Sell your house fast in Bristol, RI
I Buy Rhode Island Houses buys Bristol houses for cash, in any condition, historic district included. We're a family-owned Rhode Island buyer, and we've been at it since 1975.
Get a cash offer on your house
Start with the property address. The whole thing takes about a minute.
There's no obligation, and you don't pay a commission when you sell to us.
Thanks, Maria. We've got it.
We'll call you from 401-267-1400 shortly. If you'd rather talk now, give us a call.
We buy houses in Bristol
I Buy Rhode Island Houses buys Bristol houses for cash and as-is, and we can close in as little as 7 days or on a date you choose. The town's Historic District Commission oversees 619 properties, most of them downtown, and repairs, alterations or demolition there need the commission's certificate even when no building permit is required.
We buy single-families, two- and three-families and old houses that need more work than a retail buyer wants, anywhere in town. You don't fix, clean or show anything, and we cover the closing costs. We've been buying Rhode Island houses since 1975, more than 3,000 of them, as a family business owned by JB Jackson and his wife, Robin Adams. We pay with our own money, and we're lifelong Rhode Islanders rather than a franchise.
Bristol villages and neighborhoods we buy in
Bristol at a glance
- County
- Bristol County
- Probate court
- Bristol Probate Court, at Town Hall
- Residential tax rate (FY2026)
- $10.61 per $1,000
- Properties under the Historic District Commission
- 619
- Public sewer
- Most of town, but not Poppasquash
- Homes in 2- to 4-unit buildings
- 22.2%
Sources: RI Division of Municipal Finance, Town of Bristol (probate court, historic district and the 2016 comprehensive plan), U.S. Census Bureau (2020 Census and ACS 2020-2024).
Houses we see in Bristol
Bristol's historic district, its sewer rules and its shoreline each shape what selling a house here involves, and I Buy Rhode Island Houses buys houses with any of them, as they are.
- The Historic District Commission, created in 1987, reviews exterior work on its 619 properties, including 35 individually designated buildings. Interior work and paint colors aren't reviewed. A denied application can't come back unchanged for a year, and an approval expires after a year if the work hasn't started. Sell to us as-is and you skip that process, since any work happens after we own the house.
- Almost 28% of Bristol homes were built before 1940, and 22.2% of units are in two- to four-unit buildings, close to the statewide 22.1%. Rentals built before 1978 generally need a lead certificate, but Rhode Island gives a new owner time to bring one into compliance, so a rental can be sold before it's certified.
- Most of Bristol is on public sewer, and tying a sump pump into it is illegal. The town reimburses up to $1,000 per property to disconnect one. Poppasquash has no public water or sewer, which is why the town keeps two-acre minimum lots there, and we buy houses on a well and septic system too.
- Bristol is in FEMA's Community Rating System at class 7, which takes 15% off flood insurance on policies in the special flood hazard area. The town will tell you for free whether a property appears to sit in a FEMA flood zone, and it can supply elevation certificates for buildings put up in the floodplain since 2004. If you aren't sure where your house stands, that's the quickest way to find out.
How selling your Bristol house to us works
Tell us about the house
Fill out the form or call 401-267-1400 with the address. If the house is in the historic district or has tenants, mention it, and tell us when you'd like to close.
Get a written cash offer
I Buy Rhode Island Houses walks through the Bristol house with you, inside and out, and then sends a cash offer in writing. There's no obligation, so take your time with it.
Close on your date
A Rhode Island title company or attorney's office handles the Bristol closing, as soon as 7 days out or later if you'd rather. How selling to us works goes through each step.
What Bristol sellers call us about
Selling a house in Bristol: common questions
Do you buy houses in the Bristol Historic District?
Yes. Most of the properties under Bristol's Historic District Commission are in that district, and I Buy Rhode Island Houses buys them as they are. You don't need a Certificate of Appropriateness or any exterior repairs before you sell. Exterior work after closing goes through the commission on our end.
Which parts of Bristol do you buy in?
All of them. I Buy Rhode Island Houses buys downtown, in the Highlands and on Poppasquash, and in Mount Hope, Hopeworth, the Narrows, Kickemuit and the Wood Street neighborhood.
My Bristol house is in a flood zone. Will you still buy it?
Yes. Bristol's comprehensive plan calls it a low-lying coastal community vulnerable to sea level rise, and the town says periodic flooding is increasing in parts of the waterfront historic district. FEMA has 208 flood insurance claims on record in town from 1978 to 2023, 70 of them from the March 2010 nor'easter. I Buy Rhode Island Houses buys houses in the flood zone as they are, water damage included.
I inherited a house in Bristol. Can I sell before probate is finished?
Often, yes. Bristol Probate Court has its own judge and usually meets at 9:15 a.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month in the Conference Room at Town Hall, 10 Court Street. A matter that needs a newspaper notice is advertised three times in the Thursday Bristol Phoenix before the hearing. Once the executor has authority to sell, from the will or a license from that court, I Buy Rhode Island Houses can close, and we can make an offer before then. How selling a house in probate works.
Can you buy my Bristol two-family with the tenants still in it?
Yes. Selling doesn't end the leases. For a building with up to four units, Rhode Island law has the buyer step into the same rights and responsibilities toward the tenants that you had, and security deposits are usually credited to the buyer at closing. I Buy Rhode Island Houses buys two- and three-families in Bristol with the tenants in place.
Will I get less selling to you than listing?
Usually, yes. An offer from I Buy Rhode Island Houses comes in below a full retail sale, in exchange for a quick, certain closing with no repairs, showings or commission. If your Bristol house is in good shape and you have time, listing it may net you more. If it needs exterior work the Historic District Commission would have to approve first, a cash sale lets you skip that. Cash offer or realtor.
We also buy houses near Bristol
Want an offer on your Bristol house?
Fill out the form at the top of the page or call I Buy Rhode Island Houses at 401-267-1400. Historic district or not, the offer comes in writing.
