How Selling Your Home to Us Works
Here is the sequence from the first conversation to the day the keys change hands, what the owner or family does at each stage, and how signing works when a parent can no longer handle paperwork.
- Cash purchase, as the house stands
- No repairs or clean-out needed
- No agent commission on a direct sale
- You choose the closing date
- Family welcome on every call
The path from a first conversation to closing day
Selling straight to a buyer has fewer pieces to coordinate than putting the home on the market does, which helps when a family is also arranging a move, a care assessment and a dozen phone calls. The sequence below is the usual one. It bends easily: steps can be spread out over weeks for an owner who wants time, or brought closer together when a move-in date is near. Families often ask who they would be working with; a few words about us answer that.
Throughout, the owner remains the decision-maker. Adult children are welcome on every call and at every visit, and we are glad to repeat any explanation for a relative who joins later. Nothing is binding until the owner, or someone with legal authority to sign for them, puts their signature on a written purchase agreement.
- A conversation on your terms. The owner, or a relative helping them, sends a short note through our contact form. We ask about the house, the move ahead and who else should be included, then schedule a call at a time that suits everyone, including family in other states.
- One unhurried walkthrough. We visit the home once, at an hour the owner chooses. Nothing needs to be cleaned, packed or repaired. If the owner has already moved, a family member with a key can meet us instead.
- A written cash offer with time to review it. You receive the offer in writing. Share it with siblings, an elder-law attorney, a CPA or a financial advisor. There is no deadline designed to rush anyone.
- Opening escrow and confirming who signs. Once you accept, an independent Nevada title company opens escrow, orders payoff figures for any mortgage or reverse mortgage and reviews the signing authority. If the owner signs personally, that is simple. If an agent under a durable power of attorney will sign, title reviews that document first and decides whether it can be accepted.
- Closing on the date you selected. Documents are signed, escrow pays any liens, and the remaining proceeds go to the seller by the method arranged with title. Items you chose to leave stay behind for us to handle.
Signing with a power of attorney
Many families reach us because a parent can no longer manage paperwork but signed a durable power of attorney years earlier. Nevada's power of attorney statute, NRS Chapter 162A on the Nevada Legislature's website, allows a principal to give an agent authority over real property, and when that authority is used for a real estate transaction the document generally needs to be recorded in the county where the home sits, which for most of the valley means the Clark County Recorder. Whether a given document will work for your parent's sale is up to the title company to decide and, if questions come up, an attorney. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
What title companies commonly review
- Whether the document is durable and grants authority over real property.
- Whether it was properly signed, witnessed or notarized as Nevada requires.
- Whether the principal is living and the document has not been revoked.
- Whether it can be recorded with the county before closing.
When a power of attorney is not enough
If no usable document exists and the owner can no longer sign, a guardianship through the court may be required before any sale. That process has its own timeline. Our page on a home sale signed by an agent under a power of attorney walks through both paths in more detail.
Talk It Over Before Anything Is Decided
Send the address and a few words about the move. A local person reads every note, phones you back, and answers questions for you and for anyone in the family you would like on the call.
If speaking is easier than writing, press the red TALK TO ALEX button and you will reach us by phone.
Circumstances that change the order of things
The five steps stay the same, but a few situations add a task or two along the way. None of them is unusual, and none should discourage a family from asking questions. Knowing about them early simply lets the title company start the right paperwork sooner, which keeps the closing date you picked within reach.
A reverse mortgage on the home
Federally insured reverse mortgages generally become due when the last borrower no longer lives in the home, including after an extended absence for health reasons. Escrow requests the payoff from the servicer. Read about selling after a reverse-mortgage borrower moves to care for the details families usually ask about.
An HOA resale package in a 55-plus community
Age-restricted communities such as those near the Aliante master plan in North Las Vegas usually require resale documents from the association. We review them early; the page on selling a home in an age-qualified community explains why.
A move-in date that arrives first
When the care community's calendar leads, we can sign now and close later, or close after the home is vacant. See timing a sale with an assisted-living move.
Older homes in established neighborhoods
Houses in areas like the older streets near UNLV in Paradise or around the man-made lake in The Lakes are often original inside. That is fine; condition does not change the steps. More answers live on our page of common seller questions.
If Plans Change Along the Way
Health, family schedules and facility openings can shift. When they do, we adjust the closing date rather than ask anyone to hurry. A signed agreement can usually be amended in writing if both sides agree, and the title company handles the updated timeline.
Pausing before signing
Until a purchase agreement is signed by everyone, there is nothing to cancel. Families are free to step back, talk it over and return later. Common worries about timing and belongings are answered on the questions families ask most.
Things Families Often Wonder
How long does the whole process take?
It depends mostly on the date you pick and on how quickly title can confirm payoffs, HOA documents and signing authority. We avoid quoting a fixed count of days, since a reverse-mortgage payoff or a power of attorney review can take its own time. Once escrow opens, the title officer can usually tell whether the family's hoped-for date is realistic, and we will pass that on honestly.
Who holds the money during the sale?
An independent, licensed title and escrow company. We deposit our funds with escrow, escrow pays off the mortgage or reverse mortgage plus any other liens, and what is left goes to the seller by the method arranged with the title officer. Nobody should ever ask the family to send money to complete the sale; if anyone does, stop and call the title company directly.
Can a son or daughter sign for a parent?
Only with legal authority. That usually means the adult child is the agent under a durable power of attorney that covers real property, a trustee of a trust that owns the home, or a court-appointed guardian. The title company decides whether the paperwork is sufficient. Being a family member, or being named in a will, does not by itself give authority to sell a living parent's home.
What if the plans change after we accept an offer?
Tell us as soon as you know. Care placements sometimes shift, and family decisions take time. Your parent's signed agreement spells out what follows if closing moves or the sale cannot go forward, so please read that section carefully, and ask your attorney or us about anything unclear before signing rather than after.