This is exactly why I have decided to spend just a little of my time and give a very “unbiased” explanation as to whether or not those that tout to be professional home buyers, are really worth the time to deal with. Below, you’ll find out exactly what we buy houses companies say they do, who they claim to be, and if they actually do what they say they do. Let’s get to the meat of the post.

We know they buy houses, but who are they really?

Typically, companies that claim to buy houses for cash can be found in any and every city across America, even the small towns. Why, simply put, buying houses cheap and then re-selling them for a profit, CAN BE one of the most lucrative investments that anyone can ever make. A real estate investor that “claims” to give you cash for your house could come in the form of a man, woman or even a mother and father team whom have figured out how to find motivated home owner looking to sell a house fast and have already figured out how to dispose of a property quickly, once acquired. The typical stereotype of an investor is an older man with deep pockets that probably owns 20 or more rental properties in his portfolio. Although that used to be the typical investor, nowadays everyone that has two cents to their name wants to be in the real estate investing game.

Most investors that actually spend money advertising are probably the serious investors, that actually put their money were their mouth is. So, I guess the main question that we should ask ourselves is: How did I find this company? Did they find me with their marketing efforts, or did I meet them through a method that had absolutely nothing to do with their marketing. Fact: If they are spending money marketing, they have probably made money in real estate and are re-investing it to buy more houses, so you may want to take that individual seriously.

Housebuyersanantonio.com made good on their promise to buy our home from us, unlike many of the other investors in Houston, that claimed to be professional home buyers. Some of the other investors out there gave us their initial offer for our house, then a few days before closing, tried to chew us down even more on price. Be careful not to deal with we buy houses companies that are out to scam innocent home owners into shady agreements littered with out clauses

Do they really Buy Houses or is that just a sneaky tactic?

As mentioned above, there are actually some serious investors out there that have made a business out of buying up properties at very low prices and re-selling them for a decent spread. However, not all people that claim to buy houses, actually have the intent and/or ability to deliver on their promise. This is true for a few reasons:

1. They may want to wholesale flip the contract between you and them over to another investor who actually wants to close on the house. This is called a wholesale deal, because the original investor is “wholesaling” the house at a discounted price to the end investor buyer.
2. The “investor” may not even have the funds to close the deal. This situation is very common in real estate investing, but if the investor has a good buyers list to sell the contract to, then this won’t be a problem for anyone involved in the transaction.

Then you have those Houston investors that actually do exactly what they say they will do, like HouseBuyerSanAntonio.com, who will put the house under contract with a motivated seller and then within a prescribed period of time, they will simply close the transaction with cash funds. This “we buy houses Houston” company is one of those company’s that put’s their money where their mouth is. They are the type of investors that don’t like to put a house under contract unless they know that it has a very high likelihood to close. Some investors have been known to close with private money or “hard money” as it gives them a better ROI in the long term.

In the end, any and every motivated seller should do their research on any company that promises to buy their house for cash, and seller’s should always ask many questions along the way.