Live Q&A Recording – June 5th, 2020

For your ease, we have provided a transcript of the Q&A Recording.

This is Evan with Simple Sale. Just want to do a quick introduction before we get in the Q&A. Simple Sale is a distressed home buyer throughout Central Florida.

We’re actively buying distressed properties throughout Central Florida, anywhere from Tampa to St. Pete, Titusville, Orlando, Ocala, Kissimmee, several different locations throughout Central Florida.

Distressed properties are anything from code violations, liens, legal issues like probate, judgments, we actively purchase those types of properties.

We typically do not purchase properties that are not distressed. We do not make competitive offers on those types of properties, but we do actively work to purchase distressed properties and fix those situations on those properties. And with that we’ll go ahead and get into the commonly asked questions that we get here at Simple Sale.

1. Can my house be distressed even if it’s not damaged?

Commonly people think distressed either means the roof is falling in, the A/C doesn’t work, the windows are knocked out >or it needs tons of repairs, and that’s not always the case. Distressed can mean foreclosure, code violations, liens, judgments, It can mean that there are probate issues where there’s going to have to be litigation or lawyer work of any kind done. That’s what is considered distressed in the residential space.

The repairs aspect of distressed is commonly what we see. A lot of times a property that’s distressed has a lot of work up front that needs to be done. That’s not a reason to not sell your property, just because it needs repairs and it appears distressed. There are companies out there like Simple Sale that will purchase your home and get you the money you deserve.

2. How are you able to work through legal issues if you aren’t a lawyer?

This is pretty common. People that call Simple Sale and ask us “How do I fix this legal issue? I have a probate? How do I get rid of these judgments or liens because I can’t sell my property?” From our experience we are able to talk with you about a lot of situations.

We don’t give advice because we aren’t lawyers, but we do have lawyers that we use for different types of situations like probate, for example. That’s a very common one. I would say a third of all properties that we buy are probate properties that people don’t even know about.

We’ll run title on the property and figure out that the person who thinks they own the property doesn’t actually own it outright, technically. They may have treated it like they owned it for the last 10 years and have lived in it,  but that issue needs to be resolved in court, and we always hire a lawyer to do that after we figure out that there’s an issue that needs to be resolved. A lot of times just talking we can figure out a solution without ever having to hire a lawyer. It may not actually be a legal issue, even though it may have seemed that way.

A quick example is a property right now that we are trying to purchase in St. Petersburg. I’ve been talking with this guy for a couple of weeks now, we have a property under contract and we’re looking to purchase it. We ran title on it and it came back that he actually didn’t have 100% interest in the property and he didn’t know that. And it’s very common, and now we’re going to have to do probate on the property in order for us to purchase the property.

So it’s not an unusual circumstance to get into a situation where you need a lawyer and you don’t even know it.

3. Can you tell me how much my home is worth?

When people reach out, a lot of times they ask how much is their home worth and the easiest way to figure that out is to go to our website, simplesalecentralflorida.com. Type in your address, leave the contact info that’s the best way to reach you, and we will get in touch with you. We’ll ask a few questions to determine the current status of your property legally and from a physical standpoint and from there we can give you an estimate on what we think the property is worth, contingent on legal issues that we may not know about, of course.

That’s kind of the start of the relationship with Simple Sale where we’ll give you an estimate and if that estimate is something that you are interested in, we’ll dig further into coming to view the property, getting to know you, getting to know your situation, and talking with you about what’s going on with the property. A lot of times there can be some emotions, complexities, and we actively work to make sure that you’re happy with the experience.

4. Why should I sell my home to you and not through a realtor?

That’s a great question, and that happens all the time. A lot of times we are not the best fit for buying your property because it isn’t distressed. If there isn’t anything wrong with the property you should list it with a Realtor.

If that’s the better decision for you, we will tell you. We are not in the business >of giving you bad advice. We’re in the business of finding a solution for you, and sometimes that solution is us and other times it’s not. It’s all about having that initial conversation and determining what your situation is and what appears to be your best direction forward.

5. My home is a wreck, I’m not sure if it’s even worth selling.

Commonly the properties that we look at do have issues with them where there’s a lot of junk or a bad roof, knocked out windows, major leaks and I would say that in almost of those types of situations it’s a non-issue. Very few properties that we come by are properties that we can’t do something with.

If you’re embarrassed by the condition of your property, I would say that’s not a reason to not reach out to us. You should reach out to us, because I’ve never had a property where it’s in such a condition that I can’t evaluate it and give you a reasonable offer. I would highly recommend that you still reach out because it’s not something that’s going to deter us.

In most initial conversations with sellers, they’ll ask: “Is this the worst house you’ve ever seen?” A large percentage of people ask that and there’s a few that stand off on their own, but then everyone else is pretty much the same. There may be some junk or some issues where repairs or updates are needed or there’s trash in the yard, but that’s a non-issue and it won’t affect you getting an offer on your property.

6. Can I sell my home if it’s in pre-foreclosure?

That’s a really common question, and of course you can. People sometimes don’t understand that almost all these transactions are going to be done through someone that’s paying cash for the property. You’re not going to be able to go out and find someone who’s then going to buy the home through retail and get a loan to purchase the property. That’s not typically how it works.

In pre-foreclosure, someone has to come in and pay cash for it. The offer is not going to be what your friend down the street told you that he’d pay you for it, that he just needed to get a loan from the bank, because that’s in the form of a loan and we buy in the forms of cash. The valuations for property are different based on cost.

So to answer that question again you can absolutely sell it. It’s a non-issue. In those types of situations what we do is we run title. Assuming title is clear we get a payoff from your bank, and then we get that number and my title company will then wire the money upon close to the bank to pay off the loan, and then you’ll get what’s left in between.

For example, if you owed $100,000 on it and you’re in foreclosure and we have the payoff for $100,000 even and I offered you $140,000, you would get $40,000 in between, minus some small pro-rated tax costs. Besides that, that would be the difference and that is what you would get. You don’t have to call the bank and then send the money,  we handle all that from our end.

7. How do I know if the home I’m trying to sell needs a probate?

That’s one of those things where we figure it out after we run title, and I would say half the time people don’t know that they even have to get a probate on the property until after we run title and realize that in order to close on the property, transfer title for the warranty deed, you’ll have to do a probate. That doesn’t mean that we can’t purchase the property, it just means that we’re now going to have to go through a legal process in order to clear up the title on the property to be able to transfer it or convey the title legally.

Half the time people don’t know that they need a probate, and sometimes it honestly doesn’t make sense on why, but that’s the way conveyance works. It needs to be shown by the court that you legally own the property before being able to sell it. It does make sense because if it was easy, there would be some fraudulent activity with people trying to take title on other people’s houses, so it is actually for the better.

Unfortunately it does cost money up front and we work with you on those costs and see how we can pay those costs. We can sometimes reduce those costs from the purchase price depending on the situation. It’s not a one-size-fits-all, a lot of these types of distressed homes are not a one-size-fits-all.

8. How long does it take to sell or close on the house?

For you to sell to us and for us to close on it and transfer the title it’s rarely going to take more than 30 days. Typically, if the title’s clear, there’s no outstanding issues that no one knew about it will be in 30 days or less. Maybe 3 weeks. We’ll close on the property and move forward.

If it’s over 30 days, it’s probably going because of an outstanding legal issue or there was unknown circumstances that came up because these situations with distressed homes can sometimes get pretty complicated. We will actively work with you to make sure that we are going to purchase your property as quickly as possible, and that means taking care of business as fast as we can.

Just to reiterate, it typically takes 30 days or less to be able to purchase and close on the property.

9. Where do you buy homes?

So we get people that reach out in, for example, Webster or Ocala or Mascotte or Groveland. Those types of areas that are not densely populated, and we do absolutely buy there. Inverness, we also buy in Tampa, St. Pete, Port Ritchie, Titusville, Melbourne, Palm Coast, Daytona, Ocala, Orlando, of course. Essentially most of Central Florida and then also in some circumstances outside Central Florida.

We will definitely consider your property no matter what we’ll reach out and see if it’s something that we are interested in purchasing no matter the location. There’s not a specific boundary that we look at when we evaluate properties. Just reach out and we’ll see if we are a good fit.

10. Why work with Simple Sale?

At Simple Sale, we operate with different standards than other companies. We operate by being trustworthy, accountable, and transparent. We do that by setting standards for ourselves in every interaction  and in every transaction that we have. We want to be trustworthy.

Everything that we say we’re going to do, we do, and we are working in your best interests and we’re accountable for the things that we do. We work and strive to create great accountability by making Simple Sale accessible on the web and on social media.

If you Google our company you’re gonna find us, you’re gonna see our reviews, you’re gonna see how people felt after working with us. The reviews are also there so people who feel they weren’t treated properly when working with Simple Sale are able to give reviews as well. We keep it open for the good and the bad, and fortunately we’ve had a lot of good along the way.

So accountability is huge and then of course the last and most important is transparency. Just being transparent with a person and completely honest with them about what’s going on. Most people sell a house once or twice in their life. We do it daily, so just letting the seller know what’s really going on from the perspective of someone who sees these types of situations every single day. That transparency is very, very important in creating a good relationship and having a successful transaction through all the situations that may come up.

Wrapping Up

Just to close out, we appreciate you coming by and hearing some of the commonly asked questions that we get here at Simple Sale. We just wanted to have a stream and a video available that answers those questions, not just from writing on a page, but from a real person that sees it every single day.

We work with these properties and deal with these issues every day and I think having this stream and this video can be valuable to educate people without having to take up too much of their time.

Once again, I’m Evan with Simple Sale and we really appreciate you coming by. If you have any questions at all, we’re here on simplesalecentralflorida.com. We’re on Facebook, we’re on Google.

Reach out with any properties that you may have or if you know of other people’s properties. If you’re a Realtor and you know of distressed properties, reach out and see if we’re a good fit. Thank you!