Sell My House Fast in Union City

The permit problem, which is the real Union City story

Multi-generational households are common here, and houses got adapted to fit them. A garage becomes a bedroom. A patio gets enclosed. A back unit goes up for grandparents or for an adult child who never moved out. Most of it was built well. Almost none of it was permitted.

In a traditional sale that becomes your problem in three ways.

You have to disclose it, and disclosure makes buyers cautious. The buyer's lender may refuse to count the unpermitted square footage, which changes what they can borrow. And an appraiser will often value the house as though the addition does not exist, which can put the whole deal underwater.

None of that applies to us. We buy the house including whatever was added, price the resolution into the offer, and deal with the city ourselves afterward. Our guide to selling a house with unpermitted work in California explains how differently the two paths run.

Fifty-year-old homes, fifty-year-old systems

The tract stock through Decoto, Cabello and the Kaiser neighborhood dates mostly from the 1960s and 70s. Where it has not been updated we find the usual set: original electrical panels, galvanized supply lines that have narrowed to a trickle, single-pane aluminum windows, and roofs carrying a second or third layer.

A financed buyer's inspector writes all of it up. The renegotiation that follows is where these sales tend to come apart, often after weeks in escrow.

Parts of the city sit on low, flat ground near Alameda Creek, and flood designations there add an insurance and financing wrinkle for traditional buyers. It is not a wrinkle for a cash purchase.

The math of listing versus selling for cash

Compare the two on the same page before you decide. A listing means the agent's commission, the repairs a buyer's inspection will ask for, a buyer credit if the lender will not count unpermitted space, and the monthly cost of carrying the house while you wait for escrow to close.

A cash sale removes all of those lines. We pay the closing costs, ask for no repairs and charge no commission. What you give up is the chance of a higher price from a buyer who wants an updated house. Put both numbers side by side and take the better one.

When to list instead of trying to sell your house in Union City

An updated home in Mission Hills, or anything close to the BART station that shows well and is easy to view, does perfectly well listed. Union City is well located between Fremont and Hayward with its own BART stop, and buyers like it. Give it 60 days with a good agent and you will probably net more than our offer.

Where we tend to be the better answer:

• Homes with unpermitted additions, converted garages or unpermitted second units. This is the most common reason people here call us.
• Inherited family homes, usually with decades of belongings still inside and heirs who live elsewhere.
• Longtime owners retiring out of state who want one clean transaction rather than a season of showings.
• Older tract homes where the repair list has grown past what you want to take on.

What happens next

Whether you searched "sell my house fast" or just want a number, we buy across Alameda County, and Union City sits right in the middle of the part of it we work most. Tell us about the house, additions and all, and you will have a real number within about 24 hours.

Call or text 415-800-1415. No fee, no obligation, and an honest answer about whether we are the right fit.

Selling a Union City house in a tough spot?

We buy homes in every situation. See how it works for:

• Inherited Property
• Probate Sale
• Avoiding Foreclosure
• Any Condition
• Tired Landlord
• Divorce Sale