We Buy Houses for Cash in Oregon

Oregon is a state where the rules most sellers hear about turn out to be narrower than expected. Cities and counties are barred from adding new transfer taxes, with a grandfathered exception that Washington County still uses. The seller property disclosure statement gives a buyer a revocation right that can last until closing if the seller never delivers it. And a lender that wants to foreclose on a home has to request a resolution conference first, unless it is exempt, and must give at least 120 days' notice of the sale. Swifty Home Buyers makes cash offers on Oregon homes in the condition they are in, from Portland bungalows and Willamette Valley farmhouses to high-desert properties and coastal cottages, with no agent commissions, no repair requests and a closing date you choose. Below is a plain-language look at how the Oregon rules work.

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

ORS 306.815 says that a city, county, district or other political subdivision "shall not impose, by ordinance or other law, a tax or fee upon the transfer of a fee estate in real property." The exception in subsection (4) covers any tax whose ordinance was in effect and operative on March 31, 1997, and Washington County's transfer tax is the one we verified. The county says the tax is one dollar per thousand dollars of the selling price and that liability for it is between the purchaser and the seller, so the purchase contract should say who pays. On a $400,000 sale that is $400. The county says you must pay the tax or file for an exemption within 15 days from the date of recording, and it lists exemptions such as trustee deeds and deeds in lieu of foreclosure, gifts, inheritances and court-ordered divorce transfers. We did not identify a state-level transfer tax in the sources we reviewed, so your escrow officer should confirm the closing figures. Whatever the local tax, a Swifty purchase carries no agent commission, and you see the cost breakdown in writing first.

Oregon trust deeds are usually foreclosed without a court, by advertisement and sale under ORS 86.752. Under ORS 86.764, notice of the sale must be served or mailed at least 120 days before the trustee conducts the sale. You can cure the default and stop the foreclosure at any time up to five days before the last date set for the sale, and on a residential property the attorney and trustee fees you must pay to reinstate are capped at $1,000 (ORS 86.778). A trustee may postpone a sale for periods totaling no more than 180 days from the original date, and the purchaser is entitled to possession on the 10th day after the sale, with 60 days for fixed-term tenants and 30 days for month-to-month tenants (ORS 86.782). After a trustee's sale of a residential trust deed, ORS 86.797 does not allow an action for a deficiency, and the sale ends the borrower's ability to redeem the property. The distinctive Oregon step is the resolution conference under ORS 86.726. A lender must request one before filing a notice of default or suing on a residential trust deed, unless it foreclosed on 30 or fewer residential properties in the year and filed an exemption affidavit. A borrower who is not yet in foreclosure can request a conference by obtaining a housing counselor's written certification that the grantor is more than 30 days in default or a qualifying financial hardship. Closing a private sale before the trustee sells means the payoff is taken from the proceeds and you keep what is left.

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

Washington County

Washington County, home to Hillsboro and Beaverton, is the Oregon county to know for transfer tax. The county states that the tax is one dollar per thousand dollars of the selling price and that liability is between the purchaser and the seller. That is $250 on a $250,000 sale and $500 on a $500,000 sale. The county says you must pay the tax or file for an exemption within 15 days from the date of recording, and it lists exemptions for trustee deeds and deeds in lieu of foreclosure, gifts and inheritances, changes in entity structure and court-ordered spousal transfers in divorce. ORS 306.815 bars new local transfer taxes and grandfathers only those in effect and operative on March 31, 1997, so ask your escrow officer whether any local transfer tax applies where your house sits. If you sell a Washington County home, ask escrow to show the tax on your settlement statement.