"Fast Cash" or "We buy Houses"?

Question

Has anyone had experience with these types of real estate buyers? Particularly New York state?

Answer 1

As a real estate investor that "buys houses with fast cash" I can tell you we look for motivated sellers who are just looking to get out of whatever bad situation you are in.  We try to provide win/win/win solutions to people's issues:  the seller gets their bad situation resolved and their stress level comes down orders of magnitude with a fresh start, the investor makes money, which is how we feed our families, and an ultimate end buyer gets a good deal on a house as well.

Previously the rule of thumb was that we needed to buy houses at 70% of ARV (after repair value) minus any repairs that are necessary so that we could produce the win/win/win situation noted above.  Depending on where you are in the country, most investors now need to buy at about 60% of ARV minus repairs in order to make the numbers work for everyone due to longer holding times, higher carrying costs, and difficulties in the mortgage industry for end buyers right now.

Obviously you need to have equity in the house to be able to sell that way.  If you have little or no equity (or are upside down), then different strategies are available, such as short selling or others, depending on your exact situation.  And yes, investors purchase short sales all the time as well as end buyers.

Look at your situation and decide how much you need to get, and what your alternatives are.  An investor will give you a price (and usually a few different creative options), and you can decide if any of them are acceptable or not.  If they're not, that's fine.  We don't take a "no" personally.  It's just a number's based business decision to see if what works for us also works for the seller.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Pro:  Most are legit and will buy your home quickly.

Con:  They will give you about 60% of real market value.  That is where they make their money.  Most people in trouble cannot afford this, they cannot make up the difference to have the transaction go through, and NO lender will approve a short sale to a "we buy houses" company.

Answer 3

In Arizona they will pay you 60- 70% of the market value.  They decide that number , not you.  THey are not thieves but they are not generous.  They pay $10,000 a month to get the phone calls generated by the billboards and tv ads.  That is a lot of money to spend hoping someone will sell you their house.