If you are in an urgent need to sell your house right now there is some information you absolutely have to have before making any rash decisions.
Here’s the cold, hard truth
You are an ideal candidate for scammers who are looking to take advantage of people. Why? Because you have an urgent need it means you don’t have the luxury of researching your options, interviewing different companies, performing due diligence, etc.
When you have to sell your house as fast as is physically possible you usually end up making compromises; you probably already know that. The thing to make sure of is that the compromises you are making are with a company that is going to hold up their end of the deal.
Here’s the “dirt” on the industry
Keep in mind that this isn’t something that everybody does, there are a lot of good people doing really good business. However, this happens often enough to be very careful of it and make sure you cover your basis.
When you’re in an urgent need to sell, unscrupulous cash buyers will take advantage of that urgency for their own gain. They put your house under contract by promising you to pay your asking price. Once it’s under contract they have an inspection period available to them (just like a retail property purchase) to make sure everything you say about the house is true, there are no liens, the title is clear, you actually own it, etc. Well, some home buyers will use this time as an opportunity to exacerbate your situation.
You already have an urgent need to sell. What they realize is the more time they waste the more urgent your need becomes. So they stall the process for as long as possible and then come back to you with an excuse (or a list of excuses) about why they can’t pay the promised price. Now that your timeline has been completely exhausted, you have absolutely no choice but to drop down to your absolute bottom dollar just to keep from going completely under water.
How do you avoid this from happening?
There are a few things that you should do that these scam artists don’t want you to know about.
- The first and most important thing to do is to demand proof of funds. If someone promised you $200,000 cash for your house tell them you need to see proof that they have that cash. It needs to be liquid (not an equity or “net worth” statement). They need to show you that they actually have $200,000 cash sitting in the bank ready to go. You have an urgent need to sell your house fast! If they’re going to buy it fast they should have the money ready to go right? If they give you a song and dance about why the funds aren’t available then RUN! They’re full of it. A cash buyer should have cash. Requesting proof of funds is not out of place or rude. It’s a common practice among real estate investors; if they are professionals they already know that.
- Be honest and upfront about the property. If there’s mold in the attic tell them! If you have a crack in the foundation, termites, broken air conditioner, whatever it may be, you need to be 100% transparent. A professional home investor is going to find every problem there is so there’s no reason to try and hide it. While a legitimate buyer will request a price drop to accommodate the issue the scammer is actually praying that something comes up so they can hold your feet to the fire! They’re expecting you to fudge the truth so they can make the non-compliance your fault. Don’t fall for this. Everything is going to come out one way or the other, better that it come from you immediately and up front then be used against you later.
- Be honest and upfront about your situation. This goes hand in hand with being honest about the property. A good cash buyer is going to need to know exactly what is going on in order to help you out of your predicament and buy your house fast. A bad cash buyer is going to use any surprises against you as leverage. If there are liens against the property, if you’re currently in the middle of a bankruptcy or divorce, if you inherited the property and haven’t completed the probate process, if you’re behind on your mortgage or HOA payments, etc. Whatever it is, put everything out there up front so the cash offer you get is the one you can count on.
- Most importantly: research the person or company you’re selling to. Do they have a good reputation? Ask them for case studies. Are there any testimonials you can review? If they have any experience at all they should be able to offer at least a handful of references for you to call. This is the very best way to ensure you’re dealing with a legitimate company that operates with integrity. Take all of that a step further, ask them to tell you about the deals that went wrong! This is a business plagued with the unexpected, they’re sure to have at least a few stories. How did they handle the situation? What ended up happening? Were they still able to close? Etc.
It truly is possible to sell your house quickly, for cash and with zero cash out of pocket. We know its possible because we buy houses like that every day. Its just extremely important that you are careful with who you choose to do business with.
If you’re interested in a free, no obligation, cash offer TODAY please contact us. We are GWG Properties and we stand behind our name.
