Recently we have seen alot of claims from companies that say we buy houses for cash. These are usually online companies that buy houses with their own funds, then either do up the property or sell it on. Our interest in this subject came about after one of our longstanding models had to sell her home due to the coronavirus. She said she had a nightmare with one of these companies, and we messed about for several weeks before she realised that they were not the real deal. This caused the model huge delays in selling her home, which ultimately cost her money and time having to deal with them. We decided to investigate some of these companies to see exactly what they were offering and to see if they are all created equally (spoiler alert – they are not).
We Buy Houses For Cash
This is a particularly hot topic, especially online, where companies claim that they can get you a fast sale of your home and get you a fair price. Sometimes these companies even state that you can sell your home in as little as one week. For people who are desperate during these tough times thanks to coronavirus, this offer seems very appealing and one that might be able to help people in need of a quick solution to their money problems. What we found is that there are certainly some legitimate companies that work under the premise of we buy houses for cash, and these companies are a great example of how it should be done. However, there are a lot of companies that are leeching off of the reputation of other organisations, and making claims that they cannot back up.
How Does It Work?
Generally these services all seem to work in a similar way. Firstly, you give them your house details and address. They then look at the housing prices in your area to give you a rough idea of how much your house is worth. If you like this initial offering, you can choose to take it to the next step which usually involves a survey from a property expert. This process is usually done by either an independent estate agent, or several, or the companies own surveyors. This is the step which will produce a home report that will determine the rough value of your home, the price that you would usually expect to list your home for on the open market. The buy fast companies usually pay around 80% of the actual market value of your home, and since they are getting you a fast sale with no fees, that is how the price is justified.
Pros and Cons
Let’s look at the pros and cons of using this service, and see if it is worth using to sell a home. First up the pros:
PROS
Sell very quickly – sometimes in as little as a week
No fees – these are taken care of by the company
No hassle – no viewings, no waiting,
CONS
Final sale price is less – usually around 80% of the actual value
