We Buy Houses for Cash in Alabama

Alabama is one of the few places where the old rule of caveat emptor, let the buyer beware, still sets the baseline for selling a used home, and where a foreclosed owner can have months after the auction to redeem the property. None of that makes selling easy if the house needs a roof, has storm damage, or belongs to several relatives who inherited it. Swifty Home Buyers buys Alabama houses for cash, as-is, with no agent commissions and no repair requests, and you set the closing date. Here is what Alabama law says about the costs, the disclosure rules and the foreclosure timeline.

We buy houses in all 50 states. This guide covers the rules that matter in Alabama.

Alabama's deed tax is in Code Section 40-22-1. It is 50 cents for each $500 of value, or fraction of $500, on the property conveyed, which is $1 per $1,000. On a $250,000 sale that comes to $250. The tax is paid to the judge of probate in the county when the deed is recorded. The statute does not settle whether buyer or seller bears it, so that is handled in the sales contract. If the deed itself does not show the purchase price or value, the Department of Revenue's Real Estate Sales Validation Form, RT-1, must be filed under Section 40-22-1, and the form lists a bill of sale, sales contract, closing statement or appraisal as supporting proof of the value. For a seller, the larger costs are usually elsewhere: agent commissions in a traditional listing, which are negotiable and often the biggest single expense, attorney or title company fees, payoff of the mortgage and any liens, and prorated property taxes. In a cash sale to Swifty there are no agent commissions, we do not ask for repairs, and you see every cost in writing before you agree to anything.

Alabama law lets a lender foreclose under a power of sale in the mortgage, without a lawsuit. For mortgages covered by Article 1A of Title 35, Section 35-10-13 requires notice of the sale by publication once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper published in the county where the land is located. The sale is an auction, and the process can move quickly once the notices start. The part that surprises people is redemption. Under Section 6-5-248, the debtor and certain others can redeem within 180 days from the date of the sale for residential property on which a homestead exemption was claimed in the tax year of the sale, or within one year for all other property. Section 6-5-248.1 says the shorter periods from the 2015 amendments do not apply to sales under mortgages dated before January 1, 2016, which follow the earlier rules. There is a catch: under Section 6-5-251, if the buyer at the foreclosure sale makes a written demand for possession, the owner has to deliver possession within 10 days, and failing to do so forfeits the right of redemption. Redeeming means paying the required amount within the deadline, which is out of reach for many owners. Whether a lender can pursue you for any shortfall after the sale depends on your loan and the facts, so ask an Alabama attorney. A HUD-approved housing counselor can help you look at options. Selling before the auction avoids the scramble: the loan is paid from the proceeds and any equity stays with you.

• Sell as-is
• Inherited house
• Foreclosure
• Tenants or rental property

Jefferson County, Birmingham and Bessemer

The Probate Court of Jefferson County lists recording offices in both Birmingham and Bessemer. That matters because in Alabama deeds are recorded, and the deed tax is calculated and certified, by the judge of probate. The court's recording page offers the Real Estate Sales Validation Form for deeds that do not state the price. If you are selling a Birmingham-area house, your closing attorney or title company will record the deed at the right office and pay the deed tax at 50 cents per $500 of value.