Boston's Aging Baby Boomers Face Tough Decision On Selling The Family Home

Money, time and emotional involvement make decision difficult

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May 22, 2013, 04:01 ET

BOSTON, May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- It can be a very tough decision: What do you do with your family home when your parents can no longer live there. It's a question fraught with emotional, financial and logistical problems, particularly in a city like Boston where more than half of the homes were built prior to 1939.

"Often the home is in need of repair, often family members live out of town and none of them have the time or the energy to fix-up the homestead for sale," notes a Boston HomeVestors franchisee, Mike Falotico.

Also known as the We Buy Ugly Houses®, the company was founded in 1996 and since then has purchased over 50,000 homes nationwide. "Here in the Boston area, there are 14 franchisees and so far this year, we have purchased 22 percent more homes, up from the same period last year.

"Although it was easier to find homes for sale when the market was down, when we do find and fix-up a home, we have no problem selling it," added Bruce Haslehurst, another Boston HomeVestors franchisee. "About half of the homes we buy are from families selling the family homestead," he noted, "and we make the process easy."

HomeVestor customers also include people facing foreclosure, retirees looking to downsize and couples involved in a divorce. "Most are people who need to sell their homes quickly and are looking for a quick cash buyout, without the hassles typically associated with a traditional sale," Haslehurst explained. "We go even further by paying all regular closing costs, buying homes in an 'as is' condition, and closing quickly, usually within seven days."

Most potential home buyers need to have a home appraised, which can create problems. "FHA won't insure loans if the home has serious repair problems," Falotico said.

About HomeVestors of Boston

HomeVestors of America, the largest buyer of houses in the U.S., has 14 franchisees that buy and rehab residential properties in the wider Boston area, including but not limited to Braintree, Attleboro, East Sandwich, Lynnfield, South Boston, Natick, Quincy, South Dennis, Carver, Somerville, Lowell, Methuen, Andover, Boston, Malden and Marlborough, among others. The HomeVestors of Boston offices service most of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Southern New Hampshire, the Cape and Islands. HomeVestors has over 300 independent franchisees across the country.