Leave everything. You do not need to clear a path, rent a dumpster, hire a cleanout crew, or apologise for what is inside. I am buying the house, not listing it, so there are no photographs and nobody walking through on a Sunday.
Why Agents Struggle With These Houses
A listing needs photographs, showings and an open house. None of that works here, which is why people get told to clear the house first and come back afterwards.
That advice is expensive. A full cleanout on a packed house runs into real money and takes weeks, and the person asked to fund it is usually the one who least wants to be dealing with the house at all.
I do not need photographs and I am not showing it to anyone.
What Actually Happens
You tell me the address and roughly what the situation is. I do not need a tour of every room and I will not make you walk me through it if you would rather not.
If access is genuinely difficult, say so. I have looked at houses I could not get more than a few feet inside and it changed nothing.
You get one number. The contents come with the house and disposing of them becomes my cost.
Often it is a parent's house, or a relative who has passed, and what is inside is decades of a life rather than rubbish. Take whatever you want out first, in your own time. There is no judgment in this from my side.
These are nearly always a relative's house rather than your own, which puts them in the same bracket as an inherited Birmingham house.
If The House Is Somewhere Else
The short overview of what I buy across the Birmingham area is on the main Birmingham page.
I do this in both markets. The Memphis version of this page is a packed Memphis house you cannot get through.
What Listing Actually Nets You
Listing usually produces a higher gross price than a direct sale. Whether it produces a higher number in your account is a different question, and it is the one worth answering before you decide anything. Put your own figures in.
Commission is figured at 6 percent and seller closing costs at 2 percent, which are common but not universal. Carrying cost means taxes, insurance, utilities and upkeep. This is an illustration using your numbers, not an offer or an appraisal, and it deliberately assumes the listing sells at the price you entered.
The Numbers Behind That
| Line | Typical |
|---|---|
| Full cleanout crew | $3,000 to $15,000 typical |
| Dumpster rentals, multiple pulls | $400 to $700 each |
| Deep clean after clearing | $1,000 and up |
| Odor or biohazard remediation | $2,000 and up if needed |
| Weeks of your time | Before it can even be photographed |
| Agent commission at 6% | Charged after all of that |
These are the costs that come before a listing can even start. Every one is money out before any money comes in, and they are why these houses sit for years.
Who you are dealing with
Hi, I am Torian. I buy residential property with my own capital in Birmingham and across Jefferson County, through TOPSICO LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company.
I am not an agent and not a broker. Nothing here is a listing and I am not representing you in a sale. If you want your house exposed to the open market, an agent will usually get you a higher price, and I will tell you that rather than talk you out of it.