Sell Fire Damaged HouseRichmond

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How This Works, Step by Step

The statute asks the owner for a written plan and then says almost nothing about what it should contain. So here is what one has to do to work, and what we do alongside it.

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  1. Address
  2. Damage
  3. The Mail
  4. Contact

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Statutory Test
Addresses the blightWithin a reasonable time
And
Acceptable to the chief executiveOf the locality
Prepared By
The owner of recordBy default
Filed Within
30 daysOf notice being sent

What the Statute Requires of It

Very little, expressly. A spot blight abatement plan is the written plan prepared by the owner to address spot blight, and the response must be a plan addressing the blight within a reasonable time that is acceptable to the chief executive.

Two tests, then: it addresses the condition, and it does so within a reasonable time. Everything else is inference from what those words are asking for.

Does Short Count?

A page can satisfy both tests. What fails is vagueness, because a plan with no dates and no specified work cannot be assessed against either limb. A short, dated, specific document is stronger than a long one full of intention, and considerably stronger than nothing. The full position is on our page covering the thirty day plan.

What It Needs to Contain to Work

The condition, honestly stated. What the fire did, what is currently unsafe, what is secured. A plan that understates the position is not credible and will not survive an inspection.

What you intend to do. Repair, rebuild, sell to somebody who will do one of those. All three are legitimate; the statute asks for the blight to be addressed rather than for any particular outcome.

The sequence. Secure, assess, design, permit, build. It matters because it shows the plan is real rather than aspirational.

Dates. Roughly when each stage happens. Approximate and honest beats precise and invented.

What is holding it up. An unsettled claim, an incomplete probate, a contractor who cannot start until spring. These are the reasons a reasonable time is longer than it might otherwise be, and they only count if stated.

What Strengthens It

A structural engineer's letter saying what can be retained, because it makes a restoration proposal credible rather than hopeful. A contractor's outline programme. Evidence the building has been secured. Anything showing the claim is live rather than abandoned.

None of these is required. All of them make the difference between a plan somebody can accept and a plan somebody has to take on trust.

Can a Plan to Sell Be Acceptable?

Whether it is acceptable is for the chief executive rather than for us. What we can say is that a plan to sell to a party who will address the condition, with a timescale attached, is a plan addressing the blight, and that stating it in writing is better than treating a sale as a reason not to respond. Silence is what the procedure treats as failure to respond.

What We Do While You Write One

The assessment record. First, for which locality holds the parcel and what mailing address is on file, because that determines whether you would even receive a notice.

The circuit court records. Whether anything is already filed against the property.

The deed. Who is actually on it, which on inherited property is frequently unresolved.

The building. Whether the framing survived, which decides both what a plan should propose and which market the property is in.

What Comes Back

A written figure with each line visible: finished value, cost of the work, carrying cost and margin. Plus what we found in the records and on the assessment file, whether or not you sell to us, because that is information you should have either way.

What If Repairing Beats Selling?

Then the email says so, and in this city it says so often. Repairing is also the answer that most straightforwardly satisfies the statute, so the route that is worth more financially is frequently the route that resolves the process. Where that is the position we would rather establish it on day two than argue toward a number nobody was going to accept.

What Never Happens

No fee at any stage. No request that you clear the site, commission a report or repair anything first. No requirement that your claim be settled. No assignment of the contract to a third party. And we never write to the locality on your behalf or draft your plan for you, because the statute defines it as the owner's document and your engagement is the thing it rewards.

Common Questions About the Process

How Long Does It Take?

Address to written figure is usually a few days. Closing depends on title and on any ownership questions. The insurance claim does not have to be settled first.

Do I Need to Be in Virginia?

No. Out-of-state owners and executors are very common here and remote closing is routine.

A Notice Has Already Arrived.

Then note the date on it, take advice, and tell us at the start. It is workable and it changes the timetable for everybody.

Start With the Address

We will tell you what we would put in a plan for your property. Nothing is owed and nothing is committed.

Get a Number on the PropertyStep 1 of 2 — where is the property?
  1. Address
  2. Damage
  3. The Mail
  4. Contact

Four quick taps. No obligation, no repairs and no fee to you.

We never sell or share your details. Privacy policy.

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