Selling a House with Code Violations in Texas
Code violations occur when a property fails to meet building standards for health, safety, or zoning. Texas institutes these laws to protect buyers, occupiers, and the public.
Unfortunately, selling a house with code violations in Texas can be challenging. It doesn’t make the house unsellable, but it often means you must fix issues before you sell your property to someone else.
That’s where Capstone Homebuyers can help. We buy properties in any condition, even those with major code violations. This way, you can get a decent selling price, bypassing real estate agents, with money in your pocket faster.
Understanding Code Violations in Texas
Texas building code violations fall into several categories. Some relate to safety concerns while others deal with zoning issues and property usage rights.
Common Types of Code Violations
The following are some common violations you may encounter when selling your property:
Structural Issues
Structural violations are at the top of the list for most homeowners. These relate to problems with your building’s roof, foundations, walls, boundaries, and landscaping.
For example, some buildings violate Texas rules because of roofing problems. Poorly installed asphalt shingles, leaks, or structural damage can constitute a code violation. Electrical code violations and plumbing issues can also fall into this category (such as using outdated pipes or wiring that is a fire hazard). If you’re dealing with foundation problems, you might find it hard to sell a house with foundation issues.
Zoning Violations
Zoning violations are another common code violation that can arise when selling a house in Texas. For example, your property could violate state building codes if you make illegal home additions, such as extra rooms, without the corresponding permits. You could also run into problems if:
- You use your home for non-residential purposes (such as running a business).
- Violate various setback requirements (by building a property too close to the road).
Minor code violations can often occur without you noticing. For example, over-occupancy could be an issue if there are too many tenants in the building or the fence height on your property might exceed that allowed by law.
Safety Hazards
Safety issues could also affect your property. Code violations may occur if you have exposed wiring, absent carbon monoxide detectors, or inadequate circuit breakers.
Abandoned House/Yard Overgrown
Finally, Texas building code violations sometimes apply if your home is abandoned or the yard is overgrown. For example, building code inspectors may take issue with unsecured structures with broken windows or doors. They may also cite pest infestation, trash accumulation, or abandoned vehicles as minor code violations.
How Code Violations Affect Property Value
Unfortunately, violating local building codes can hurt property values. Breaking the rules often reduces the price you can obtain for the home.
For example, code violations can have a significant effect on property marketability. You could find hiring a real estate agent to represent you difficult.
Legal consequences can also apply in some circumstances when selling a house with code violations in Texas. For example, solicitors may require you to include contract contingencies in your buyer agreements. These require you to fix code violations before selling; otherwise, the other party can walk away without penalties. Furthermore, you must usually disclose code violations when selling a house in Texas. Telling buyers about these can hamper the selling process and make it more challenging.
Potential buyers could also face financial issues if mortgage lenders are unwilling to finance a property with code violations due to perceived repair cost risks. Because of this, you may need to lower the selling price to enable more cash buyers to purchase your home.
Lastly, Texas will sometimes impose fines for selling a house with code violations. The code enforcement office could penalize you if you sell with known code violations.
Options for Selling a House with Code Violations
Of course, if you have a property with code violations, selling is still possible. It just requires adopting the right strategy.
Below, we list some options, describing their pros and cons, helping you decide if they are right for you.
Fixing the Violations Before Selling
One option is to fix code violations before selling. You can comply with local codes by dealing with any outstanding code violations, potentially smoothing the sale process. You can also sometimes increase the value of your property, making it more attractive to homebuyers and real estate investors. Resolving code violations like an overloaded electrical panel, improper bathroom venting, or misplaced smoke alarms is often quick and easy and doesn’t require major repairs. It also helps you deal quickly with any violation notice from the code enforcement officer, allowing you to ensure compliance.
However, these best-case scenarios don’t always apply. The time and cost of making repairs to comply with local codes are often substantial. While minor violations only require quick and simple fixes, major structural issues can cause estimated repair costs to balloon out of control. Making necessary repairs to sell a house is sometimes uneconomical, meaning complying with code issues sometimes isn’t worth it. Financial considerations often outweigh the benefits. If you’re debating whether to renovate or sell your house as-is, check out our guide on Renovations vs. Selling As-Is in San Antonio.
Selling As-Is to Traditional Buyers
Another approach is to go through the mandatory disclosure process and sell the property to conventional buyers as a code-violation house. This approach sometimes allows you to violate specific building codes that don’t pose significant safety risks.
For many sellers, this approach to dealing with code issues feels familiar. Even if your property has many code violations, you can still work with a conventional real estate agent and sell to a large buyer pool.
The upside of this method is the standardized process. Using estate agents allows you to sell a house in the usual way: professionals market your property for you, allowing you to get the most money possible, given its condition, even if it is a buyer’s market.
However, the downsides are the financial and compliance challenges. Many real estate agents will subject the house to inspections before listing it on their websites, and it may not meet their standards. Furthermore, investors and other buyers will almost always appraise and evaluate the home, using the results as leverage to ask for a lower price. Sometimes outdated electrical systems or HVAC violations heating your home could delay the sale or cause it to fall through, making this method of sale high-risk.
Selling to a Cash Home Buyer
The final option for selling a house with code violations is to sell it to a cash buyer. This approach often results in a quick sale process, allowing you to free up your capital in the property rapidly.
Certain code violations are hard to solve, and most potential buyers will ignore properties with them. Structural violations are the worst, followed by zoning issues and other potential code violations.
However, going to a cash buyer side-steps these issues. These professionals simply offer what the property is worth given its condition, helping you bypass issues relating to local government. Investors earn money by working with licensed contractors to make necessary repairs to the building and then selling it through additional channels.
If you have a home with significant code violations or simply don’t want the hassle of dealing with problems on your property, Capstone Homebuyers can help. With us, you can sell a house with code violations without making repairs or paying commissions/fees. We offer you a fair and straightforward quote for your home in cash, allowing you to sell it quickly. Whether you accept or not is entirely your choice. For more tips on selling to an investor, read our article on 5 Tips for Selling Your House to an Investor.
The Capstone Homebuyers Process
At Capstone Homebuyers, we’ve helped countless property owners with existing code violations sell their properties. Our approach is as simple as possible, providing you with a stress-free experience, without the need for a real estate agent.
Step-by-Step Guide
1. Contact Capstone Homebuyers
The first step is to contact Capstone Homebuyers and tell us about your property. We need to know the address, known code violations, and whether it is already on the market. Providing us with these details allows us to get started quickly.
2. Property Assessment
The next step is the property assessment. Here we compare local building codes to the state of your property to determine whether it is subject to any code violations. This process is similar to a conventional property inspection where the buyer’s agent looks around to determine the building’s condition.
Building codes are quite strict but often simple to comply with. A house with code violations doesn’t always require enormous investment to put it right.
3. Receive a Fair Cash Offer
Once Capstone Homebuyers finishes exploring local regulations and building codes, we make you a fair cash offer. The money we quote for your property reflects its underlying value and the cost of correcting code violations.
Sometimes, this cost is low and the quote we offer is high. However, more serious code violations require additional repair work and, therefore, our price will be lower.
4. Close on Your Timeline
Finally, you decide whether to close after receiving our cash offer. We aren’t pushy!
If you decide to close immediately, we can begin the necessary administration and transfer money to your account soon after. Alternatively, you can wait until you are ready to move out. We will still be here.
Another option is to fulfill various code requirements involved in the selling process and return to us. Then, we can provide you with a new quote, based on the work you do.
Benefits of Working with Us
The benefits of working with Capstone Homebuyers are extensive. We can help you navigate the process successfully, even if you are facing code enforcement action against you.
Here are some examples of how we help:
- No repairs needed: When you come to us, you don’t need to do any work on your property before listing it on the real estate market. As a real estate investor, we understand the intrinsic value of properties and can always offer you a fair price, even if you are selling a house with common code violations.
- No closing costs or commissions: The team at Capstone Homebuyers never applies costs or commissions. Instead, we make money by resolving common code violations and fulfilling code requirements before selling back to the market after buying from you. This approach means we don’t have to charge additional fees. The price we offer is the money you will receive for your home. It’s as simple as that.
- Local expertise in Texas regulations: Finally, we have many years of experience as a real estate investor with housing code violations. We understand how they arise, what they mean, and why they violate local code requirements. This knowledge means we can help you, whether you want to bring your property up to code or simply sell as-is.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sell my house if it has an unresolved code violation?
Yes, you can sell your house even with unresolved issues. Addressing code violations is not necessary if you go to cash buyers like us. However, you may have to work on your property if you sell through conventional channels.
How fast can Capstone Homebuyers close the deal?
Capstone Homebuyers can close deals on properties in as few as five days, depending on your situation. Alternatively, you can pick a day to close that suits you.
Will I have to pay for any repairs because of building code violations?
No, you don’t have to pay for repairs when you come to Capstone Homebuyers—that’s our responsibility. We hire licensed contractors and other professionals to fix the property (if necessary) after completing the sale. As such, it is no longer your responsibility and you are free to use your money how you wish.
Conclusion
Ultimately, selling a house to Capstone Homebuyers is far easier than many homeowners imagine, even if you own a house with code violations. Our team assesses its true value and makes you a fair offer in cash. It’s as simple as that.
Do you want to sell a house with code violations? If so, speak to our team today for a no-obligation cash offer. Call to get started.
