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

Selling a house ‘as is’ means that the seller states upfront that they won’t do any improvements or repairs to the property before closing.

However, it’s not possible to simply write ‘as is’ on a property listing in the Keystone State. The standard listing and sales contracts used in Pennsylvania also don’t include an ‘as is’ condition clause.

That doesn’t mean, however, you can’t sell your home without doing repairs.

Yes, you can sell a home ‘as is’ in Pennsylvania. To do so, you must complete a property disclosure.

The seller must then reply in writing by denying any buyer requests for home repairs to sell a home without any repairs or fixes in Pennsylvania.

Sellers must also allow access to the property for buyers to conduct home inspections. Buyers pay for these inspections.

The buyer must receive a property disclosure form prior to making a purchase offer to the seller.

Pennsylvania law requires sellers to disclose any material defects in the house. A defect is more than systems that have reached the end of a useful life.

Material defects are problems that significantly decrease the value of the property. Defects also include any home issues that have significant health or safety risks for the owners.

The required written disclosure form starts by asking about the expertise and training of the seller. This helps in evaluating the seller’s description of any home defects.

For example, a trained electrician claiming the home has electrical issues is more credible than a person without any training saying the same thing.

Selling a home with asbestos, radon, or mold must be disclosed by homeowners. This includes any treatment for these conditions in the past.

It’s not enough to simply state the house has unpermitted work on the disclosure.

Homeowners selling a house in Pennsylvania with alterations or additions must note the type of work and date the work was completed.

Sellers must also note if the work had a construction permit that received final approval.

Selling a house with fire damage or water damage must be disclosed. Home water supplies contaminated by mining or fracking must also be disclosed to potential buyers.

Owners selling a house in a flood zone must disclose that, but sellers must also inform potential buyers about any alterations or additions to the house that might violate the PA Stormwater Management Act.

Additions or alterations to the property might also be restricted by the Stormwater Management Plan for the locality. Pennsylvania localities have formal plans to avoid flooding.

The seller must disclose flooding information on the form, but buyers are charged to do their own due diligence to investigate these conditions, and how the law impacts the specific home.

Selling a house with polybutylene pipes, cross-linked polyethylene, PVC, copper, galvanized, or selling a home with lead pipes must be disclosed.

Owners of haunted houses aren’t asked to disclose that fact, although fully transparent owners might want to share that information.

The federal government requires homeowners selling a house with lead paint to fill out a federal lead paint disclosure.

The law targets homes constructed before 1978, before the sale of lead paint was restricted.

Selling a house with termite damage must be noted, as well as the dates of the inspections for insect infestations.

Homeowners selling a house with exterior synthetic finishing systems must also note that, and identify the location of the system on the residential structure.

Selling a house with septic system failure or any foundation issues must be listed and the problems detailed on the disclosure.

You can leave stuff behind when you sell your Pennsylvania house ‘as is’ if those items are itemized on the sales contract.

The buyer must sign the agreement to accept your items as part of the sales transaction.

The first step in answering the question,“Should you sell your Pennsylvania house ‘as is’ or fix it up?” is to look at the time you have to do the repairs or supervise the work of others.

Then evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each approach to make your final decision.

So, why sell a Pennsylvania house ‘as is’? Keep reading!

Pros of Selling Your House As Is

• You’ll avoid the task of finding competent contractors to complete your home repairs. You’ll also avoid supervising these people to make sure the repairs are done correctly.

• You can move faster to sell without taking the time to wait for repairs, particularly if you sell to a cash home buyer in Pennsylvania.

• If selling to a cash house buyer, they won’t require an extensive home evaluation by a Pennsylvania real estate inspector when the house is being sold ‘as is’.

• Avoiding inspections means you won’t have a collection of inspection reports to share with other prospective buyers. All prior reports must be shared by the seller with interested buyers, even when that buyer didn’t contract for the inspection.

• Many ‘as is’ buyers will allow you to simply leave things behind when you move. That saves time and the expense of a home cleaning bill.

• You’ll avoid paying the recurring costs of utilities, mortgage interest, property taxes, and any HOA dues during the time you’re doing repairs. This means significant savings that some homeowners don’t consider when deciding to fix or sell ‘as is’.

Cons of Selling Your House As Is

• It helps to know your home seller closing costs because most ‘as is’ buyers won’t offer you a turnkey house price. ‘As is’ buyers factor in the cost of repairs when deciding on an offer. Knowing your selling costs helps you determine your bottom line when receiving a lower price offer.

• Your pool of buyers is limited with a fixer listing. Most buyers looking for homes aren’t interested in buying homes that need repairs. A cash property buyer in Pennsylvania, however, looks specifically for fixers to buy and rehab for their special needs.

“How do I go about selling my house ‘as is’ in Pennsylvania?” There are a number of selling options for you to consider. Let’s begin with an investor sale.

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

Before we describe how to sell a Pennsylvania house in ‘as is’ condition, let’s introduce a special class of property buyers — real estate investors also called “cash house buyers”.

Who Are Cash House Buyers?

Cash buyers look to buy investment properties in Pennsylvania. These investors can work alone or form companies such as hedge funds.

To find lucrative properties to buy, they advertise to home sellers by offering quick purchase, with minimum hassle (unlike traditional real estate transactions), and without realtor commissions.

To be able to buy houses fast, they need to buy them for cash — without asking for a mortgage from a bank or another conventional lender.

Some investors have their own cash, and some use hard money loans, which are much faster to obtain compared to a loan from a bank.

Both cases mean you won’t have to wait for a mortgage to be issued to your buyer when you sell your house to an investor.

Investors buy houses to repair and then sell to other buyers, and they also buy property to hold for future appreciation.

Some investors fix and flip (resell) a property. Others specialize in purchasing a rental property as an investment to collect the income from renting the house.

Investors look for people in situations urging them to sell a property rather fast than at the most beneficial price. Therefore, property investors in Pennsylvania look for sellers in situations such as:

• families selling an estate home
• homeowners selling a house in poor condition
• couples selling marital property before divorce or during it
• seniors looking to downsize
• workers selling a house for job relocation
• people with a home mortgage selling a house to avoid loan foreclosures
• homeowners selling a house with a state tax lien

Local investors typically use a local Pennsylvania investor-friendly title company to facilitate a quick and easy sale.

There are a number of benefits when you sell your house to an investor.

Pros of Selling Your House As Is Directly to an Investor

• A company that buys houses offers a speedy sale. If you need to move quickly to close, it’s your best avenue for selling.

• Investors buy houses for cash — without traditional mortgage lenders who require an official appraisal and inspection. Bypassing these procedures saves you time.

• Cash buyers also pass on using a Realtor. If you also forgo using a Realtor, you’ll eliminate all commission costs in your home sale.

• Investors regularly pay both buyer and seller closing costs. Closing fees can be significant.

Cons of Selling Your House As Is Directly to an Investor

• You won’t receive a turnkey price for your property when selling to an investor. Cash buyers factor in the cost of repairs and then deduct that from their offers. They also need to factor in their profit. So, the offers they make are most often below the market value.

• You will be on your own without professional real estate representation. You will be responsible for protecting your fiduciary interests throughout the sales transaction. You could hire an agent, of course, but from the financial side, this will be too expensive since you are already selling your house at a discount.

So, how do you find local investors who are interested in buying your house?

Finding the Best Cash House Buying Company

Searching online is an easy way to locate a few local investors. Use your browser and a few search terms like these to begin:

• we buy houses in Philadelphia PA
• sell my house fast in Philadelphia PA
• cash house buyers in Philadelphia PA
• sell my house for cash in Philadelphia PA
• iBuyer companies Philadelphia PA

If you live in a rural area of Pennsylvania, search using a nearby city to locate cash house buying companies and investors.

How to Choose an Ethical Investor?

Your internet search must have brought up a number of investors. It’s now time to investigate the experience and investment history of your prospects before you request a cash offer.

Use the local branch of the state Better Business Bureau (BBB) website to see if the investors on your list have any complaints filed against them.

Contact the Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protections to investigate your prospective investors.

If they have any formal complaints filed with the state against their business practices, remove them from your list of prospects.

Research and vetting takes time and effort, but there’s another way to find investors.

Make the research process easier by requesting cash offers from up to five investors with just a few clicks using the HouseCashin website.

HouseCashin has done the basic research work for you by vetting and prescreening its partnering companies.

By requesting offers from HouseCashin, you have the experienced investors come to you with offers.

There’s no cost to you. There’s no commitment to use any of the investors. It’s a quick and easy way to compare offers from vetted professionals. Request your cash offers now.

If you’re unsure about selling to an investor, let’s move on to consider another option — selling your house by owner to a non-investor buyer.

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

Representing yourself in your home sale is known in the real estate industry as “FSBO” — a “for sale by owner” listing.

When selling your home on your own, one of the most important steps to take is setting a fair and competitive asking price.  You can do this with the use of an online home value estimator.

You can then navigate the FSBO process with ease after setting a good price for your property. Let’s start with some advertising options for selling a home in Pennsylvania on your own.

Where Can You List a House For Sale by Owner?

Putting your home listing in front of enough buyers is the most challenging aspect of marketing your own home.

There are several ways to let buyers know your home is on the market. The first is the easiest is placing a “for sale” sign on your lawn or home window.

If your house has foot or vehicle traffic, you may receive some interest from potential buyers.

Expand your exposure by making some fliers to distribute to your neighbors. They may have family or friends who want to live nearby.

Listing your house on a number of FSBO sites gives your house even greater exposure to potential buyers. Most of these websites are free, but some require a minimal fee to list.

Pros of Selling Your House by Listing It by Owner

• You’ll skip your side of the real estate commission fee when you sell as an FSBO. Pennsylvania commissions are negotiated, but agents typically earn 5-6% of the selling cost. This fee is split between the buyer’s and seller’s agents.

• You are in control of everything involved in the sale when you go it alone in the listing process. You determine the listing details and the time closing the transaction.

• Your listing is your exclusive interest. Real estate agents typically must divide their time to represent multiple buyers and sellers. You are your only client and can spend all of your time marketing your house.

Cons of Selling Your House by Listing It by Owner

• Non-investor buyers typically require mortgages to purchase a home. This means a delay to apply for the loan, conduct a property appraisal, and then have underwriters approve the mortgage. You’ll wait weeks for these steps to happen.

• A real estate professional has the training and experience to navigate offers and handle the property closing. You’ll be without this source of expertise when you go it alone without an agent.

• FSBO sellers typically don’t have the experience to handle all the contingencies during a sales transaction. Mistakes can mean delay. Major mistakes by the seller can mean your sale fails to close. Buyers may sue you for your errors — even when they were unintentional.
• You are still paying the buyer’s agent commission as a part of your closing costs when selling a home by owner, even though you aren’t using a seller’s agent.

If handling your listing yourself seems overwhelming, let’s consider our last sales option of hiring a professional Realtor to handle the sale process.

Who Are Real Estate Agents?

Agents assist people in listing, leasing, and renting real property. They know the law and will guide buyers and sellers through the legal hoops of a home sale.

When hiring an agent as a seller, you’ll have your home marketed by them. They will find you potential buyers and will negotiate with them to assure you get the highest possible price.

Real estate professionals are licensed by the state. That license requires rigorous training in the law and an exam to qualify for the certification.

Agents work under a trained and licensed real estate broker who is legally responsible for the agent’s actions.

When an agent uses the title “Realtor”, it means they’re a member of the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors.

That group is a state branch of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), a professional trade group dedicated to uphold ethical practices in the real estate industry.

There are a number of advantages to using a professional Realtor.

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

• Realtors have access to a database of home sales — MLS. This research helps you in determining the price to list your house to bring you top dollar for the sale.

• Your agent is your fiduciary representative in the sale. They put you first above all others involved in the real estate transaction. Your agent will make sure you have everything you need to close the deal and work to make sure you end up with terms in your favor.

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

• Professional real estate agents in the Keystone State earn 5-6% of the sales price. The Realtor costs when selling a house are the largest part of your Pennsylvania closing costs.

• Your agent isn’t your exclusive representative. They have a number of clients who also need representation. Fixer listings aren’t fast moving sales, so your agent may put a lower priority on marketing your house compared with their other turnkey listings.

• Most agents have clients who need mortgages to buy homes, so the buyer pool brought by Realtors will need to qualify for a loan. Your house will need to qualify for the mortgage. This process takes time to complete. With a fixer, you’ll also take a risk that the contracted home price won’t match the mortgage appraisal.

How to Choose an Ethical Real Estate Agent?

The Keystone State has a wealth of licensed real estate agents. How do you find the right match for your needs?

You can start by looking at agent signs in your neighborhood. These agents are familiar with the area and understand how to market to local buyers.

Ask friends, family, and coworkers for recommendations of agents they’ve worked with. Referrals are an excellent way to locate an ethical agent.

Before you sign listing paperwork, do your own due diligence in researching prospective agents.

If the agent uses the title “Realtor”, that means they belong to the state branch of the National Association of Realtors.

Check with the local Realtor board to see if any complaints have been filed against your list of prospective agents.

You can also read through comments on consumer websites to see if there are any reviews of the agents on your list.

Check with the local branch of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for any issues involving agents on your list.

If you’re seeing a number of negative reviews, remove that agent from consideration.

Invite three prospective agents to come to your property to do a pitch for their services. Effective agents should bring a portfolio that illustrates their services.

The agents should also bring a list of references. Contact these people to confirm the type of service you’ll receive from that agent.