairs.