Local Kansas City Relocation Home Buyers
Sell Your House Fast When Relocating in Kansas City
You have a moving date you cannot change and a house that has not sold. Find out what carrying two homes costs, and your options.
What This Page Helps You Figure Out
- Whether a job move qualifies you for a tax exclusion you assume you have lost
- What your employer’s relocation policy may already owe you, before you sell to anyone
- What happens to your insurance the day the house goes empty
- Which route actually fits your dates, including the two that have nothing to do with us
Already moved, or moving in weeks? Call 816-895-2999 and we can start from wherever you are.
Key Takeaways
- Before you sell to anybody, read your employer’s relocation policy. A guaranteed buyout, loss on sale protection or duplicate housing cover will almost always beat what a cash buyer can pay.
- If you have owned the house less than two years, you may still get part of the federal capital gains exclusion. The job move test is not fifty miles away, it is fifty miles farther than your old workplace.
- Moving out before the job change happens can cost you that safe harbor, because it applies only while the house is still your principal residence.
- If you or your spouse are on qualified official extended duty in the uniformed services, the Foreign Service or the intelligence community, the five year clock can be suspended for up to ten years.
- An ordinary homeowners policy usually treats an empty house differently from an occupied one. Read your vacancy clause before the last box leaves.
- A cash offer will be below an open market price. If your timeline has any slack in it at all, listing will usually net you more. See our simple 3-step home selling process.
How do you sell a house fast when relocating out of Kansas City?
If you need to sell house fast relocating for work, the problem is rarely the house. It is that your start date is fixed and a sale is not. Everything on this page is about the gap between those two dates, and about which parts of it somebody else is already obliged to cover.
What actually creates the pressure?
Two dates that do not move and one that does. The start date at the new job does not move. The date the last mortgage payment is due on the old house does not move. The closing date on a sale moves constantly, because it depends on a buyer’s financing, a title examination and a lender’s payoff figure.
That is why a relocation sale feels different from an ordinary one. You are not trying to get the best price in a vacuum. You are trying to land a closing inside a window that somebody else drew.
What is the two payment window, and how long is it really?
It is the period where you are responsible for housing in two places at once: the old mortgage, taxes, insurance and utilities, plus rent or a mortgage at the other end. Nobody can tell you in advance how long it will run, because that depends on when the house sells and on what your employer covers.
What you can do is find out the second part today. Duplicate housing cost reimbursement is a standard provision in corporate relocation policies, and if yours has it, the window may cost you far less than you are assuming. That changes the calculation on everything below, which is why it comes before the options rather than after them.
What does selling a house for job relocation do to your taxes?
There is a federal rule that exists specifically for people in your position, and most people who qualify for it do not know it is there. If you have owned and lived in the house for less than two years, you may still claim part of the capital gains exclusion when the sale is because of a job move. The test is not what people think it is.
What is the fifty mile test, and why do people get it wrong?
The general federal rule is that you need to have owned and used a home as your principal residence for two of the previous five years to claim the full capital gains exclusion. Under Treasury Regulation 1.121-3 there is a reduced version available before then, where the primary reason for the sale is a change in place of employment.
The safe harbor is where almost everyone goes wrong. It is not that your new job must be fifty miles from the house. It is that your new workplace must be at least fifty miles farther from the house you sold than your old workplace was. If you worked twelve miles away and the new job is fifty five miles away, that is only forty three miles farther, and the safe harbor is not met even though the commute is now impossible. The regulation’s own example uses forty six miles farther and fails.
If you had no previous workplace, the new one has to be at least fifty miles from the house. The rule is borrowed from the old moving expense distance test, which is why it is written this way.
Missing the safe harbor is not the end of it. The regulation says plainly that a taxpayer who fails it may still claim the reduced exclusion if, on the facts and circumstances, the primary reason for the sale really was the job change. That is a conversation with a CPA, not a closed door.
The trap: do not move out first
The safe harbor applies only if the change in place of employment happens while you still own and use the house as your principal residence. The regulation has an example of exactly this: a taxpayer moved out, then later took the assignment that would have qualified, and the sale fell outside the safe harbor because the house was no longer her principal residence when the qualifying change occurred.
For somebody relocating, that is the most likely way to lose it, because moving out early is the natural thing to do. Raise it with a CPA before you hand the keys to a property manager or start the drive.
Worked example: how much of the exclusion survives
Assume you bought a Kansas City house and lived in it as your principal residence for fourteen months, then took a job that clears the fifty miles farther test, and sold.
You do not lose the exclusion. You get a proportion of it: the qualifying period divided by twenty four months.
Fourteen divided by twenty four is 58.333 percent.
At the federal maximum that applies at the time of writing, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for a single filer, that is about one hundred and forty five thousand eight hundred and thirty three dollars of gain excluded rather than nothing.
If you are married filing jointly and both of you meet the tests, the same proportion applies to each of you, so roughly two hundred and ninety one thousand six hundred and sixty seven dollars.
Confirm the maximum and the arithmetic with a CPA before relying on it. Congress can change the figure, and the fraction depends on facts about your ownership and use that only your own records settle.
If you are moving on military or government orders
There is a separate and more generous provision, and it matters in this metro because Fort Leavenworth and Whiteman Air Force Base both send people out of Kansas City on orders. Under section 121(d)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code, a member of the uniformed services, the Foreign Service, or an employee of the intelligence community can elect to suspend the running of the five year period while serving on qualified official extended duty.
The suspension is capped at ten years. Qualified official extended duty means extended duty at a duty station at least fifty miles from the property, or living under government orders in government quarters, for more than ninety days or for an indefinite period. The election is made on the return for the year of the sale, and it cannot run on two properties at once.
In practice that means someone who lived in the house for two years and was then posted away for eight can still qualify, where a civilian in the same position would not. If this is your situation, it is worth raising before you accept any offer, because it can change what the sale costs you.
Who buys houses from people relocating out of Kansas City?
Rex Buys KC has been buying houses across Kansas City since 2014, run by Rex Rodenbaugh from an office at 124 Missouri Ave, Ste 202, Kansas City, MO 64106. We work both sides of the state line, which matters on a relocation because the house you are leaving may be in Jackson County and the one you are moving out of may not. Most relocation home buyers want the house empty and clean first. We do not.
The sequence is short and it is built for somebody who is already busy. You send the address and your dates. We look at the house, in person or over a video call if you have already gone. We come back with a number in writing and the reasoning behind it. If your relocation package has a buyout provision, we will tell you to use that instead, because it will almost certainly pay you more.
We are not a brokerage and we do not list houses, which is worth saying because it means we have nothing to gain by being straight with you. If your relocation package includes a guaranteed buyout, take it. If it includes loss on sale protection and your timeline has a few months in it, list the house and let the protection do its job. We are the right answer when the dates are genuinely tight, the house needs work you will not be there to manage, or there is no package at all.
What working with us looks like
- A written offer with the reasoning behind the number
- No repairs, no cleaning, no showings. The house can stay exactly as you left it, boxes included
- We will work to a closing date that fits your move rather than setting one for you
- Remote signing where you have already gone, arranged through the title company
- Ask for evidence we can fund it, and ask the same of anyone else you speak to
- If your employer’s package or a listing serves you better, we say so
Can you complete an out-of-state move and sell your house as-is from there?
Yes, and it is ordinary now. Remote notarization, courier signing and video walkthroughs are all standard, and a house can be sold in the condition it was left in. What needs settling before you go is who can act if a document has to be signed in person.
How does a remote closing actually work?
The title company runs it. Documents are sent to you, notarized where you are, and returned. Depending on the state and the lender, some documents may need a physical original rather than a scan, which is why couriers still exist in this process.
Ask the title company two questions early: which documents need to be notarized, and whether they accept remote online notarization for those documents. The answers vary by company and by which side of the state line the property is on.
Do you need a power of attorney?
Sometimes. A power of attorney lets somebody else sign on your behalf, and title companies and lenders have their own requirements about what form it must take and whether they will accept one at all.
This is a legal instrument with consequences beyond one sale, so it is worth a short conversation with an attorney rather than a template downloaded the week you move. Ask the title company whether they need one before you pay for it: often they do not.
What about the walkthrough?
A video walkthrough is usually enough for a direct buyer to make an offer, and a buyer who insists on nothing more before quoting is worth being cautious about. For a listed sale, showings need somebody local with access, which is one of the practical arguments for selling before you go rather than after.
What does a Kansas City house cost you once you have already left?
More than the mortgage, and in one respect differently. The mortgage, taxes, insurance and utilities continue. What changes on the day the house goes empty is your insurance position, because most ordinary homeowners policies treat a vacant house as a different risk from an occupied one.
What is still running after you go?
The mortgage, the property taxes, the insurance premium, the utilities you cannot fully shut off without risking freezing pipes, and lawn or snow care if the city or an association expects it. None of it stops because the house is empty.
Add whatever you are paying at the other end. That combined figure is the real cost of the gap, and it is the number worth writing down before you decide between waiting for a better price and taking a lower one sooner.
What happens to your insurance when the house is empty?
This is the part people find out about afterwards. Ordinary homeowners policies commonly restrict or exclude cover once a property has been unoccupied or vacant for a stated continuous period, and the two words often mean different things in the same policy. A claim for water damage in an empty house is exactly the sort of claim that gets examined against that clause.
What to do is specific and quick. Find your policy document, look for the vacancy or unoccupancy provision, and call your carrier to tell them the house will be empty and ask what they need. Vacant property cover exists as a separate product. Do not assume your existing policy carries over, and do not rely on what a general article says your policy probably does.
If the house is going to sit empty for a while, vacant house cash offer covers that situation in more depth.
What relocation home sale options do you actually have in Kansas City?
| Option | Best fit | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Use the employer buyout | Anyone whose relocation package contains one. | Normally the best financial outcome available to you and the least work. Read the conditions: many require a marketing period first, and selling outside the program can void the benefit. |
| List with an agent | A house in reasonable order and a timeline with real slack in it. | Usually the highest gross price. You carry commission, seller closing items and repairs after inspection, and you carry the two payment window for however long it takes. Showings need somebody local once you have gone. |
| Sell direct to a cash buyer | Tight dates, a house needing work you will not be there to manage, or no relocation package at all. | Below open market price, and that is the trade for certainty and for not having to be here. Get the offer in writing with the reasoning attached and ask for evidence of funds. |
| Rent it out | An owner who can afford to wait and is willing to become a landlord at distance. | Turns the problem into a different one. Someone has to manage it, city licensing may apply depending on which city it is in, and a later sale carries a different tax position than the one described above. |
| Leave it empty and sell later | Rarely the best option, and it is what happens by default. | You keep every cost above and take on the insurance exposure with it. Empty houses also deteriorate. If this is the plan, at least make it a decision rather than an outcome. |
The parts nobody puts in the relocation email
“I accepted the job before I thought about the house.”
Almost everyone does, because the job decision has a deadline and the house does not feel like it does. It is not a mistake you need to fix by panicking. Work out the two payment window above and what your package covers, and the problem usually gets smaller than it currently feels.
“My partner does not want to move and I have already said yes.”
Then the house is standing in for a conversation that is not about the house. Getting a written number on it can help, because it turns one part of the argument into a fact you can both look at. Do not let a sale timetable force that conversation faster than it can go.
“I cannot afford both payments and I have not told anyone.”
This is the most common version of the fear and it is also the most fixable. Duplicate housing reimbursement exists in many packages. Talk to your relocation administrator this week rather than waiting for the first double month to land.
“The house needs work and I will not be here to manage it.”
Then do not take that on. Managing contractors from another state, at a distance, while starting a new job, is how people end up spending more than the repairs were worth. Selling it as it stands is a legitimate answer, and so is renting it to somebody who will.
“I feel like I am being pushed into a bad price.”
Then slow that part down. A written offer with the reasoning attached should survive being compared against an agent’s opinion and against your package. If a buyer will not put the arithmetic on paper, that tells you something.
“I have already moved and the house is just sitting there.”
Then the insurance point above is the urgent one, ahead of price. Call your carrier this week. After that, everything else on this page still applies and nothing is lost by having waited.
How to sell home fast in a Kansas City relocation, in three steps
| Step | What happens | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Send the address and your dates | Tell us where the house is and when you need to be out. If you have a relocation package, say so, because it may change our advice. | A conversation with nothing attached, and a straight answer about whether we are the right call. |
| 2. We look, remotely if you have gone | Video walkthrough or an in person visit. We do not need the house empty, cleaned or repaired to price it. | A written offer with the reasoning shown, and a plain view of how it compares to your other options. |
| 3. Compare it against your package and decide | Take the number to your relocation administrator and to an agent. If either beats us, use them. | A figure you can hold against your relocation package, with nothing owed if you pass. |
The longer version is in our simple 3-step home selling process.
Get a number you can compare against your relocation package
Written, with the reasoning attached, and nothing owed either way.
Should you sell home fast before moving, or move first?
Selling first is usually cheaper and occasionally impossible. Moving first is usually easier and costs more in ways that are not obvious, including one tax consequence above that catches people who leave before the job change is official.
| What changes | If you sell first | If you move first |
|---|---|---|
| The two payment window | It may not open at all, or only briefly. | It opens on the day you leave and closes when the house sells. |
| The job move tax safe harbor | The change in place of employment happens while the house is still your principal residence, which is what the safe harbor requires. | If you move out before the job change is official, the safe harbor may not apply. |
| Insurance | No vacancy question arises. | The vacancy provision in your policy becomes live. |
| Showings and access | You are here to manage them. | Somebody local has to, or a direct sale removes the need. |
| Your negotiating position | Stronger, because you are not paying for two places while you wait. | Weaker over time, and buyers can often tell. |
| Practical difficulty | Higher. You may need interim housing at the other end. | Lower. This is why most people do it. |
Here is the concession. If your dates have three or four months of slack, the house is in reasonable order, and your package covers the carrying costs, then listing it and waiting will very probably net you more than we will, and we would say so on the phone. The case for a straight purchase with no listing involved is strongest when the dates are tight, the house needs work, or there is no package behind you. If none of that is true, take the extra money.
Where do you buy houses from people leaving the Kansas City metro?
Across the metro, on both sides of the state line. On the Missouri side that means Jackson, Clay, Platte and Cass counties. On the Kansas side, Johnson and Wyandotte.
Missouri: Kansas City, Independence, Blue Springs, Lee’s Summit, Raytown, Gladstone, Parkville, Raymore. Kansas: Overland Park, Lenexa, Shawnee, Olathe, Leavenworth, Kansas City, Kansas.
If you are leaving on orders from Fort Leavenworth or Whiteman Air Force Base, the tax provision above is the first thing to check, before price.
Already relocated and not sure what the house is worth from here? Call 816-895-2999 and we will start from the address.
Call Now: 816-895-2999Local, Direct, Used To Deadlines
Why do people relocating from Kansas City call us?
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You Can Look Us Up Before You Go
124 Missouri Ave, Ste 202, Kansas City, MO 64106, open Monday to Saturday, 8 AM to 9 PM CT. Check the address exists before you send us your dates.
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The History Is Checkable
Rex Rodenbaugh founded the business in 2014 and has run it since. Company records are public, so you do not have to take our word for any of that.
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We Do Not Need You To Be Here
Remote walkthroughs and remote signing through the title company. Plenty of the houses we buy are already empty and their owners are already somewhere else.
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We Will Point You At Your Employer First
If your relocation package has a buyout or loss on sale protection, we will tell you to use it. It pays better than we do and we would rather say so than have you find out afterwards.
Frequently Asked Questions About Selling a House Fast When Relocating
Do I lose the capital gains exclusion if I have owned the house less than two years?
Not necessarily. The general federal rule needs two of the previous five years of ownership and use as a principal residence, but a reduced exclusion exists where the primary reason for the sale is a change in place of employment. The IRS explains the ownership and use tests and the exceptions in IRS Publication 523. Whether you qualify, and for how much, is a CPA question rather than an article question.
How is the fifty mile job move test measured?
As a difference, not a distance. Under 26 CFR 1.121-3 the safe harbor applies where your new workplace is at least fifty miles farther from the house you sold than your old workplace was. A new job fifty five miles away, when the old one was twelve miles away, is only forty three miles farther and fails the safe harbor even though the commute is much worse. Failing the safe harbor does not end it: the facts and circumstances route is still open.
I am moving on military orders. Is there a different rule?
Yes, and it is more generous. Under 26 CFR 1.121-5 a member of the uniformed services, the Foreign Service or the intelligence community can elect to suspend the running of the five year period during qualified official extended duty, for up to ten years. Qualified official extended duty broadly means duty over ninety days at a station at least fifty miles from the property, or living under government orders in government quarters.
Can I complete an out-of-state move and sell the house as-is?
Yes. A direct buyer does not need the house empty, cleaned or repaired, and remote signing through the title company is ordinary. Ask the title company early which documents need notarizing and whether they accept remote online notarization, because that answer varies by company and by which side of the state line the property sits on.
What happens to my homeowners insurance when the house is empty?
It usually changes, and not in your favor. Ordinary policies commonly restrict or exclude cover once a property has been unoccupied or vacant for a continuous period, and those two words can mean different things within the same policy. Find your vacancy provision, call your carrier before the house is empty, and ask what they need. Separate vacant property cover exists.
Who pays the closing costs, and when do I get the money?
Which side pays what is set by the contract and by local practice, and it is one of the things worth comparing between offers rather than assuming. Proceeds are disbursed at closing once the lender payoff and the title work are complete. See the CFPB’s guide to closing on a home for what the documents are and what to check on them.
Should I sell before I move or after?
Before, if you can, for the reasons in the table above: no two payment window, no vacancy question, and the job move tax safe harbor works better when the employment change happens while the house is still your principal residence. Moving first is easier and costs more, which is why most people do it anyway.
How do you make money if you pay less than the house is worth?
The margin has to absorb the repairs, the months of carrying cost while the work is done, and the chance that the work runs over budget, before there is anything left in reselling or renting the property out. That is the whole model and it is why the number is lower. On a relocation, though, the comparison that matters is not us against a listing. It is us against whatever your employer already offers you, and if that includes a buyout it will beat us.
Have another question? Call 816-895-2999
Send the address, even if your dates are still moving
You do not need to have read your relocation policy yet. You do not need to know whether the tax rule applies to you, whether your insurance covers an empty house, or what the place is worth. You do not need it cleaned, emptied or repaired, and you do not need to have decided that selling to us is what you want.
Nothing is owed for asking. You get a number in writing with the reasoning behind it, and something to compare against your employer’s package and against an agent’s opinion. If either of those serves you better, we will say so, and that answer costs you nothing either.