How we help owners of a Westbury house that needs repairs
Our genuine advantage here is that we run millions of dollars of construction a year, so we know what the repairs on a Westbury house actually cost rather than guessing at them.
That is useful to you even if you never sell to us. We will tell you what we think the repairs run, which ones a buyer's lender will insist on, and which are cosmetic and not worth doing before a sale. If that analysis points toward making the repairs and listing rather than selling as-is, we will say so, and it happens more often than people expect.
What selling as-is actually means with us
No repairs, no cleaning, no staging, no painting, no landscaping, no cleanout. You do not make the repairs and you do not credit us for not making them.
The number we put in writing already accounts for every repair the house needs, because we have already priced them. That is the difference between an as-is offer from somebody who does this work daily and an as-is offer from somebody who will discover the repairs later and come back to you about them.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A four-bedroom on Sunnyside Lane. A three-bedroom on Montauk Court. A house on Lewis Avenue. All of them in Westbury, all bought by us.
Westbury is roughly 15,864 people in Nassau County, ZIP 11590, and the housing stock is mostly cape cod, colonial, ranch. Around Post Avenue and Jericho Turnpike, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Westbury stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We know which of these streets take water, where the older systems fail first, and what the Westbury Union Free School District does to a resale price.
What the repairs really cost once you count the carry
The pitch for making repairs first is always the finished price. What gets left out is everything between here and there: the money for the repairs, the months while the work runs, the taxes and insurance and utilities through those months, and the commission at the end.
Run all of it before you commit. On plenty of Westbury houses the repair route genuinely wins, and we will tell you when yours is one of them. On plenty of others the arithmetic is far closer than the contractor's quote made it look.
Contractor pricing, and why it changes the math
A homeowner making pre-sale repairs is the most expensive buyer of construction there is. One job, retail materials, and a contractor pricing in the hassle of a small project for a client who has never managed one.
We sit at the other end of that. Steady volume means contractor pricing on materials and crews that stay busy, so the same repairs run us about half. We would rather explain that plainly than pretend an as-is offer is generous for reasons we cannot account for.
How selling a house sold as-is in Westbury works
- 1
You tell us about the house
An address in 11590 and a rough idea of condition. Two minutes on the phone or the form. We do not need photographs, a clean house, or anything fixed first.
- 2
One short visit
One of us comes by once, usually for less than half an hour. On a cape cod or colonial like most of Westbury, what we look at closely is the roof, the boiler and the wiring, not the finishes.
- 3
You see the number
Within a day you get our offer as one written figure. Get a Nassau County agent's opinion alongside it if that helps. For a house that could go on the market as it stands, listing may come out ahead, and we will tell you if so.
- 4
You choose when to close
Soon, or months away if probate, a tenant or your next move has to come first. You also avoid the 86 to 101 days a listed Westbury house typically takes to find a buyer and get through the buyer's mortgage.
Lender repairs versus pretty repairs
The repairs that matter to a sale are the ones an appraiser or an underwriter will flag. Everything else is a negotiation about taste.
Walk your list with us and we will tell you which is which. What we will not tell you is that every repair pays for itself, because it does not. A homeowner paying retail for repairs and recovering them at market rarely comes out ahead, and anybody promising otherwise has work to sell you.
The kind of houses Westbury actually has
Westbury is largely cape cod, colonial, ranch stock, much of it built long enough ago that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. Boilers, wiring, roofs, and one bathroom last touched decades ago.
That is ordinary here, and none of it is a reason for us to walk away. Houses of that age come with repairs attached. We have bought plenty of them in Nassau County and we price the repairs rather than react to them.
What you do not pay when you sell a house sold as-is
Listing a house sold as-is the usual way brings each of these costs with it. Selling to us brings none of them.
- Agent commission
- $40,050 at 5% of the Westbury median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $16,020 on a $801,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Whatever it takes to make it listable, paid in advance none
- Cleanout and removal
- Paid per load, before a single buyer walks through none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities while you spend 86 to 101 days finding a buyer and waiting for their loan none
Price the house before you fix it
Whatever repairs you are about to commit to, get a written as-is figure first. It costs nothing and it gives you the one comparison that matters: what the house is worth today against what it might be worth after you have spent the money and the months.
Sometimes the repair route clearly wins and we will say so. What you should not do is discover afterward that a large check written for repairs moved the sale price by rather less than the check.
Common questions
Can you sell a house as-is?
You can, and to a cash buyer it is the normal way to sell. The price already accounts for the condition, so there is no repair list and no renegotiation after an inspection. Selling as-is is about repairs, not paperwork. Whatever disclosure a Nassau County seller owes still applies, and your attorney is the one to confirm it.
How bad does a Westbury house have to be before you walk away?
There is no condition threshold. Repairs are a line item for us rather than a decision point, because we do this work constantly. Tell us the worst of it and we will still come and look.
Should I get my own inspection?
You are welcome to, but you do not need one for us. We price the repairs ourselves, and we are not going to use an inspection to renegotiate after the fact.
Will you ask for a credit for the repairs after the inspection?
No. The repairs are priced into the offer when we make it. A number that moves after the fact is exactly what sellers in this position are trying to get away from, and we know that.
Would I do better making the repairs and listing?
Sometimes, and we will tell you when we think so. It depends on which repairs, what they cost you at retail, and whether the market rewards them. Get the as-is number first so you are comparing two real figures.
Can you point me to a contractor if I decide to make the repairs?
We can. If you decide the repairs are worth making, we would far rather you used somebody reliable than whoever answers the phone first. Ask us and we will tell you who we would call.