Day One: The Form
Address, damage, and where you are with the insurance claim. That last question is the one other buyers do not ask, and it is on the form because in Georgia a claim can sit dormant for months without anything having legally started. If your answer is that nothing has moved, that is worth a sentence on the call.
Day Two: A Short Call, Two Questions
The call is brief and it is mostly two questions.
Is the property actually inside the City of Atlanta? A great many people in this metro are wrong about this, because postal addresses carry city names for property outside those cities. It decides whether the tree ordinance applies at all, which decides how long any clearance takes.
Crawlspace, piers or slab? If you do not know, we can usually tell from photographs. It decides how confidently anything else can be priced, because a crawlspace can be inspected and a slab cannot.
Why Do Those Two Questions Come Before the Fire Damage?
Days Three to Five: The Records
Public and mostly free, which is why we tell you how to check them yourself.
The county tax assessor for the parcel, the jurisdiction and the build year. The Clerk of Superior Court for the deed, the ownership of record and any lien — in the right county, since Atlanta spans Fulton and DeKalb. The city or county for permit history and any historic designation. And, where clearing the lot is a plausible route inside the city limits, what the tree position looks like.
End of the Week: The Figure
Written, with each line showing. Finished value, cost of getting there, clearance including the tree process where that applies, carrying cost, margin.
What If the Figure Says Keep the House?
The Two Things That Decide the Rest
Who can sign. A living sole owner with clean title moves in weeks. An estate that has never been through probate does not, and that is months. This is the single largest determinant of your timeline and it is worth starting even if you have not decided whether to sell.
Whether clearance is the route. If the house is restorable, the tree ordinance never enters the picture. If it is not, and the property is inside the city limits, the arborist meeting and the two posting periods are calendar time nobody can compress.
What Does Not Happen
No fee at any stage. No request that you board the property, clear the lot, hold an arborist meeting or make any repair first — those are our costs and pricing them is the job. No requirement that your claim be settled. No assignment of the contract to someone else. And nothing asked of you that involves withholding information from a buyer, which matters in a state where an as-is clause is no defence to a concealment claim.
Compare figures if you want to. The checks on our page about how to tell local cash buyers apart apply to us as much as to anyone, and the claim position is on our page covering Georgia disclosure and claim requirements.
Common Questions About the Process
What If I Do Not Know the Answers on the Call?
Then we look them up. None of it is secret and most of it is free to search. The questions are asked because your answer saves a day, not because you are expected to have it.
Do I Need to Be in Georgia?
No. Out-of-state owners are common on inherited property and remote signing through the closing attorney is routine.
Can I Stop at Any Point?
Yes, and nothing happens. There is no fee, no cancellation charge and no obligation until contracts are signed.