We Buy Houses for Cash in Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, a house sale comes with more small hurdles than most owners expect: a lawyer on each side of the table, a deed excise tax paid by the seller, a fire department inspection of your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and on homes with a septic system a Title 5 inspection that can uncover a costly repair. Add older two- and three-family houses, condos with association liens, and a foreclosure system where a lender can auction a home without a courtroom trial, and it is easy to see why some owners want a simpler way out. Swifty Home Buyers buys Massachusetts houses for cash, as-is, with no agent commissions, no repair requests and a closing date you choose. This page walks through the Massachusetts rules that actually apply so you can compare your options with real numbers.

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

The main government charge when you sell is the deeds excise tax, often called deed stamps. The Department of Revenue states the rate as $2.28 per $500 of consideration (or fraction thereof), which works out to $4.56 per $1,000, and the person who signs the deed, meaning the seller, is responsible for paying it. On a $400,000 sale that is roughly $1,824. Barnstable County is higher: the county's Registry of Deeds lists a combined state and county rate of $6.48 per $1,000, so the same $400,000 sale on Cape Cod would come to about $2,592. On top of the excise you will see registry recording fees and your attorney's fee. Compare that with a traditional listing, where the agent's commission is negotiable but is usually the largest single cost, and where repairs, staging and months of carrying costs can add up. Real estate taxes are normally adjusted at closing so you pay only for the days you owned the home. If you sell to Swifty there is no agent commission and we do not ask you to make repairs, and we will put every closing cost in writing before you agree to anything.

Most Massachusetts foreclosures are carried out by power of sale, which means the lender can auction the home without a full court trial once its paperwork is in order. Before that, the lender has to give written notice of the default, and state law gives residential mortgagors a 90-day right to cure. That right can be used once in any five-year period, and the notice must describe MassHousing assistance and warn that you may be evicted after a foreclosure sale. Lenders also typically file a complaint in Land Court to confirm the owner is not protected under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The auction itself has to be advertised in a newspaper once a week for three successive weeks, with the first notice at least 21 days before the sale, and a written notice goes to the owner by registered mail at least 14 days before the sale date. Massachusetts guidance says there is no statutory right to redeem the home after the sale; the equitable right to pay off the loan ends when the auctioneer's hammer comes down. That is why timing matters. If you are behind, selling before the auction lets the sale price pay off the loan and leaves any remaining equity with you, instead of leaving your equity to whatever bidders offer. HUD-approved counseling is free, MassHousing refers borrowers to the Homeownership Preservation Foundation at 888-995-HOPE, and a Massachusetts attorney can confirm the deadlines in your case.

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

Cape Cod and Barnstable County

Barnstable County has its own, higher deeds excise rate. The county's Registry of Deeds lists $6.48 per $1,000 of stated value, compared with the $4.56 per $1,000 ($2.28 per $500) that the Department of Revenue states for the rest of the state. Many properties in Massachusetts, including many on the Cape, rely on septic systems rather than town sewer, which makes the Title 5 inspection a common part of a sale there. A seasonal cottage that has sat empty through a few winters can have both issues at once, and we buy those as-is.