Selling Your House Quickly

There are numerous companies around– much more since the subprime mortgage snafu and subsequent slump in housing values– which offer to pay you cash immediately for your home, and the majority of these operations are legitimate. When you deal with one of these investors you can expect a speedy transaction, but with one downside: they pay considerably less for your home than an ordinary homebuyer (around 50 to 70 cents on the dollar, or the just value of your equity). But one of these businesses may be well suited to your family during the current housing decline.

Reasons Sellers Use A Home Buying Operation

Selling your home can be a tedious and costly procedure. Most sellers repair and improve their homes (such as re-flooring and -painting) in order to increase the value of their house before putting it on the market; but other sellers simply wish to sell their property as quickly as possible for myriad reasons: they may have back taxes, inherited the home, taken another job in a different city or state, come close to foreclosure, and so on. In such circumstances using one of these operations– which typically buy your home as is, regardless of condition– may be their best option, despite a lower offer from these investors.

What Home Buyers Do With Your Property

So why do these investors offer much less for your home? One reason is convenience. Representatives for one of these businesses will come out to your home to assess the value and contact you within days with an offer, an I-know-my-house-is-worth-more-than-this-why-so-low offer, which you can and should haggle. The second factor is the cost of maintenance, utilities, renovations, and finally promotion the house once it’s ready for market. Home buying businesses will then turn around and either rent or resell the property. Said businesses focus on starter and rental homes (around the $100,000 range) in older neighborhoods, generally; but with the current condition of the market many so-called opportunity investors have thrown their collective hat in the ring and are willing to take on more expensive homes.

Be sure that you first check with the Better Business Bureau and then negotiate with home buying operations to ensure you have the best possible experience, if your circumstances call for it, but if your situation is less dire then an intelligent option would be to re-list your home for around 60 days at a price somewhere between your intended asking price and what the home buyers offer; and then wait and see (that is, if you have time) if there are any ensuing offers.

Additional Resources

• How To Prepare Your House For Sale
• Dump This House! How to Sell Your Home Fast