Selling A House With A Wet Basement

Published on April 3rd, 2023

You wandered down to your basement to do a load of laundry when all of a sudden, you're confronted with standing water. At this point, many homeowners will be panicking and wondering what to do about the basement leaks.

While there are a few solutions and proper protocols to follow in this situation, the most challenging part might be if you are planning to sell your home soon.

How can you sell a home without a dry basement or crawl space? Throughout the course of this article, we will discuss five ways you can sell homes with wet basements and some ways to fix water damage where possible.

Selling To A Real Estate Investor That Specializes In Properties With Wet Basements

Companies that specialize in purchasing homes with leaky basements might be a good bet for your situation. These companies are well prepared and experienced in dealing with this sort of issue and know what to look for.

Before buying your home, they might check out the basement leakage by checking the crawl spaces, basement walls, and the sump pump if you have one. This will give them an idea of if this repair will be an easy fix or not and if they should offer you a lower price to offset the cost of repairs.

Selling Through A Real Estate Agent On The MLS

Selling your house using the services of real estate agents to potential buyers is the most simple solution. Although depending on the level of damage your basement sustained to the living space or integrity of the home, it could be a challenge and possibly not the right option.

Selling your house with a realtor makes sense for you if your home: 

• If you have not had any previous leaks

• You have made waterproofing repairs to your basement 

• You have no major foundation crack

• If a waterproofing company can make the repair before the sale to the new homeowner

• You can fill out the disclosure form accurately 

Also, keep in mind that a potential buyer will have the home externally inspected for water intrusion around the entire perimeter by a home inspector during their option period. If water is entering your basement or crawl space due to runoff from a winter thaw, you might want to consider rerouting runoff prior to selling your home.

Selling a home directly to a private home buyer is another great method of selling a home with water damage in the basement without fixing the problems yourself.

Instead of marketing your home to the general real estate market, you will be directly targeting private buyers resulting in a quick sale of your property.

Generally speaking, you will need to pay attorney fees on the home sale for the use of a lawyer to facilitate the sale. Using a real estate attorney will help you avoid legal trouble surrounding the home sale and ensure that all the correct contract procedures are met.

Selling Your Home With A Wet Basement At An Auction

If you have major water damage in your basement, selling your home at an auction might be the easiest route. Buyers are able to purchase a property at an auction at a discounted rate from sellers.

Oftentimes a property that ends up in an auction situation is looking for a fast sale; that way, the sellers can start over with a clean slate in a new home.

Buyers will have the opportunity to walk around the home to be sold and look for direct water damage, learn if there is a transferable warranty available for previous work done in the basement or crawl space, and an overall look at the house to see if it's worth their investment.

Making a repair to your water damage, such as silicate sealers, basement waterproofing, or crack repairs, might be worth it if the damage is minimal. Before doing so, check with local professionals that you can find on Angie's list to see if it's worth your time and money to do so.

Selling To A Local Home Buying Company That Deals With Basement Water Regularly

There are companies that will buy your home with existing basement leaks, a wet crawl space, and a sump pump failure. These companies are ready to buy houses in not the best condition and of any square footage, as long as they can make the repairs and sell the home for a profit.

Checking the legitimacy of these companies is as easy as hopping on your computer for a quick search in your area to see if there has been an article published about the particular company or if someone in your community has dealt with them before.

Keep in mind that your home will sell quickly, and you might not get your intended asking price depending on the potential repair cost that the home buying company will be assuming for fixing the basement and doing basement waterproofing after their purchase.

No matter how you decide to sell a property with a wet basement, leaky basement, wet crawl spaces, or other basement issues, you need to do what is best for your specific situation. No two water-damaged properties are the same and should be treated as such.