Assisted Living and Downsizing
We Buy Houses When a Parent Moves Into Care
No repairs. No agent commissions. No showings. We buy the family house in Washington as it stands, contents included, on a date that fits the move rather than the market, and we can advance part of the price before closing when the facility wants its deposit first.
- Cash offer in 24 hours
- Close in 7 days
- Sell as-is, any condition
- $0 fees or commissions
- You pick the closing date
- Up to $20,000 cash advance
- 24 hrsto a fair cash offer
- 7 daysto close, if you want
- $0fees or commissions
- 4.8Google rating, 21 reviews
The Short Version
Can I sell my parent's house to pay for assisted living in Washington?
Yes, and the fastest way is to sell it as-is to a local cash home buyer rather than clearing it out and listing it while you are also managing a move. We Buy PNW Homes has bought Washington houses direct from families since 2020, a good number of them from a son or daughter standing in a kitchen that has not changed since 1985. We look at the house once, hand you a written offer inside 24 hours, and can close in as little as 7 days at a title office in your parent's county. Nothing to repair, nothing to empty, no commission taken out of the money the care is going to need. Call (253) 254-6366, or send us the address and we will start today.
Who signs is the first question, and Washington answers it plainly. A power of attorney that covers real estate lets you sign the sale for your parent, as long as they signed it while they still could and it was notarized or witnessed by two people who are not family and not staff where they live. The title company records it with the deed. If there is no power of attorney and your parent can no longer make decisions, the route runs through the superior court, which appoints a conservator and approves the sale separately. We work with either path, and we will wait on the court if that is where you are.
The second question is timing, because assisted living runs around $7,000 a month in Washington and most facilities want a move-in fee and the first month before the house has sold. That is the wrong order for most families, and it is the reason we offer up to $20,000 in advance to qualified sellers once the purchase agreement is signed. The deposit gets paid, your parent moves, and the house closes on the date you name.
Where You Are Right Now
The Four Ways This Usually Reaches Us
Sometimes the call comes from a daughter with a power of attorney and a move-in date. Sometimes it comes from the owner, who has decided the house is bigger than the life in it now. These are the four we hear most.
The Facility Wants Its Deposit First
There's a room, a move-in date, and a fee due before the house has sold. We can close in 7 days, and for qualified sellers we can advance up to $20,000 before closing so the move doesn't wait on the sale.
You're Signing With a Power of Attorney
Your parent can't manage the sale, and you hold the paperwork. We've closed with powers of attorney before. The title company reviews it early, so you learn on day two whether it covers the sale rather than the week you're meant to close.
Nobody Has Authority to Sell Yet
No power of attorney, and a parent who can no longer decide. That means asking the court for a conservator, and the court approving the sale. It takes time, so we'll put a number in writing now and hold the offer while you get there.
They've Moved, and the House Sits Full
Your parent is settled in care and the house is exactly as they left it, sixty years of belongings included. Take what matters to the family. Leave everything else where it is, and we clear it after closing.
How It Works
Sell the House in 3 Simple Steps
Nothing here commits you or your parent to anything. Get a number, take it to your siblings and to whoever is advising the family, and decide together. We would rather you made the right call than a fast one.
Step 1: Tell Us About the House
Call (253) 254-6366 or fill in the offer form. We will ask about the house, who has authority to sign, and whether there is a move-in date the sale needs to work around.
Step 2: Get a Fair Cash Offer in 24 Hours
We price the house on what it is worth in its current condition, contents and all. No inspection to schedule, no appraisal to wait on, and nothing the family has to spend before the house sells.
Step 3: Close When the Move Is Ready
You pick the date. If the facility needs money first, the advance covers the gap. If the court needs to approve the sale, we wait. Everything closes through a neutral title company in the county where the house sits.
Straight Answers
Questions Families Ask Us Every Week
Can I sell my parent's house if they can't sign for themselves?
Yes, with the right paperwork. A power of attorney that covers real estate lets you sign in their place, provided your parent signed and dated it while they were still able and it was either notarized or witnessed by two qualified people. If there is no power of attorney and your parent has lost the ability to decide, a family member asks the superior court to appoint a conservator, and the court has to approve the sale separately. That is a longer road, and it is worth an elder law attorney's time. We have worked with both.
Does the power of attorney need to be recorded?
The title company records it with the county alongside the deed, and they review it before closing to make sure it actually covers a sale. Send it to us early. If something about it is stale or unclear, you want to hear that on day two rather than the day you are supposed to close.
Will selling the house affect Medicaid or Apple Health?
It can, and this is the question to ask before you sell rather than after. While your parent lives in the house, or intends to return to it, or a spouse lives there, Washington usually does not count it against them. The cash from a sale is counted, unless it goes into another home within about three months. The state also looks back five years at anything given away for less than it was worth, so do not transfer the house to a family member to get around this. An elder law attorney can tell you what the sale does to your parent's eligibility, and an hour with one is cheap next to getting it wrong.
Can the state take the house later to pay for care?
If Apple Health pays for long-term care after age 55, Washington can claim those costs from the estate after your parent passes, and the house is usually the estate. It cannot do that while a surviving spouse or a dependent child is living. This is general information rather than advice, and it is another reason to talk to an elder law attorney before deciding whether to sell now or later.
How fast can you close if the facility needs a deposit?
We can close in as little as seven days. If that is still too slow, we offer up to $20,000 in advance to qualified sellers once the purchase agreement is signed, so the move-in fee and the first month can be paid before the house closes. Tell us the move-in date and we will work backward from it.
Do we have to empty the house first?
No, and this is the part families are most relieved to hear. Take the photographs, the papers and whatever your parent wants in their new room. Everything else can stay exactly where it is, including the furniture, the garage and the closets nobody has opened in years. We handle it after closing.
What about taxes if we sell while our parent is alive?
For most people the first $250,000 of gain on their home is tax-free, or $500,000 for a married couple, as long as they lived in it two of the last five years. Time spent in a licensed care facility can count toward those two years if your parent lived at home for at least a year first. If the house is sold after your parent passes instead, the cost basis generally resets to its value at death. That is general information, not advice, and it is worth a CPA's time before anything is signed.
Our parent has already passed. Is this still the right page?
Probably not, and the difference matters. Once a parent has died the house belongs to the estate, and selling it usually runs through probate. Our page on selling an inherited house covers how that works in Washington, including selling before the estate closes.
What if I am the one downsizing?
Then everything above applies to you, without the power of attorney. You pick the closing date, you take what you want to the next place, and the rest stays for us. There is no listing, no showings, and no Sunday afternoons with strangers walking through your house.
Where We Buy
We Help Families Across Washington
The house closes in the county where it sits, and you can sign from wherever you are, including from the parking lot of the facility. These are the areas we work in most.
Do not see your town on the list? We buy houses across all of Washington, and the list below is where we work most often rather than where we stop. Call (253) 254-6366 and ask.
Puget SoundKing County
South SoundKing · Pierce · Thurston Counties
North SoundSnohomish · Whatcom Counties
Southwest WashingtonClark · Cowlitz Counties
Don't see your city? We buy right along the I-5 corridor, well beyond the cities listed here. Send us the address and we'll tell you the same day.
The move first, the house on your schedule
Get a Fair Cash Offer on the House in 24 Hours
No obligation and no fees. Take the number to your family and to whoever is advising you. Even if you decide to keep the house, you will know what it is worth in cash.