As a company that frequently partners with investors and contractors to transform old homes into income properties, we regularly work with blighted homes throughout the Pittsburgh region.

Some of these houses are homes people inherited, some of these are homes that were long ago abandoned, and some of these are homes that have simply become too much to keep up with.

We understand better than most people: If you’re currently holding onto a home that has exceeded your ability to care for it, you may feel overwhelmed.

Fortunately, you have a couple of different options to take the property off your hands while making a bit of money in the process. You can:

Hire a realtor.
Find someone who will buy your blighted house regardless of its condition.

Both of these options come with their own advantages and disadvantages, so let’s explore both options together.

Hiring A Realtor To Sell Your Blighted Property

A realtor is like any other business professional. They want to make money. If they decide to work with you to sell your blighted property, it’s likely because they believe they can get a fair commission out of the sale.

In Pittsburgh and throughout Pennsylvania, you may, hypothetically, pay 6% in realtor commission—although the commission is always negotiable. So, if your blighted property is worth $30,000, you can expect to pay $1,800 to your realtor once the transaction is completed.

However, a typical realtor will likely make expensive recommendations before working with you.

As an example, let’s say your blighted home has a room filled with garbage, another room with missing floorboards, multiple rooms with chipping paint, broken windows throughout the house, and peeling siding on the exterior.

A traditional realtor may recommend:

Hiring a professional cleaning service to haul the garbage from the house.
Hiring a professional flooring company to replace the floorboards.
Hiring a professional painter to repaint the interior.
Hiring a contractor to replace the windows and the peeling siding.

While these enhancements can dramatically increase the price of the home (especially if the changes significantly increase the home’s safety and make it liveable once again), you’ll be on the hook for the labor and materials installed in the home. So, even if you can increase the property value from $30,000 to $75,000 or $100,000, you may find yourself with $25,000-$30,000 in total repair costs and that hypothetical 6% commission quick increase from the initial $1,800 up to $6,000.

Is the investment worth it? Potentially. But you’ll be responsible for managing the entire project and checking in with your contractors, and all of that may be more hassle than you’re willing to put up with.

Finding Someone To Quickly Buy And Sell Your Blighted Property

You’ve probably seen the strange “We Buy Houses” signs stapled to telephone poles at random intersections around the country. Many of these signs simply have that three-word sentence and a phone number—no names, logos, websites, or any other identifying information.

In many cases, these are individuals who specialize in buying and selling blighted property. In general, they’ll make an estimate on your home based on its after-repair value (the potential value of the home once it’s been fixed up). While they may be the ones who ultimately fix the house, they likely have a number of potential investors who would be interested in taking the property and flipping it themselves.

This is a feasible solution to your blighted property, but it’s not necessarily the best one. Since they’re focused on increasing razor-thin margins again and again with clients they’ll only meet once in a lifetime, they’re not always concerned about customer service or customer satisfaction.

In these cases, it’s better to be picky. Choose a company like New Local Realty.

Better Option: New Local Realty

Like those unnamed companies, we’ll buy your home, but do it as a partner looking after your best interests. To that end, we offer three unique options to meet your requirements:

Option 1: We’ll sell it as-is on the open market.

In this option, we’ll act as a traditional realtor to help you sell your home. We’ll list the home in the MLS and other websites, and we’ll share the property with our network of investors. Unlike most real estate agents, however, we won’t pressure you into open houses, major renovations, or even expensive cleaning projects. Instead, we’ll educate you on your options and help you arrive at an informed decision you feel confident in.

Option 2: We’ll market it as-is to our investors.

Instead of listing the home on the internet, we’ll distribute the opportunity to our extensive network of investors willing to pay top dollar for your home—without you having to make repairs or cleaning out the property (unless you want to go through the belongings for anything of value). Once someone makes an offer that meets your requirements, we’ll act as your realtor in the transaction.

Option 3: We’ll make a cash offer to take it right away.

If you’re looking for fast cash, this is your best option. We’ll evaluate the home and its potential value to New Local Realty and our investors, and then we’ll make you an offer based on that evaluation. We’ll do all of the heavy lifting through the process so there are few hurdles from your side.

Work With New Local Realty

If you’re interested in finding the best strategy for quickly selling your blighted property in the Pittsburgh region, contact New Local Realty. Our local experts are ready to help you make the best decision to meet your goals!

How to Sell Your Blighted Home: Selling Vacant, Abandoned, and Derelict Property