We Buy Houses for Cash in Tennessee

Tennessee has a few features that surprise sellers: the main transfer tax is charged to the buyer, the disclosure law lets you either fill out a form or sign a disclaimer, and a foreclosure can come with a two-year redemption right unless the loan documents waive it. Housing stock ranges from older houses in Memphis and Nashville to farmhouses, mountain cabins and manufactured homes on land. Swifty Home Buyers buys Tennessee houses for cash, as-is, with no agent commissions and no repair requests, and you choose the closing date. Here is how the Tennessee rules work so you can compare a cash sale with listing.

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

Tennessee's recordation tax on real estate transfers is 37 cents per $100 of the consideration or property value, whichever is greater, and by the statute it is the grantee or transferee, the buyer, who pays it to the county Register of Deeds. On a $250,000 sale that is $925, and a mortgage tax of 11.5 cents per $100 of debt, with the first $2,000 exempt, is paid by the borrower on the buyer's loan. Certain transfers are exempt from the realty tax, including devises under a will, transfers into and out of a revocable living trust and transfers between spouses that create a tenancy by the entirety. So a Tennessee seller does not usually see the recordation tax as their own expense, but everything else still applies: agent commissions in a traditional sale (negotiable, and often the largest single cost), attorney or title company fees, payoff of loans and liens, and prorated property taxes. In a cash sale to Swifty there are no agent commissions and we do not ask for repairs. We put all costs in writing before you commit.

Most Tennessee foreclosures are non-judicial, done by a trustee under a deed of trust. Under Tenn. Code 35-5-101 the trustee has to publish notice of the sale in a county newspaper, with the first publication at least 20 days before the sale, and a third-party internet posting has to run for at least 20 continuous days. The debtor must be sent notice of the sale by registered or certified mail on or before the first publication date, and sales can be postponed within limits. The unusual part is redemption: Section 66-8-101 says real estate sold for debt is redeemable within two years after the sale, and it also says a waiver of the equity of redemption, or words of similar import, is enough to waive that right. Many deeds of trust include such a waiver, so you should read yours and ask a Tennessee attorney before counting on it. Getting HUD-approved housing counseling early is wise. Selling before the sale pays the loan from the proceeds and can protect the equity that an auction may not return.

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

East Tennessee after Helene

FEMA lists Tropical Storm Helene (DR-4832) in Tennessee with an incident period of September 26 to 30, 2024 and a declaration date of October 2, 2024, and it opened Disaster Recovery Centers in East Tennessee counties including Cocke, Unicoi, Greene and Washington. Owners in that part of the state may be holding flood-damaged houses, unfinished repairs or unresolved claims. Tennessee's disclosure act still gives you a choice between a disclosure statement and a disclaimer, and an owner who has not lived in the home in the last three years is exempt. We buy houses as-is, including flood-damaged ones.