We Buy Houses for Cash in North Dakota

North Dakota voters wrote a ban on real estate transfer taxes into the state constitution in 2014, so you will not see that cost on a North Dakota closing statement. In its place, every deed carries a certified statement of the price paid or a cited exemption, and every seller, agent or no agent, owes the buyer a written disclosure of material defects. North Dakota foreclosures run through the courts on a fairly predictable timeline, and the law flatly bars a deficiency judgment against a homeowner whose property was a homestead. Whether your house is in Fargo, Bismarck, or on the edge of farm country in the Red River Valley, Swifty Home Buyers can make a cash offer on it as it stands, with no commission and no repairs required first, and close whenever works for you. Here is how North Dakota's rules apply.

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

North Dakota does not have a real estate transfer tax, and it cannot get one: Article X, Section 27 of the state constitution says the state and any county, township, city, or political subdivision may not impose any mortgage tax or any sales or transfer tax on the mortgage or transfer of real property. Voters added that language in 2014 by a nearly 75 percent margin. Instead of a tax, North Dakota Century Code 11-18-02.2 requires the grantee or the grantee's agent to certify on the face of the deed either the full consideration paid for the property or one of about a dozen listed exemptions, covering things like family transfers, estate settlements, government transfers, and forced sales, foreclosures, and tax sales. The county recorder cannot record a deed without that certification, and willfully falsifying the consideration is a class B misdemeanor. Because there is no transfer tax to collect, your main closing costs are the ones every seller expects: a negotiable agent commission if you list traditionally, the mortgage payoff, prorated property taxes, and the recorder's ordinary filing fees, which vary by county. A sale to Swifty skips the commission entirely, and we walk through every other cost with you in writing before you commit.

North Dakota mortgage foreclosures go through the district court in the county where the property sits, and the law gives homeowners real notice before that process starts. Under N.D.C.C. 32-19-20, a written notice must be served on the title owner of record at least 30 days and not more than 90 days before a foreclosure action is filed, spelling out the amounts due for principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and maintenance, and warning that the action will begin if the account is not brought current within 30 days. If the owner cures the default within those 30 days, 32-19-28 reinstates the mortgage as if nothing happened. Once a case proceeds to judgment and a sheriff's sale, North Dakota is notably protective of a homestead: 32-19-03 bars the lender from obtaining any deficiency judgment on a foreclosure of residential property of four units or fewer, on up to 40 contiguous acres, occupied by the owner as a homestead, and even on larger agricultural land any deficiency judgment is capped at the difference between the debt and the land's fair market value. During the redemption period, 32-19-06 lets the debtor or owner keep possession, rents, and use of the property, unless the court has found it abandoned. Redemption itself runs 60 days after the sale for most residential property, or up to 365 days for agricultural land, and the owner has a paramount right to redeem by paying the winning bid plus interest at the mortgage's own rate, with subordinate lienholders able to redeem after in order of priority. Local HUD-approved housing counseling, such as Community Action Partnership in Minot, is available for homeowners weighing their options. Selling before the sheriff's sale date pays the debt off from the proceeds and keeps any remaining equity with you rather than an auction bidder.

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

Burleigh County Sheriff Sales

In Burleigh County, home to Bismarck, the sheriff's office publishes a fee schedule for a foreclosure execution sale: when the plaintiff is the winning bidder, the total is $230, covering $50 for service of the writ of execution, $30 for service of the notice of sale, a $75 county commission, and a $75 allowance to the sheriff. A third-party bidder who wins instead has to pay in full within two hours, in cashier's checks, with the overage above the debt going to the court. If a Bismarck-area home is scheduled for one of these sales, a sale that closes beforehand avoids that auction process altogether and lets you control the timeline instead.