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6 Advantages for Selling Your House to an Investor
If you’re planning to sell your house, you probably first think of listing your home with a Realtor who will help you put it on the market. But this method can be time-consuming and more expensive than you realize. Fortunately it isn’t your only option. You could also consider selling to a home investor.
The benefits of selling a house for cash to an investment company make it the best solution for many people in various situations, but is it right for you? How do you know if you should sell your house to an investor or list with a realtor? While we can’t answer those questions for you, considering the differences may help you decide.
Selling a House The Traditional Way
Before listing your home for sale with a realtor you may need to make necessary improvements, investing money in repairs and sprucing up the property’s curb appeal. After making the repairs and listing your home, may languish on the market for months. Meanwhile, you still pay for your mortgage, utilities, and home insurance. When you get an offer, your prospective buyer is unlikely to pay your full asking price. He or she will likely ask for an inspection or demand that you make further repairs or improvements. After all this, the deal can still fall through if the buyer experiences financing issues.
The Home Investor Difference
Selling your house for cash to an investor is different. While there are pros and cons of selling to a home investor, the right real estate investment company could offer the solution you’re hoping to find if you want to sell quickly or are selling a property with issues that can impede a traditional sale.
Below, we list several advantages of selling to investor Big State Home Buyers. Considering them and how they relate to your situation can help you decide if you should sell your home to a reputable investor or list it with a realtor.
Speed.
Listing and selling a home with a realtor can be a time-consuming process. Your home may be marketed through advertising and open houses, with an average listing agreement of 6 months.
Once you finally find a prospective buyer, he or she will probably have to qualify for financing, which can create further delay or even cause the deal to fall through. Private buyers also often make the sale contingent on your home passing an elaborate inspection – which is not always guaranteed, especially if you have a fixer-upper or an older home on your hands.
The Big State Home Buyers difference:
Big State Home Buyers is ready to buy with cash and close the deal right away. This can be quite the advantage, especially if you’re in a situation where you need to sell fast. We present you with a no-obligation cash offer for your house within 24 hours, and in many cases sellers walk away with money in the bank only a few days later.
No need to put more money into your home.
If you’re selling a home to a traditional buyer, odds are the future owner expects his new home to be in tip-top shape. You may find yourself paying to replace flooring, install a new roof, paint inside and out, improve landscaping, and take care of countless other time-consuming and expensive improvements that you wouldn’t have to worry about if you were selling to a home investor. Worse still, you may be squandering precious dollars with no guarantee that these fixes will result in a sufficiently high sale price so you can recoup your investment.
The Big State Home Buyers difference:
Big State Home Buyers will buy your home as-is, in any condition, so you don’t have to spend the time and money on improvements. If repairs are needed, we adjust the purchase price accordingly and take care of getting them done after the sale is complete.
No commission fees.
Understandably, a real estate agent doesn’t work for free. When you list your home with an agent, you’ll either pay a flat fee or, more commonly, owe a commission based on an agreed-upon percentage of the selling price – usually 6%. This means that if you’re selling a $200,000 home, your agent stands to make $12,000 from the deal. This percentage holds true whether your real estate agent goes to great lengths on your behalf or seems to have little involvement.
So what about the for-sale-by-owner route? While you may be tempted to try and sell your home to an individual buyer on your own, this can be a complicated undertaking. You’d have to perform market research, create and implement a marketing strategy, vet prospective buyers, and draw up a pretty intimidating stack of paperwork.
The Big State Home Buyers difference:
We never charge any hidden fees or commissions. Period.
Ability to avoid foreclosure.
If you’re behind on your mortgage payments and your lender is threatening to foreclose on your property, you’re in a stressful situation. Sometimes it is possible to negotiate more favorable loan terms with your lender in hopes this will ease the financial burden and you’ll be able to keep the house. However, a loan modification may not be approved, and by the time your lender makes this decision, you’ll be even further behind on your mortgage, which in turn increases your risk of foreclosure.
The Big State Home Buyers difference:
Selling your home to us could help you avoid foreclosure and give you the cash you need to move on.
Help with inherited property from home investors.
If you’ve inherited a house and already have a home of your own, you may find yourself needing to sell. If the house remains unoccupied, it can be harder to insure and be vulnerable to theft, vandalism, or damage due to lack of maintenance. This, in turn, may result in depreciation and make the house more difficult to sell when you’re ready.
The Big State Home Buyers difference:
We can buy your home and even arrange for a moving company to help you clear out the house. Big State Home Buyers can also assist you in navigating the legal process if you’ve inherited the house without a will and are working through title, lien or tax issues. Read more about selling an inherited property.
No need to clean.
Traditional buyers want a home to be immaculate when they move in, meaning hours or even days of cleaning, polishing and scrubbing a house you won’t even live in.
The Big State Home Buyers difference:
When you sell your house to Big State Home Buyers, we take care of the nitty-gritty for you. Because we purchase the property as-is, you won’t have to lift a finger unless you want to. You’ll save time and the cost of paying a cleaning service to do the dirty work. Simply take what you’d like to keep, and leave the rest for us to dispose of. Whether you’re dealing with your own home or are faced with sorting through a deceased loved one’s years of accumulation, we make selling your house easy.
What Home Buyers Consider When Making a Cash Offer
As you are considering selling your home for cash to a home buyer, it’s important to understand the factors they will consider when making a cash offer on your home. While not an exhaustive list, the below factors are the main areas a home investor will consider when determining if your home is an attractive investment property:
Condition
One of the main benefits of selling your home to an investor is the ability to sell it in its current condition – no repairs or renovations required. As long as the structure and foundation of the home are sound, most home buyers won’t shy away from major repairs or remodels required to restore the home; however, the estimated cost of repairs will be considered in the offer you receive.
Location
The area of the city your home is in will have a big impact on the offer you receive from a home investor. In the Houston area, for example, home buyers have a strong preference for houses in Katy, Spring, Sugar Land and Humble. These suburban areas boast good schools and well-maintained master-planned communities with moderate-sized homes. Attractive areas to home investors will vary by city so be sure to know which areas are popular with buyers where you live and why.
Year Built
Another reason the above suburbs are attractive to home buyers in Houston is because the majority were built in the last 30 years. Homes built after 1980 are desirable for investors because they typically do not have the same problems with aluminum wiring and galvanized plumbing seen in older homes. While older homes are desirable to many investors, you will likely get a higher offer on a home built after 1980 because there is less risk involved for the buyer.
House Size
Home investors prefer three-and-four-bedroom homes that are less than 3,000 square feet. Larger homes are more expensive to renovate and maintain, even with basic paint and carpet. Moderate-sized homes also suit the needs of the majority of renters, which make them attractive for buyers who plan to hold on to the home as a rental property.
Home History
Has your home flooded or is it in a flood zone? Houses that have flooded or are in flood zones can expect to see softer pricing from a home buyer because of the risk of flooding again in the future and because the cost of the insurance eats into potential cash flow that home investors look for when purchasing property.
When You Sell a House Fast for Cash, Expect to Sell at a Discount
Working with home investors can save you time and eliminates the hassle of having to make repairs to bring your home into list-ready condition. For the convenience of selling quickly, homeowners can expect to sell at a discount when selling to investors. Home buyers consider all of the above when making a cash offer on a home and will factor in the cost of repairs, renovations and risks into the offer. While you will not be responsible for any transaction fees or realtor commissions when selling your home to an investor, the buyer will pay these on their end, so these estimated fees will be factored into the offer a buyer makes on your home.
Once all of the above factors are taken into account, you will receive a cash offer on your home. This is why it’s critical that you understand what a home buyer is looking for and what value your home has to offer them. Understanding these factors, and how your home stacks up against them, will ensure you accept the best possible offer on your home.
Get an Investor to Buy Your Home Now
For nearly 15 years, Big State Home Buyers has helped thousands of homeowners in Houston, DFW and throughout Texas sell their homes quickly. If you are interested in partnering with a trusted home investor to buy your property, contact us today to get on your way to a fast, fair cash offer on your home!
Big State Home Buyers is an award-winning home investment firm based in Houston, Texas. We are an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau, where our steadfast commitment to customer satisfaction has earned us an A+ rating.
