Sell My House Fast

Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections states that to correct this violation you need to get the required permits to legalize the work. That is a records question rather than a construction question, and it is one a review should look at early because it can sit on a timeline.

Not necessarily. L&I states that if the work is on an existing one- or two-family dwelling and is done by an owner who also lives there, you do not need to hire a licensed contractor. That is the City describing what it requires of an owner-occupant; it is not advice about what you should do.

Yes. L&I states that permit fees will be doubled to resolve a violation. If a deadline is driving your decision, that is a cost and a timing question worth raising at the start of a review rather than discovering it part-way through.

L&I cites Section A-701.1 of the Philadelphia Code: a building or portion of a building that has changed from one use group to another requires a Certificate of Occupancy prior to the building being occupied. If that applies to your property, say so at the start.

Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 3129.2 requires written notice to be served at least thirty days before the sale on everyone named in the Rule 3129.1 affidavit, and requires the sheriff to publish notice once a week for three successive weeks, with the first publication not less than twenty-one days before the sale.

Rule 3129.3 allows a sale to be stayed, continued, postponed or adjourned to a date certain within one hundred thirty days without new notice, and permits only two such postponements inside that period without new notice. The Philadelphia Sheriff's Office requires pre-sale postponements or stays to reach it before 3:00PM the day before the auction.

A closing date is not a promise made at the start of a conversation. It is the output of a short list of items: who has authority to sign, what has to be searched, what is owed against the property, whether anyone is living there, and whether any document needed for recording is missing. A date agreed before those are known is a guess wearing a calendar.

So the route that holds a date is the one that names the items that could move it, in the first conversation, and then works them in parallel rather than in sequence. Tell us what you already know, including the parts that are unresolved. An unresolved item that is known about is a task; an unresolved item that surfaces late is a delay.

We review properties in their current condition, which removes one whole category of delay, because nothing waits on repairs being finished or on the house being cleared first. The items that remain are mostly documentary. Ask, at the start, which of them apply to your file and who is responsible for each one, and ask for that list in writing.

Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections states that where work was carried out without a required permit, the correction is to get the required permits to legalize the work. That is a paperwork route rather than a demolition route, and it is one a review should look at early because it can sit squarely on a timeline that someone else has set.

Two details change the arithmetic. L&I states that if the work is on an existing one- or two-family dwelling and is done by an owner who also lives there, there is no requirement to hire a licensed contractor. It also states that permit fees will be doubled to resolve a violation. The first can reduce cost; the second increases it, and both are worth knowing before a decision is made.

There is a separate use question. L&I cites Section A-701.1 of the Philadelphia Code, under which a building or portion of a building that has changed from one use group to another requires a Certificate of Occupancy prior to being occupied. If a ground floor was once a shop, or a single house was divided at some point, that is the sort of history to state plainly at the beginning.

Where a foreclosure has reached the stage of a scheduled sheriff sale, the clock is set by rule rather than by preference. Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 3129.2 requires written notice of the sale to be prepared by the plaintiff and served at least thirty days before the sale on every person named in the Rule 3129.1 affidavit.

The same rule requires notice by publication by the sheriff once a week for three successive weeks in one newspaper of general circulation in the county and in the designated legal publication, with the first publication not less than twenty-one days before the sale date. Between the served notice and the published ones, the rule puts a scheduled sale on the record by service and by publication before it happens.

None of this is legal advice and none of it is a service we provide. It is the published timetable, and the reason to state it here is that a seller weighing options against a date should be working from the rule rather than from what someone remembers. If a sale date exists, say so in the first conversation and speak to your own adviser about it.

Rule 3129.3 provides that if a sale is stayed, continued, postponed or adjourned to a date certain within one hundred thirty days of the scheduled sale, and public announcement including the new date is made to the bidders assembled, no new notice is required. The same rule permits only two such postponements inside that one-hundred-thirty-day period without new notice.

Philadelphia adds its own operational cut-off. The Philadelphia Sheriff's Office states that the plaintiff shall submit any pre-sale postponements or stays to the Sheriff's Office before 3:00PM the day before the auction. It also states that the sale of the property will not be stopped unless the Sheriff's Office is contacted by the attorney on the writ, by court order, or at the discretion of the Sheriff.

Read that last sentence carefully, because it describes who can act. A homeowner talking to a buyer is not on that list. If a date is close, the people who need to be involved are your own attorney and the parties named in the case, and any conversation about a sale has to fit around what they are doing rather than the other way round.

Under time pressure the temptation is to summarise. Resist it just enough to keep three columns apart: what you know, what you suspect, and what you have never checked. That distinction is what stops a guess from being carried forward as a finding by the next person who reads your notes.

Put the notes under headings that match the building: the outside walls, the roof, the basement and foundation, the finishes inside, then plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling, and finally anything standing in the yard. Where estimates exist, pass on their date and their scope rather than only their totals, together with whatever each estimate states it does not include.

You do not need to commission a renovation plan, clear the house, or complete any repairs before a conversation begins. A purchase in current condition means the property is reviewed as it stands. If work is already underway, say what it is and whether it will be finished, because a half-finished item is a term to agree rather than a problem to hide.

Have four things to hand: the address, a contact that reaches you quickly, a short account of condition, and the actual deadline. Say what is driving the deadline, in plain terms, because the answer changes which questions matter first. Identifying documents and account numbers can wait; they are asked for by name at a later stage, not through an inquiry form.

Ask for the offer in writing, and ask alongside it for the list of items that could move the closing date and the name of whoever is responsible for each. If an explanation changes what you understood, the thing to ask for is a reissued document. Two people remembering a conversation differently is not a position anyone can settle from.

A deadline is a reason to move quickly, not a reason to skip a step. Involve your own advisers where the decision calls for them, and start whenever you are ready using the number above or the offer form on this page. The facts you already hold are enough to begin with.

Under time pressure it is tempting to spend money making a property presentable before asking anybody what it is worth as it stands. That order can be reversed at no cost: ask first, then decide whether any work is worth doing. A purchase in current condition means the review happens on the house as it is today, so no repair, no clearance and no cosmetic work is required before a conversation can begin.

You are also not asked to gather competing contractor quotes, commission a renovation plan, produce an inspection report, or resolve a records question before you call. Some of those may turn out to be useful later, and a review will say so if they are. Buying them in advance, on a deadline, can mean paying for information the transaction never needed.

What does help is accuracy. Say what you know, say what you are unsure of, and say what you have never looked at. Name the deadline and what is driving it. Those three or four sentences shape a first conversation more than any amount of preparation, and unlike preparation they cost nothing and can be given over the phone.