What You Should Look for in a Cash Home Buyer
Selling a house for cash is a much easier process than traditional sales. You often don’t have to deal with the same long process that you have to when you’re selling more traditionally ,such as waiting on loan approvals, allowing you to close the sale quickly. However, not every cash home buyer is going to make your dream of an easy sale come true. When you’re considering a cash buyer for your home, consider these key factors.
Speed
The speed of the sale is the major advantage of selling for cash. If you’re looking to make an offer on a different house, quickly selling the one you have will put you in a better financial position. If you’re selling because you have to move or cannot afford your mortgage, the sooner you’re out from under the payments the better. A good cash buyer also wants the sale to go quickly. The buyer has the advantage in this situation. A cash buyer who tries to drag out the sales process is more than likely hoping you’ll go lower than the current price in an effort to off-load the property.
The easiest way to see if a buyer is good is what sort of contract they want. A good buyer will want to close the deal as soon as possible. A buyer who pushes for a thirty or sixty-day contract is giving themselves time to back out of the deal if they change their mind.
Acceptance of Condition
Another area where bad buyers will attempt to drag out the process is during the inspection phase. The inspection lets them know what the condition of the house is. A long inspection is more time that the bad cash buyer has to find a pretext not to buy the house, or to ask you to lower the price.
A good cash buyer is willing to buy the house as-is. While major features of the home’s condition may affect the sale price, there won’t be squabbling over details. You won’t be required to fix things before the sale will be final. Finding the money to make repairs on the house when you’re in the process of already moving or needing to sell quickly is a strain. Don’t let a bad buyer force you to make improvements on a house you’re going to leave.
Intuition
Don’t ignore any red flags you get from a cash buyer. Cash sales have a great potential to help you out a bad mortgage or living situation, but they also carry some risks. Does the investor seem like they are operating honestly? Are they eager to make the sale without seeming pushy, desperate, or skittish? Are they asking for a cash sale but don’t seem to have the money on hand? Trust your instincts and double-check anything that seems suspicious to you.
Good cash buyers will smooth your transition in your new situation. A cash sale puts money in your pocket quickly, and lets you unload a house without working hard to improve it first. Look for a good, ready investor with cash on hand who wants to settle quickly.