Selling a Home As Is in Indiana (A-to-Z Guide)

‘As is’ means the house is sold the way the buyer finds it, including all the defects. The seller doesn’t want to do any repairs, replacements, or remodeling.

What the buyer sees is the condition of the property that will be transferred at the closing of the sales transaction.

The seller, however, must maintain the house as found at the time of the sale until the property transfers to the new owner.

The homeowner must share any new defects or additional deterioration before the closing of escrow with the buyer.

The Hoosier State-approved sales contract and property disclosure don’t have an ‘as is’ condition clause.

Yes, you can sell a home ‘as is’ in Indiana. You must fill out a property disclosure that lets the potential buyer know that the house has some material defects that you will not repair.

A material defect is anything that would decrease the value of the house. Anything that risks the health or safety of the homeowner is also considered a material defect.

How does selling a house ‘as is’ work in Indiana? The most important step in selling a fixer is to be transparent about the material defects. That’s done by using a property disclosure.

Let’s detail the requirements of that document now.

Homeowners selling a residence in Indiana must complete The Seller’s Residential Real Estate Sales Disclosure.

This disclosure is a way for potential buyers to assess any material defects or risks in the house that would negatively impact the value.

Homeowners are expected to answer from personal knowledge about the house. There’s no need for the seller to hire a professional inspector before filling out the disclosure document.

The two-page form features a basic checklist that asks the seller to identify mechanicals and systems as working or defective.

There’s also a check box for each item if the seller is unaware if the item is functional or needs repair.

Indiana homeowners selling a home with asbestos, radon, lead pipes, or mold must disclose those conditions on the form.

Owners selling a house with a failed septic system or a home water source that isn’t operational, must identify those problems.

Selling a home with foundation issues must also be disclosed.

If the homeowner is selling a house with unpermitted work, the details aren’t necessary, but the work must be acknowledged with a check in the “yes” box acknowledging the alterations.

Property owners selling a house with fire damage or water damage need to note it by using the appropriate check in the boxes listed on the form.

For example, water damage to the basement would be noted under the basement box on the form.

Selling a house with termite damage requires a check in the structural category to disclose the defects caused by the insect infestation.

There’s no specific question about bed bug infestations or a question about a haunted house, but to be fully transparent, sellers might want to disclose these conditions to the new owner.

Selling a house in a flood zone requires a notation on the disclosure.

Owners selling a house with the presence of polybutylene pipes or hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations on the property aren’t obligated to include those facts in the disclosure.

If the home water source is fouled by fracking, however, that is something that needs a disclosure.

Federal regulations require a separate lead paint disclosure for homeowners selling a house that was constructed before the year 1978.

If you suspect your house has lead paint, even if it was constructed after that date, you’ll need to share that with prospective buyers so they can remediate the problem.

You can leave stuff behind when you sell your Indiana house ‘as is’. Simply itemize what you’re leaving and disclose that on the form.

The buyer has the option, however, to refuse to accept your stuff as part of the home sale.

The next segment asks you to make an important decision about the condition of your home before you list.

When answering the question, “Should you sell your Indiana house ‘as is’ or fix it up?” you’ll need to take an inventory of the time you have to devote to the home repairs.

Do you have the skills to do the repairs yourself? Do you really want to take on that task? Do you have access to a reliable construction crew or a repair person to do the repairs for you?

And, do you have the time to supervise the work done by others?

After assessing your personal situation, it helps to consider the pros and cons of selling your house as a fixer.

Why sell an Indiana house ‘as is’? There are a number of advantages in selling without doing any repairs.

Pros of Selling Your House As Is

• You’ll eliminate the need to locate repair people and supervise those workers. Even if you’re not doing the work yourself, it’s time-consuming to do the supervision. You’ll also need to pay for the materials for the repair, not just the labor. You’ll eliminate all those considerations by selling your home ‘as is’.

• Your ‘as is’ sale will move quickly. You won’t need to wait for the repairs to be completed before you start marketing your home with a fixer listing. You can sell your house fast in Indiana when you sell to an investor who is focused on finding a house with the potential to be transformed into a turnkey property.

• You’ll skip the detailed report from an Indiana property inspector. Buyers looking for fixer properties understand the house needs work, and typically won’t bring in a number of inspectors to officially document defects.

• When you don’t have potential buyers doing property inspections, you won’t have a stack of reports to share with other potential buyers. Once an inspection report is done, it must be shared with other potential buyers, even when it was done by another prospective buyer.

• Many ‘as is’ buyers will allow the seller to leave the property as found. That means the seller can skip the cleaning step. The seller may also be able to leave things behind in the property.

• Selling quickly in an ‘as is’ sale saves the seller a considerable amount of money that would go to pay utilities, property taxes, mortgage interest, and also any HOA fees that accrue during the property repair period. These can quickly add up during the time the home is off the market while being repaired.

Cons of Selling Your House As Is

• You won’t receive a turnkey sales price for a fixer. ‘As is’ buyers deduct the cost of repairs from the asking price. In addition to closing costs for a seller, that could be a significant reduction in your potential proceeds.

• Your potential buyer pool will be smaller with an ‘as is’ house. Most buyers look for turnkey properties that are move-in ready. There is a pool of buyers, however, who look specifically for fixers — a home that requires both small and large fixes. Especially investors focus on purchasing ‘as is’ properties. We’ll review these buyers in detail in the next segment of this article.

So now, you may be wondering, “How do I go about selling my house ‘as is’ in Indiana?”

There are a few basic ways to sell a home in the Hoosier State. We’ll review each one, but let’s start with selling to a cash real estate buyer in Indiana.

How to Sell a House As Is, Fast and For Cash Directly to an Investor

Before we describe how to sell a house to an investor, let’s understand who investors are and what they look for.

Who Are Cash House Buyers?

Real estate investors advertise themselves as cash house buyers because they make cash offers as opposed to the normal way to buy real estate with a mortgage.

Some buy investment property in Indiana to rent the house for the income produced from the rental. In addition to buying rentals, some Indiana property investors repair houses to sell for a profit.

To minimize their and their clients’ expenses, cash buyers typically handle purchases and sales without using a realtor.

Investors look for people who need to sell a home quickly rather than at the highest price. Most often, such sellers include:

• heirs selling a property in probate
• homeowners selling a house that needs work
• married couples selling a house during divorce
• seniors looking to downsize to a smaller residence
• people selling a house for job relocation
• owners selling when facing loan foreclosure
• people selling a house with back taxes owed

Cash house buyers usually work with local Indiana investor-friendly title companies so that the transaction moves quickly through title and escrow to close.

Selling to an investor has a number of benefits for a homeowner.

Pros of Selling Your House As Is Directly to an Investor

• Cash home buyer sales move much faster than traditional sales using a mortgage lender. Cash eliminates the time needed to qualify for loans and the underwriting period. They won’t bother you with property appraisals normally needed to qualify for a mortgage.

• Investors typically skip detailed home inspections. Cash buyers have experience in repairing property. They can quickly assess the amount of repairs required by using the disclosure statement and by walking through the property themselves.

• You won’t need to pay Realtor’s commissions when selling to a cash house buying company. As previously mentioned, they advertise realtor-free transactions.

• Cash buyers generally pick up both buyer and seller closing costs. This is a major savings for sellers.

Those advantages must be balanced with the disadvantages of an investor sale.

Cons of Selling Your House As Is Directly to an Investor

• You won’t receive market value for your property. Investors deduct the cost of repairs from the offer they make, in addition to the profit they expect to make from reselling your property.

• You won’t have a real estate professional to guide you in the sale to an investor. By selecting a vetted, seasoned investor, however, you can feel confident that your transaction will be fair and handled ethically. Investment companies typically don’t stay in business long when they fail to operate ethically.

Finding the Best Cash House Buying Company

One of the easiest ways to find cash house buying companies is to use the internet to locate local investors. Start out with some basic search terms like these:

• we buy houses in Fort Wayne IN
• sell my house fast in Fort Wayne IN
• cash house buyers in Fort Wayne IN
• sell my house for cash in Fort Wayne IN
• iBuyer companies in Fort Wayne IN

If you live in small towns or rural areas located near Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Terre Haute, Bloomington, South Bend or Gary, use the larger nearby city to find a number of investors and cash house buyers.

Once you’ve located at least three investors that have a minimum of three years of experience, it’s time to do the most important part of the search — vet them to locate an ethical investor.

How to Choose an Ethical Investor?

Before requesting a cash offer, it’s critical to investigate the firm or the person making the offer.

Online consumer websites can provide some basic insight into investors. Scan these to see if any former clients have complaints against any of the firms or people on your list.

The Indiana Better Business Bureau (BBB) operates local branches in the major cities.

The branches operate websites where formal complaints against local businesses can be posted. Check the BBB website for any complaints against your investor prospects.

All this takes time and major effort. The easiest way to find an experienced and ethical investor is to request a cash offer from HouseCashin.

HouseCashin has done the preliminary vetting for you. Our partner firms and investors have the required experience and work ethics standard.

Once you submit a request by using a quick online form, you’ll receive offers from up to five investors vetted and prescreened by HouseCashin.

And, you can always do additional research on the investors or firms making offers.

Request a cash offer now and compare the price and terms for each one. It’s free, and there’s absolutely no obligation to sell to any of the people making the offers.

If the investor route sounds interesting, but you still want to review your other sales options, let’s focus now on going it alone as a for-sale-by-owner listing. That’s called an FSBO in the real estate industry.

How to Sell a House As Is by Listing It by Owner

An FSBO sale is one where the seller takes on the duties to list their property for sale, promote it, and then wrangle all the legal documents to complete the sale.

But before you take on the entire FSBO process, it’s a must to set a realistic asking price for your property.

A home market value estimator can give you a snapshot of your home’s potential worth by analyzing recent sales and market trends.

What comes next is ensuring your FSBO listing is well-placed to attract the right buyers.

Some larger cities have real estate companies that contract in a fee-per-service arrangement.

In this situation, a seller can hire a licensed agent to assist with some of the sales duties, as opposed to full service seller representation by an agent.

A homeowner, for example, might pay for a Realtor to complete the listing document or handle the marketing.

Each service requires the seller to pay a separate fee as opposed to a percentage from the sales proceeds.

Homeowners listing a house themselves must use as many avenues as possible to attract prospective buyers.

Where Can You List a House For Sale by Owner?

FSBO sites offer one way to spread the word about your ‘as is’ listing. Some are free to post, while others require a small fee to use the service.

If you live in a busy city with lots of foot or vehicle traffic by your house, a sign in the yard or house window might attract interested buyers.

Fliers are another popular way to market FSBO properties. Make up an attractive flier, or hire a professional to do this, to distribute to your neighbors and to local businesses.

Your neighbors may have family or friends who want to live closer to them. Local workers may want to move close to work to reduce commute time.

Pros of Selling Your House by Listing It by Owner

• You’ll save the seller’s side of real estate commissions when you list yourself. That’s 2.5-3% of the sales price in most sales. That’s a significant amount.

• You are the official decider for all things related to your listing. You decide on the price, how to market, and the calendar for the sale closing.

• You can focus all your efforts into selling your house. While a real estate agent has a number of clients to service during the week, you have only your house to sell. You can devote all of your time and effort to making sure that happens.

Cons of Selling Your House by Listing It by Owner

• You’ll need to work with potential buyers who need mortgages to purchase your house. This means waiting for the buyer to make a loan application. You’ll then wait for personal approval. Your home will then need to be appraised. This process may be disappointing since appraisals for fixers sometimes fail to match the sales price.

• Foregoing working with a professional real estate agent means you are responsible for all the details. You won’t have anyone to consult with for advice or guidance about the transaction.

• If you don’t have training or experience in selling real estate, you can make serious mistakes that can undermine a quick sale. You may even end up in court if the buyer decides to sue. Mistakes, even unintentional, mean delay, and sometimes they mean the sale falls apart.
• FSBO closing costs still include an agent commission, because your buyer will likely use an agent. Even though you aren’t paying a listing agent, you are still paying the buyer’s realtor.

If all this seems like too much work for you to handle alone, the next selling option is to consider hiring a professional real estate agent.

Who Are Real Estate Agents?

Indiana real estate agents assist either buyers or sellers in property transactions. Your agent is your fiduciary in the sale, meaning they represent you and put your interests first.

An agent will do a comparative market analysis to price your property correctly, advertise the house, negotiate with buyers and their agents, and oversee the paperwork and all stages of the transaction.

Agents work in a brokerage supervised by a licensed broker. Agents must have a license to sell residential real estate other than properties they personally own.

Real estate agents must take coursework and pass written exams to qualify for a license in Indiana.

Agents using the title “Realtor” are members of the state branch of the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The NAR is a professional trade group with a mission to uphold ethical standards in the real estate industry. Members take an oath to use the highest standards in representing clients.

Agents receive commissions based on the selling price of the home. Some agents charge a fee for services, while others incorporate those services as part of the general commission fee.

There are a number of advantages to selling a house in Indiana by using a Realtor.

Pros of Selling Your House As Is with a Real Estate Agent

• Realtors are members of the Indiana Association of Realtors, and are also members of the local board of that organization. Local boards operate a database that collects information on local home sales. This data gives sellers and their agents a resource to set the best asking price for a property.

• Agents have the training and experience to assist you in your ‘as is’ sale. They take an oath to be your fiduciary. That means they put your wishes and needs first during all steps of the sales transaction.

Cons of Selling Your House As Is with a Real Estate Agent

• Hoosier State Realtors earn commissions between 2.5-3% of the sales price. The Realtor costs when selling a house are the largest share of your closing costs in Indiana.

• Fixer listings sell slowly in many markets because the buyer pool is limited compared to buyers for turnkey properties. Your agent may not promote your ‘as is’ listing as enthusiastically as other turnkey properties since it has lower chances of selling quickly.

• Agents generally work with buyers who require a mortgage to buy properties. This results in delays when your buyer needs to apply for a loan and wait for approval. Your house will also need to undergo an appraisal to qualify for the mortgage on the property. This process can take weeks to complete.

How to Choose an Ethical Real Estate Agent?

There are a vast number of real estate agents in Indiana. It’s important to vet your agent to make sure they have the training and experience to sell your fixer.

‘As is’ sales require special skills and expertise to ensure you receive top dollar for your property. Not all real estate agents have these skills and training.

Ask your friends and family who have sold fixers for their recommendations. Also ask them for the reasons for their endorsement.

Check with the Indiana Attorney General’s Office Consumer Protection Division Licensing Complaint and Enforcement Office to see if your prospective agents have complaints filed against them.

The Licensing Enforcement (LE) and Homeowner Protection Unit (HPU), part of the Office of Consumer Protection Office, also protect consumers from deception and unlicensed operators.

They may also have information about the agents on your list.

Check with the local board of Realtors’ Professional Standards Administrator to determine if your prospective agents have had reprimands or a license suspension for unethical behavior.

The board only handles complaints related to ethics. The Attorney General’s office handles complaints related to legal violations.

Realtor boards also handle consumer complaints against agents.

It’s also helpful to check for any consumer complaints filed against your prospective agents with the local branch of the Better Business Bureau (BBB).