How selling a Chicago house to Fair Home Cash works.
Each step, from the first call to the closing table.
Fair Home Cash is the buyer on this page, not a directory of buyers. This is how a sale to us runs in Chicago: what we buy, each step from the first call to the closing table, the city and county paperwork, who pays for what, and when listing with an agent is the better call. If you want to compare us with other cash buyers first, Part 5 points you to the vetting checklist and the side-by-side comparison.
Key takeaways
- Fair Home Cash buys houses, two-flats, small apartment buildings and condos across all 77 Chicago community areas, in any condition.
- A sale runs in five steps: the call, a walkthrough, a written offer, your attorney's review, and a closing at a licensed title company.
- Once a contract is signed and title is clear, closing often takes 7 to 28 days, on the date you pick.
- When we buy, we pay the closing costs and the transfer tax, the seller's share included.
- If your house is in good condition and nothing is forcing a date, listing with an agent will very likely net you more.
What we buy, and where
Fair Home Cash buys houses, two-flats, three-flats, small apartment buildings and condos across all 77 Chicago community areas, in the condition they're in. That includes the houses that are hard to sell the usual way: a bungalow that needs a roof and a furnace, a two-flat with a basement unit the city never approved, a greystone with open building violations, an empty house in an estate, a building with tenants who won't allow showings. If the property is a fit, we make a written cash offer with the math attached. Not every property is a fit, and we would rather say so early than waste your week.
Chicago's housing stock is why this matters. CMAP's community snapshots put the median year built for Chicago housing at 1953 and count 38.8 percent of the city's homes as built before 1940. A financed buyer brings an appraiser and an inspector to a house that old, and the repair list they write becomes a second negotiation. A direct sale skips that. Each neighborhood has its own numbers: start with the Chicago page, or go straight to Gage Park, Brighton Park, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale or West Pullman.
Part 2From the first call to the closing table
Every sale to Fair Home Cash runs through the same five steps. Here is what happens at each one and what you'll be asked for:
The call
Call (773) 717-5643, any hour, or fill in the form at fairhomecash.com/offer. We'll ask for the address, the condition, who lives there (you, tenants or nobody), what's owed on it, and when you need to be done. Straight answers get you a more accurate number, because step two checks everything anyway.
The walkthrough
Someone sees the house: roof, mechanicals, foundation, every unit. It helps to look at the public record too, the Cook County Assessor's class for the property and its Department of Buildings violation history on the Chicago Data Portal, so nothing in the paperwork surprises either of us later.
The written offer
If the property is a fit, the offer comes on paper with its math: the comparable sales, the repair scope, our costs and our margin. You can check every line. The general formula, with a worked example, is published at how buyers calculate offers.
Your attorney reviews it
In Illinois it's standard practice for a seller to have their own attorney at a residential closing. Send them our contract before you sign. We expect it.
Closing at a licensed title company
The title company holds the money in escrow, pays off the mortgage and any liens or back taxes from the proceeds, records the deed, and sends you the balance, all in one transaction.
Once a contract is signed and title is clear, closing often takes 7 to 28 days, on the date you pick. If you need longer, to finish probate or to line up a move, the date can usually wait for you.
Part 3The Chicago paperwork, and who pays for it
A Chicago sale has more local paperwork than most. Here is what applies and who covers it when Fair Home Cash is the buyer:
Transfer stamps: we pay
The State of Illinois charges $0.50 and Cook County $0.25 per $500 of price, both listed by the Cook County Clerk as the seller's. Chicago charges $3.75 per $500, generally the buyer's, plus $1.50 per $500 for the CTA, generally the seller's. When we buy, we pay the transfer tax, the seller's share included.
Closing costs: we pay
The closing costs on our purchase are ours. There's no commission and no fee for the walkthrough or the written offer.
The water certificate
Chicago won't issue transfer stamps without a Full Payment Certificate from the Department of Finance showing the water account is paid. The application fee is $50. Any unpaid water balance is settled from the proceeds at closing.
The zoning certificate
Selling a residential building with five or fewer units requires a Certificate of Zoning Compliance, which certifies the legal unit count; the filing fee is $120. Condominium units don't need one. If the building has an extra unit the city never approved, we price that in. We don't ask you to fix it first.
Back taxes and a tax sale
Unpaid Cook County property taxes are paid from the proceeds. If taxes were already sold, the Cook County Clerk's office prepares an Estimate of the Cost of Redemption, and the redemption is paid at closing. The Treasurer's next annual tax sale is December 15, 2026, for delinquent tax year 2023 taxes.
A vacant building
Chicago requires an empty building to be registered with the Department of Buildings within 30 days of becoming vacant and renewed every six months. If yours is empty and unregistered, tell us. After closing it's the new owner's obligation.
What to have ready
None of this has to be perfect before the first call, but each item shortens the path to closing: the property's PIN or a recent tax bill; the latest mortgage statement, if there is a mortgage; any leases and the security deposit amounts, if there are tenants; letters of office from the Probate Division, if the house is in an estate; and any building violation notices or court papers you've received. If a foreclosure case is open, the case number helps the title company order a payoff. The Cook County foreclosure timeline and the probate guide explain where each of those fits.
Part 5When we are not the right call
If your house is in good condition, nothing is forcing a date, and you can carry it through a normal listing period, listing with an agent will very likely net you more. Our price has to cover the repairs we take on and our margin, and that trade only makes sense when condition, timing or certainty is the real problem. The side-by-side math is at cash buyer vs. realtor. If you want other cash offers to compare with ours, and you should when time allows, the vetting checklist for Chicago cash buyers tells you how to check any company, us included, and the comparison guide lays out every option type side by side.
Part 6Who you are dealing with
Fair Home Cash is the trade name of WealthExtract LLC, a Nevada limited liability company, operated from Chicago. Look it up in the Nevada Secretary of State business search the same way you would check anyone. Sellers pay $0: no commission, no closing costs, no fee for the walkthrough or the written offer. Offers come in writing with the math attached, your attorney is welcome from the first page, and the full verification walkthrough, using us as the test case, is at is Fair Home Cash legit.
Part 7Straight answers
Does Fair Home Cash buy houses in every Chicago neighborhood?
Fair Home Cash buys houses, two-flats, small apartment buildings and condos across all 77 Chicago community areas, in any condition. Whether we make an offer on a particular property depends on the property: if it is a fit, the offer comes in writing with the math attached.
What happens after I call Fair Home Cash?
Five steps: a call about the property, its condition, who lives there and your timeline; a walkthrough of the house; a written cash offer if the property is a fit; your attorney's review of the contract; and a closing at a licensed title company, where the mortgage, back taxes and liens are paid from the proceeds and you receive the balance.
How long does a sale to Fair Home Cash take in Chicago?
Once a contract is signed and title is clear, closing often takes 7 to 28 days, on a date you pick. Title work sets the pace in Chicago: the water Full Payment Certificate, the Certificate of Zoning Compliance for buildings with five or fewer units, and any liens or unpaid taxes all have to clear before the deed records.
Who pays the closing costs and transfer tax?
When Fair Home Cash buys, we pay the closing costs and the transfer tax, the seller's share included. There is no commission and no fee for the walkthrough or the written offer.
Can I sell to Fair Home Cash if I'm behind on taxes or in foreclosure?
Often, yes. Unpaid property taxes, a tax sale that has not been redeemed yet, or a mortgage in foreclosure are paid off from the sale proceeds at closing. The earlier in a foreclosure case you sell, the more equity tends to be left, because interest and fees keep accruing while the case runs.
Do I have to fix anything, clean out the house or remove tenants?
No. Fair Home Cash buys as-is. Leave what you do not want, and existing leases carry over to us as the new owner. Open building violations and unapproved units are priced into the offer rather than fixed before closing.
The rest of the Chicago toolkit
Start with the address.
If the property is a fit, the offer comes in writing, with the comps, the repair scope and every term on paper. We pay the closing costs and the transfer tax, and your attorney is welcome from the first page.
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