Sell a House That Needs Major Repairs

This page is general information about New York, not legal, tax or financial advice. Laws and local rules change, and every situation is different. Talk with a New York attorney, tax professional or HUD-approved housing counselor about your own circumstances.

Common big-ticket repairs in Hudson Valley homes

A lot of houses in Orange, Dutchess and Ulster Counties are decades old, and many are on private wells and septic systems. The repairs that most often stall a traditional sale include:

• Roofs and foundations: leaks, sagging, cracked or bowing foundation walls, and water in the basement.
• Septic and wells: failing septic fields and water-quality problems that a buyer’s lender may require fixing.
• Oil tanks and heating: old oil tanks (especially buried ones) and aging boilers or furnaces.
• Electrical and plumbing: knob-and-tube wiring, undersized panels, and galvanized or old supply pipes.
• Environmental issues: mold, radon and lead paint in homes built before 1978.

Why repairs make a traditional sale harder

Most buyers use a mortgage, and lenders want the house to meet their standards. An appraisal can come back “subject to” repairs, and FHA and VA loans have their own minimum property requirements. Then the buyer’s inspection becomes a list of requests for repairs or credits, and deals often fall apart weeks into the process.

Fixing everything first means paying contractors, managing permits, and carrying the house while the work gets done. That can make sense for a house that’s close to move-in ready. For a house that needs a lot, it often doesn’t.

Disclosure still matters

Since March 2024, most New York sellers of one- to four-family homes must give buyers a completed Property Condition Disclosure Statement. The old option of giving a $500 credit instead was eliminated. Selling as-is doesn’t remove that obligation, so be honest about what you know. We buy houses expecting problems, so there’s no reason to hide anything.

How we price a house that needs work

We estimate what the house will be worth after repairs, based on recent sales of similar homes nearby. Then we subtract the cost of the work, plus the costs of holding and reselling the house. We’ll walk you through how we got our number, and you’re free to compare it with listing the house yourself.