We Buy Fire Damaged Houses

We Buy Fire Damaged Houses in Alabama

Green South House Buyers is a family-owned cash buyer in Fairhope. We buy fire damaged houses across Mobile and Baldwin County exactly as they stand — smoke damage, water damage from the fire crew, partial collapse, or a total loss down to the slab. No repairs, no cleanup, no commission, and you pick the closing date. Call or text (251) 655-1515.

The part nobody explains: the insurance money is the deal

Most pages about fire damaged houses talk about the house. The thing that actually decides what happens is the insurance claim, and it is where most of these sales go wrong.

• If you still have a mortgage, the insurance company usually will not hand you the money. The check is typically made out to you and your lender, and the lender holds the funds in escrow, releasing them in stages as repairs are inspected. Plenty of people discover this only after the fire.
• That escrow is why some owners cannot afford to repair and cannot afford to wait. You are paying a mortgage, paying for somewhere else to live, and the repair money is sitting in an account you do not control.
• Who keeps the claim proceeds is negotiable, and it changes the price. A sale where you keep the insurance payout and we buy the damaged house is a different number from one where the claim is assigned to us. Both are normal. Tell us which you want and we will price it accordingly rather than discovering it late.
• An unrepaired fire claim follows the property. It shows up in the CLUE report, it affects what the next owner can insure, and retail buyers with a mortgage usually cannot get a loan on a fire damaged house at all — which is why these houses sit on the open market.

We are not insurance adjusters and this is not legal or insurance advice. Talk to your adjuster and, if there is a dispute, a public adjuster or an attorney. What we can tell you is how the sale side usually works, because we have been through it.

What condition we will take it in

• Smoke and soot only. Often the worst-smelling and least structurally serious. Smoke gets into framing, ductwork and insulation and the smell is very hard to remove properly.
• Kitchen or single-room fires with smoke through the rest of the house.
• Roof and attic fires, including where the fire department cut the roof open and the house has been open to Gulf Coast weather since.
• Water and mould damage from putting the fire out. In this climate mould can take hold within days, and it frequently costs more to remediate than the fire damage itself.
• Total losses. If the structure is gone, we are buying the lot, and we deal with demolition and debris removal.
• Houses that have already been condemned or red-tagged by the city. See selling a condemned house in Mobile.

Why fire damaged houses are hard to sell here specifically

Mobile County’s median home is worth $193,300 and the median listing takes 63 days to go pending or come off the market (U.S. Census Bureau 2020-2024; Realtor.com via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, August 2026). On a house in that value range, a serious fire repair can easily cost a third to half of what the finished house is worth — and the buyer who would pay retail cannot get a mortgage on it in its current state.

That leaves cash buyers, and in this market most of them will not take on a fire. We will.

What we need to know

Four things, and rough answers are fine:

1. When was the fire and what started it? Age matters because of weather exposure and mould.
2. Is there an open insurance claim, and has anything been paid out?
3. Is there a mortgage, and is the lender holding the proceeds?
4. Has the city been involved — condemnation, a red tag, or a demolition order?

You do not need photos, an estimate, or a repair quote. We come and look.

Where we buy fire damaged property

Across the city of Mobile and Mobile County, throughout Baldwin County, and along the Florida Panhandle. We also buy fire damaged houses in Mobile specifically, and we buy houses damaged by storms, water and neglect on the same terms.

Questions we get about fire damaged houses

Can I keep the insurance money and still sell you the house?

Usually yes, and it is a common arrangement. You keep the claim proceeds and we buy the house in its damaged condition, priced accordingly. The alternative is assigning the claim to us for a higher purchase price. Neither is a trick — they are just two different deals, and you should pick the one that leaves you better off.

My mortgage company is holding the insurance check. Can I still sell?

Yes. At closing the mortgage is paid off, and the escrowed funds are dealt with as part of that payoff. It is more paperwork than an ordinary sale and it is why these closings sometimes run past seven days. We will tell you what is outstanding rather than letting the date slip quietly.

Do I have to clean out or secure the house first?

No. Leave it exactly as it is. Do not spend money on board-up, debris removal or a cleaning crew before talking to us — that money rarely comes back in the price.

The house is a total loss. Is the lot worth anything?

Often yes, and more than people assume, particularly in Mobile where the lot may be worth a meaningful share of the finished value. We buy the lot and handle demolition and debris.

How fast can you close?

About seven days once title is clear and the insurance and lender position is understood. An open claim with escrowed funds takes longer.

Will you lower the price after you have seen it?

Not if you have told us the truth about the damage. The reason we ask about the fire, the claim and the lender up front is so the number is right the first time. Renegotiating late is the standard complaint about cash buyers and we do not work that way.

Are there fees or commissions?

None, and we cover the normal closing costs.

Get an offer on your fire damaged house

Call or text (251) 655-1515, or send us the address and what happened. No obligation, and a straight answer about what it is worth as it stands.