How Jerry Sold His Lithonia House Before Foreclosure While Relocating for Work

Jerry is a contractor, and he took good care of his Lithonia house. It is a big two-story brick home with five bedrooms and three baths on a fenced corner lot of almost half an acre, about 500 square feet larger than most of the houses around it. The air conditioning and water heater were only a few years old, and the kitchen and an upstairs bathroom had been updated.

Then life moved fast. Jerry took a new job closer to his family and needed to relocate. He wanted to be out in a matter of weeks, and he told us plainly that he did not want to sit through a two or three month listing. What he did not tell us at first was how much pressure he was under. Once we were working together, he shared that there was a tax lien on the house, and that he was close to foreclosure.

Why a house like this can be hard to sell fast in Lithonia

Lithonia and the Stonecrest area have plenty of buyers for a well-kept family home. The trouble is time. A traditional sale means prepping the house, showing it, waiting on a buyer's loan, and negotiating over every item on the inspection report. Here that meant an original roof, some siding and deck boards at the back, fence boards, sheetrock patches and worn carpet in the main bedroom. None of it was serious, but every item is something a retail buyer will use to ask for a lower price.

Add a move to a new city, two mortgages, a tax lien and a foreclosure clock, and the usual way of selling stops working. One delay can be the difference between selling the house and losing it.

What stood in the way

• Jerry was relocating for a new job and needed to move on quickly.
• He was close to foreclosure, so time was working against him.
• There were two mortgages on the house and a tax lien, and all of it had to be dealt with before anyone could close.
• The house needed some exterior and interior repairs that he did not have time to make before moving.
• Packing up a five-bedroom house for a move does not leave a spotless house behind.

How we solved each one

We listened to what Jerry thought the house was worth, went back over our numbers, and raised our offer before he signed. From there we followed the same simple process we use on every house, and our team did the work so he could focus on the move.

• We bought the house as-is. Jerry did not have to fix the roof, the siding, the deck or the carpet.
• We had a full home inspection done and scanned the house for a 3D virtual tour, so buyers could see the whole home and its real condition up front.
• We put money toward the buyer's closing costs to cover cleaning and anything left behind, so Jerry did not have to empty every last room before he moved.
• We marketed the home and handled the buyer, the negotiations and the paperwork.
• Our closing attorney worked out the payoffs on both mortgages and handled the tax lien through escrow, so everything was settled at the closing table.
• Months later, when Jerry's insurance company needed paperwork from the sale, he called our office and we sent it to him.

The foreclosure never happened

The sale closed 71 days after Jerry signed with us. Both mortgages were paid off at closing, the tax lien was taken care of, and Jerry was free to start his new job without a house hanging over him.

Thank you, Jerry, for trusting us with a home you clearly took pride in.

Facing foreclosure on a house in Lithonia?

If you are behind, moving for work, or both, you have more options than you might think, even when there is more than one loan or a lien on the house. We buy houses in Lithonia and across Georgia as-is. Read more about selling a house facing foreclosure and selling when you are relocating.

Learn how our process works, see what other Georgia homeowners say about us, or check our common questions. Then tell us about your house and we will give you an honest number, with no pressure either way.