Straight answers, including the inconvenient ones.

We start from three recent comparable sales as close to your property as we can get, subtract what the house needs based on what we have actually paid contractors in Chicago this year, and account for anything sitting on title. Most offers land somewhere between 78 and 90 percent of what a renovated house on your block sells for. You see all three inputs, so you can check the arithmetic instead of taking our word for it.

Within reason, yes. If you have information we do not, a roof that was replaced two years ago, a comparable sale we missed, a mechanical system that is newer than it looks, bring it and the number can move. What will not move it is simply asking for more, because the offer is not padded to leave room for that.

Usually seven to fourteen days, because the comps and our repair costs both move. If it expires and you come back later, we will re-run it rather than pretend the old number still holds.

No. There is no fee for the offer, no fee if you decline it, and no obligation created by accepting a walkthrough.

None. No commission, no listing fee, no administrative fee. We pay title insurance and the title company's fees, the survey if the municipality requires one, recording fees, and the seller side and transfer stamps. What still comes out of the proceeds is anything you owe: mortgage payoff, liens, prorated property taxes, unpaid water, and HOA or condo assessments through the closing date.

Seven business days is realistic once title comes back clean, and fourteen is typical. Title is almost always the limiting factor, not us. If you need ninety days, we hold the date.

Yes, and you should insist on it. Illinois residential closings normally involve attorneys on both sides, and we are the buyer with our own interests. In Indiana the title company usually runs the closing and an attorney is not customary, which is a reason to bring one rather than a reason to skip it. If you do not have one we will hand you three names and you pick, or you find your own. We will not use our attorney to represent you.

In Illinois three taxes stack: 50 cents per $500 to the State of Illinois and 25 cents per $500 to your county, both the seller's, plus whatever your municipality charges. Inside Chicago that municipal layer is $3.75 per $500 on the buyer and $1.50 per $500 on the seller. We cover the seller side on every house we buy. Work yours out with the calculator.

Indiana has no real estate transfer tax at all. On a Lake or Porter County house the only filing cost at transfer is the $20 sales disclosure form fee, and that is the buyer's, so this is one line item a northwest Indiana seller can stop worrying about.

At a local title company, and funds are wired the same day. If you are out of state or out of the country, closings happen by mail or with a remote notarization where Illinois permits it.

Nothing. Not a repair, not a paint touch up, not a cleanout. Take what you want and leave the rest, furniture and boxes included. We handle hauling. If there is something you want set aside rather than removed, tell us and we will keep it separate.

No. We inspect once, before we make the offer, and there is no inspection contingency. If we missed something, that is our cost, not a renegotiation. Anyone who has had a retail deal collapse in the inspection period knows what that is worth.

Yes, month to month, on a lease, or with a tenant who has stopped paying. You do not serve notice and you do not deliver the building vacant. Inside Chicago we take on the security deposit, deposit interest, and notice obligations under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance at closing.

We read the 22.1 disclosure and the association's financials and underwrite what we find. A special assessment or a thin reserve balance is a reason retail buyers walk. For us it is a line in the spreadsheet.

Almost certainly not. Illinois foreclosure is judicial, so the lender has to go through a courtroom, and in Cook County cases routinely run more than a year. Up until the judicial sale is confirmed there is usually a path. The earlier you call, the more of your equity survives. More on foreclosure.

Cook County sells the tax debt, not the house. A tax buyer paid your bill and holds a certificate, and there is a redemption deadline. If it expires, the buyer can petition for a deed and you lose the property and the equity. The redemption gets paid at closing out of the proceeds, so nothing comes out of your pocket first. More on tax delinquency.

Usually yes, but it depends on who has authority to sign the deed. That often means an estate has to be opened and letters of office issued through the Probate Division at the Daley Center. We can go under contract before that happens and make closing contingent on it. More on inherited property.

Bring the paperwork. Violations follow the property, so they get priced into the offer and we handle the remediation after closing. An open case does not stop a sale, though it does have to be disclosed. More on violations.

We buy for our own account. If a partner is going to be involved in a particular closing, you will know that before you sign rather than at the closing table.

No. Sold House LLC is not a licensed brokerage and we do not represent buyers or sellers. When you sell to us, we are the buyer.

No, and we will tell you when it is not. If the house shows well, sits in a neighborhood where retail buyers compete, and you can wait sixty to ninety days for the money without it hurting, listing with a good agent usually nets more. We run that comparison for you and hand you agent names when listing wins.

Fair question. You should not trust anybody on a website. What you can do is call, ask us to explain how we got to the number, ask for the comps in writing, and have your own attorney read anything before you sign it. If a buyer resists any of those three things, that is your answer.