We Buy Houses for Cash in Kentucky

Kentucky sellers run into a set of rules you will not find in most states. The deed has to carry a sworn statement of the price, the seller disclosure law is written around real estate licensees, a long list of coal-country counties add mine subsidence coverage to homeowners policies, and foreclosures go through circuit court, where a master commissioner sells the property and a two-thirds-of-appraisal test can give the owner a second chance. Whether you own a shotgun house in Louisville, a farmhouse in the Bluegrass or an older home in the eastern mountains, Swifty Home Buyers can make a cash offer on it as it stands, without agent commissions or a list of repairs, and close on the date you pick. Here is how the Kentucky pieces fit together.

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

Kentucky's real estate transfer tax is set by KRS 142.050 and falls on the grantor, which is the seller in an ordinary sale. The rate is 50 cents for each $500 of value or fraction of $500, which works out to about $1 per $1,000, or roughly $250 on a $250,000 sale. Value means the full actual consideration, including the amount of any lien on the property, and the county clerk collects the tax when the deed is recorded, keeping 5 percent as a collection fee. Some transfers are exempt, including those between husband and wife or former spouses as part of a divorce, between parent and child or grandparent and grandchild for only nominal consideration, and transfers under a foreclosure proceeding or a deed in lieu of foreclosure. KRS 382.135 also requires the deed to include a sworn, notarized statement of the full consideration signed by both the grantor and the grantee, so the price you accept becomes part of the recorded deed. The larger seller costs usually sit elsewhere: agent commissions in a traditional listing (negotiable, and often the biggest line on the statement), payoff of your mortgage and any liens, prorated property taxes, and attorney or title fees. When you sell to Swifty there is no commission, and we show you the full list of closing costs in writing before you sign anything.

Kentucky forecloses through the courts. The lender sues in circuit court, and after a judgment the property is sold by the court's master commissioner at a public sale. Before the sale the commissioner has the property appraised by two qualified people, and that appraisal matters: under KRS 426.530, if property sold under a court judgment does not bring two-thirds of its appraised value, the owner and the owner's representatives may redeem it within six months from the day of sale. Redeeming means paying the purchase price plus interest at 10 percent a year, along with reasonable costs the buyer spent on things like maintenance, repairs, utilities, insurance, taxes and code compliance, paid into the court clerk's office. Even when that right exists, the buyer receives an immediate writ of possession and a deed carrying a lien that reflects your right to redeem, so redemption is a way to buy the house back, not a way to stay in it. Ask a Kentucky attorney whether you could still owe money on the loan after the sale. Kentucky Housing Corporation points homeowners to free HUD-approved housing counseling at (800) 569-4287, and a counselor is a good first call. If you sell before the commissioner's sale, the payoff comes out of the proceeds and the remaining equity is yours instead of being decided by an auction bid.

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

Boone County and Northern Kentucky

Boone County's Master Commissioner handles court-ordered sales for the Circuit Court, and those sales take place on the front steps of the Justice Center at 6025 Rogers Lane in Burlington. They start at 9 a.m., and the office notes they are usually over by 9:15. Before a sale, two qualified persons appraise the property, and if the winning bid is less than two-thirds of that appraisal the owner has six months to redeem by paying the bid plus 10 percent a year in interest. Buyers can pay in full or put down at least 10 percent and pay the balance within 30 days. If your Boone County home is on the commissioner's list, a private sale that closes before that morning can pay the judgment and leave any equity with you.