We Buy Houses in Cumberland County

Matthew, then Florence

Cumberland County flooded badly in October 2016 when Matthew's rainfall pushed the Cape Fear River and its tributaries over their banks. Two years later, in September 2018, Florence did it again — and a number of houses took water both times.

Repeat flood history is close to disqualifying for a conventional sale. Insurance becomes expensive or unavailable, and without insurance there is no mortgage. For a house in a mapped flood zone, substantial-improvement rules can also require a heavily repaired structure to be brought up to current floodplain standards, which can mean elevating it. That is why so many of these houses were never fully repaired. We buy at any stage.

Fort Bragg and absentee ownership

Fort Bragg moves a very large number of households through Cumberland County, and the familiar pattern follows at scale: a house bought during one assignment, kept and rented after orders came, and managed from another state or overseas for years.

Those rentals are frequently in worse condition than the last management report suggested, and supervising a renovation at a distance is impractical. We buy them occupied or vacant, and the whole sale can be handled remotely — the closing attorney arranges signing before a notary wherever you are and wires the proceeds.

The housing stock

Fayetteville has substantial post-war and mid-century housing built in waves as the post expanded, plus older neighborhoods near downtown and newer subdivisions further out. A high share of it is rental.

The repair list runs to crawlspace moisture and rot, roofs at the end of their life or patched after storms, galvanized and cast iron plumbing, aluminium branch wiring in the later houses, original panels, and HVAC past its life. Termites are a real consideration this far east and south.

Cumberland County property we buy

• Houses with Matthew or Florence flood history, repaired or not
• Properties that flooded more than once
• Military rentals owned from out of state or overseas
• Rentals with tenants in place, paying or in arrears
• Vacant rentals between tenants needing turnover work
• Post-war and mid-century houses with original systems
• Crawlspace rot, moisture, and termite damage
• Vacant houses with open minimum housing or code cases

Records and closing in Cumberland

Fayetteville is the county seat. Deeds, deeds of trust, and cancellations are recorded with the Cumberland County Register of Deeds, and foreclosure hearings and estate files run through the clerk of superior court. The county sets value at 100 percent of market and the tax administration office bills it.

A licensed North Carolina attorney handles the closing. If there is an open flood insurance claim, tell us what was claimed, what was paid, and what the lender is holding — how remaining proceeds are handled is a contract term.

Frequently asked questions