However you got here
Nobody plans to sell a house this way.
People call us in the middle of something — an estate, a divorce, a job that already started, a house that got away from them. Whatever brought you here, you are not the first and there is nothing to be embarrassed about.
Every situation we buy in
Facing foreclosure
Wisconsin foreclosure runs through the circuit court, which usually means more time than people think.
Inherited a house
Probate, siblings, and a house full of a lifetime of belongings.
Going through a divorce
Two people, one house, and a need for a clean, dated, unambiguous ending.
Tired of being a landlord
Occupied, damaged, or simply not worth the phone calls anymore.
Code violations or orders
An open order from the building inspector does not stop us buying.
Already moved out
Carrying an empty house you no longer live in, from somewhere else.
The house needs too much work
Fire, water, foundation, roof, hoarding, or forty years of deferred everything.
Behind on property taxes
Delinquent Wisconsin property taxes, and the county clock that runs in the background.
Downsizing or moving to care
A house that got too big, too much upkeep, or too many stairs.
Relocating for work
A start date somewhere else and a house still sitting in Wisconsin.
What these situations have in common
Almost nobody arrives at a cash sale because it was the plan. They arrive because something else happened first — a death, a separation, a job that moved, a tenant who stopped paying, an inspector's letter, or simply a house that got away from them while they were dealing with the rest of life. The house is rarely the problem. It is the thing standing between you and the end of the problem.
That shapes what actually matters in these sales, and it is usually not the last few percent of price:
- A date you can rely on. An estate cannot be settled, a divorce cannot be finished, and a relocation cannot be planned around a sale that might close in the spring. Every situation page below ends with the same promise: you pick the date, and our On-Time Guarantee puts $5,000 in escrow at a Wisconsin title company behind it.
- Not having to prepare the house. Repairs, cleanouts and showings all assume somebody has spare capacity. In most of these situations nobody does.
- Not having to explain. You will not be asked why the house is in this condition, and nothing you tell us will change the number after we have made it.
- Somebody looking at it properly. We come out and walk the property before putting a figure on paper — no sight-unseen numbers that get renegotiated later.
What is different about each one
The mechanics genuinely vary, and that is why each situation has its own page rather than one generic "we buy in any situation" claim:
- Foreclosure runs through the Wisconsin circuit court, which usually leaves more time than people assume — and a redemption period during which you still own the house and can still sell it.
- Probate turns on who has authority to sell, which is a paperwork question rather than an agreement question, and frequently the thing that actually stalls an estate sale.
- Divorce involves two parties who both have to sign, because Wisconsin is a marital property state.
- Tenanted property transfers with its leases, so nobody has to be moved out first.
- Code orders attach to the property and are one of the most common reasons a financed buyer cannot close.
- Condition, tax arrears, downsizing and relocation each have their own arithmetic, covered on their own pages.
When we will tell you not to sell to us
Regularly, and in a few predictable places. If there is no equity and you are facing foreclosure, a HUD-approved housing counsellor or a short sale will usually serve you better — those counsellors are free and we would rather point you at one. If the house is in good order and you are in a fast-moving market, a proper listing will normally net you more. And if a payment plan with the county would let you keep a house you actually want to keep, take the payment plan.
Whatever the situation, the first useful step is the same: get a real number and a real date, for free, and then decide with arithmetic rather than pressure.
Three questions that decide whether a cash sale is right for you
Not every situation on this page is best solved by selling to us, and the fastest way to work out which is which is to answer three things honestly.
1. Is there equity? If the house is worth more than what is owed against it — mortgage, liens, back taxes, judgments — you have options and can choose between them on the numbers. If it is worth less, a straight sale may not clear the debt, and the route is a short sale, a payment plan or a conversation with a HUD-approved counsellor. We will say so rather than string it out.
2. Does the date matter more than the last few percent? This is the real trade. A cash offer is below full retail; what you get in exchange is certainty, no repairs, no showings, no commission and a closing date you set. If your situation has a hard deadline attached — a probate calendar, a sheriff's sale, a job start, a lease ending — that certainty is usually worth more than the difference.
3. Can the house actually be listed? Some cannot, at least not without months of work first. A house full of a lifetime's belongings cannot be photographed. An open municipal order stops a financed buyer. Active knob-and-tube makes a property difficult to insure and therefore difficult to finance. If any of those apply, the comparison is not "cash versus listing" — it is "cash versus doing the work first, then listing".
What Wisconsin law adds to each of these
Wisconsin is not a generic state for any of this, and several of its rules change the shape of these situations in ways that national advice gets wrong.
Foreclosure is judicial. It runs through the circuit court rather than by a trustee's notice, which means months, not weeks, and it means a redemption period during which you still own the house and can still sell it. People routinely believe they have run out of time when they have not.
Most estates use informal administration. An unsupervised probate through the county register in probate, without contested hearings. A personal representative has to be appointed before the house can be conveyed — but the property can be marketed and put under contract while that runs.
It is a marital property state. Under Wis. Stat. ch. 766, property acquired during a marriage is generally owned by both spouses regardless of whose name is on the deed. That determines who has to sign, which matters most in a divorce and in an estate with a surviving spouse.
Tenancies run with the building. Selling a rental does not evict anybody. The leases transfer intact under Wis. Stat. ch. 704, which is why an occupied property can be sold without engineering a vacancy first.
As-is does not remove disclosure. Most sellers still complete a Real Estate Condition Report under ch. 709. The standard is what you actually know — "I do not know" is a legitimate answer.
What happens after you call
Worth setting out, because in most of these situations the uncertainty is doing as much damage as the problem.
The first call is short. The address and a rough sense of what is going on. You do not need paperwork, photographs, a probate file or a payoff figure to start, and nothing is committed by asking.
Somebody comes and looks at the house. In person, walking the property — not a model producing a number from public records. In the Fox Valley and Green Bay that is usually within a day or two; elsewhere in Wisconsin we travel, and we still come.
You get a written offer within 24 hours, with the arithmetic shown. What the house is worth finished, what the work costs, what holding it costs, what our margin is. If those numbers do not convince you, they should not.
You decide, on your timetable. There is no expiry pressure and no follow-up campaign. If the answer is that listing serves you better, we will have told you that already.
Questions people ask before picking a situation
My situation is a mix of two or three of these. Which page should I read?
Do you charge anything for looking at the house or making an offer?
Will you tell me if I would be better off listing with an agent?
How much does my situation change the price you offer?
Is it too late? The sale, the hearing or the deadline is close.
Do I need a lawyer?
Not sure which one fits?
Most situations are a mix of two or three. Call and describe it in your own words — we will tell you honestly whether we can help.
Get My Fair Cash Offeror call (920) 259-4326 — a real person answers