Selling Your Home to a Real Estate Investor

You only have to drive around your town for a little while to come upon “We Buy Houses” type signs plastered all around on telephone poles or street signs. The signs let you know that there is a company out there that will buy your home, no matter what state it’s in. These Investors who are looking to flip your house for a profit. House flipping has become a lucrative business model for a number of real estate investors.

By definition, house flipping is where a real estate investor purchases a property for less than its value, makes any necessary repairs and updates, and then sells the home for a profit typically within a short period of time.

House Flipping Companies – Pros And Cons

Pros of selling to a house flipping company

1. It’s easy.

Selling a home that needs work can be challenging if you want to get the best possible price. With a house flipping company, you avoid the difficulty of trying to sell for a good price. Instead, you sell to a company that will buy your house for the lowest price it can get away with. In exchange for taking a low price, you can quickly free yourself of the burden of owning the home. If you are in desperation mode this is often times your best bet. Selling to a real estate investor can get you out from under a problem very quickly.

2. You only have to make one decision.

Your only decision when selling to a house flipping company is to sell, or not to sell. You won’t have to decide what repairs to make or who you want to sell to. You will get an offer and make a single decision. After that, you are free of the home. Most often a house flipping company will be paying cash and there can be a quick closing if this is what you are after.

3. You don’t have to find a real estate agent.

Finding a good real estate agent can take a little bit of effort. You may have to interview several to find someone you are really comfortable with. You also don’t have to worry about disagreeing with your real estate agent once you hire one, which can happen. You are going solo.

4. You don’t have to waste your time going for sale by owner.

Trying to sell your home as a for sale by owner can be extremely challenging, to say the least. While the goal for most owners is to save on paying a real estate commission, it is a lot of work to accomplish this. For sale by owners need to keep in mind the following:

• You need to have some good marketing skills to make sure your home is found online. This is where the vast majority of buyers will be searching for a home.
• The photography on your home needs to be excellent.
• You must make yourself available for showings which may mean times of the day where it is not convenient for you.
• The buyer needs to be qualified for a mortgage so it will be your job to make sure this is the case. Make sure you understand the difference between pre-qualified vs pre-approved.
• There will be nobody there to represent you at vital stages of the home selling process such as the buyers home inspection.

When you sell to we buy houses company all of the headaches associated with selling as a for sale by owner are avoided.

5. You can probably sell no matter what shape your home is in.

A home can deteriorate considerably over a long time period, especially if regular maintenance is not conducted and repairs are not made as necessary to keep all components of the house in good working order. You may have a home that you want to sell that is virtually uninhabitable. But even in this state, there is probably a company that will still buy it. Not for very much money, but someone will still purchase it if just to obtain the lot that the house sits on.

Cons of selling to a house flipping company

1. You will probably make less on the sale.

When you hire a real estate agent, he or she is working to make you as much money as possible from your sale but it will take longer and requires more work and time from your side. Hiring a Realtor since it takes longer means that seller would have to pay for all the house related expenses while is sold. It is true that the Realtor takes a percentage of the sale price as financial compensation, so he or she is motivated to fetch the best price but at the end you could be getting less money. 

2. You don’t have the option of improving the home to improve the selling price.

Even homes that are in relatively bad shape can often be improved to attract better quality buyers. In fact, that is probably what the house flipping company is planning on doing with your home.

They will buy it, fix it up, sell it and make a profit. When you sell with a real estate agent, you get to make the improvements and reap the rewards. However we must make the distinction between fixing or repairing and improvements. When the property needs things to be fixed that takes time and money and maybe it will payoff. On the other hand and depending on what types of improvements the house needs usually seller would never recover the amount of time and money invested on improving the house. 

There are things you can do to a home that does not cost a lot of money that many owners don’t realize. Here is a how to make your home more appealing when on a budget.

3. You give up control.

A house flipping company is focused on finding sellers who are desperate or just don’t care anymore. If you do care and you are not desperate – you just want to sell the house – there is no reason to work with a flipping company. You wind up working with a company that does not have your best interests in mind.

House flipping companies are not necessarily bad. They fill a niche and are capable of helping homeowners who have no other options. For those with no options, getting paid to get out from under the home is an opportunity worth taking. But if you think that maybe you could get more for the home, a house flipping company is not the partner you want.

As you can see there are many pros and cons of we buy houses flipping companies. What you really need to be concerned about are the scammers!

House Flipping Risks

While many “We Buy Houses” flipping companies are completely legit, there are some that are not. Selling to a real estate investor is something that requires some due diligence on your part. It is imperative that you do careful research when dealing with a house flipping company.

There are some common house flipping scams that all sellers should be aware of. The preceding link does an excellent job of summarizing many of the known scams out there. Just be careful and make sure none of these things mentioned are happening to you!

One thing you should know is that there are a few legit ones “We Buy Houses” companies out there and one of them is PHP Houses. 

You should put extra scrutiny into any of these companies. Calling a house flipping company from a sign on a telephone pole and establishing a relationship with them without any research could end up being financial suicide.

Find a company where the investors are also Real Estate Agents and/or Brokers Before Choosing A House Flipping Company. Real Estate Agents and Brokers are liable to the State Professional Regulation Departments and the local Realtors Association for every transaction they make and usually know the legalities and markets better.

Depending on your circumstances, a house flipping company may be the best option for you. However, it is worth speaking to a Realtor first. As long as you are talking to a reputable real estate agent, he or she can give you quality advice on your options for selling the home.

The Investor/Real Estate Agent can come by and take a look, analyze your local market and give you a clear picture of what you can make off of your home – with or without repairs.

Talk to a trusted investor/real estate agent, then decides how to move forward. Maybe a house flipping company will serve your needs. Or, you may discover that you can make a lot more money by hiring an agent and selling your home.