Avoid ‘We Buy Any House’ Scams & Find Out Which Cash Home Buying Companies are Safe-to-Use
Over the last couple of decades, there has been a real increase in the number of so-called “we buy any house” companies and an increase in the popularity of their services. However, if you are interested in using a cash home buying company because you need to sell your home faster than you would be putting it up for sale in the traditional manner on the real estate market, you should proceed with caution. Why?
Many of the home cash buying companies are not operating legitimately and are actually in some shape or form, scam artists looking to rip you off so that they get your home for an extremely low price and then can resell it for much more.
We are not suggesting that all companies offering this service are bogus. However, we do want to help educate you, which is why in the following post we are going to look at some of the methods and techniques used by scammers. To end on a positive and productive note, we will also offer tips for how you can find a cash home buyer you can trust.
How Fast Cash Home Buyer Scams Work
There is basically a four-step process that most fast cash home buying companies use. This process involves the following:
Initial Offer is Too Good to Be True
With any cash home buying company, you would expect them to offer less than the market value of your home. Therefore, you know are potentially dealing with a scammer if they make an offer that is incredibly and unrealistically high. Be aware if they also promise to have the money in your bank account within just a few days.
Use Stalling and Delaying Tactics
A good indicator that property cash buyers are not as legitimate as they will have you believe is if they seem to use all the stalling and delaying tactics they can. So, what initially sounds like is going to be a quick and uncomplicated process is setback constantly and drawn out over several months.
Price Drop At the Last Minute
This is the biggie, the one that they sucker punch so many people with. They wait until the very last moment and then reduce their offer significantly. Right at the time when you feel there is nothing more you can do and have to accept it.
The Option Contract
Another method they use to try and make sure you don’t sell to anyone else for a better price is that they will badger you into signing paperwork. Hoping you don’t take the time to read through the fine print, that explicitly stops you from legally selling to other buyers.
Some Property Cash Buyers Don’t Even Have the Buying Power To Pay Directly For House
As if the scams and tactics mentioned above weren’t enough to contend with when you are considering selling to cash home buyers, there are many companies out there that don’t even have the buying power to purchase your house. Even if they claim they do.
Often they are lead generators masquerading as cash property buyers, who are looking to sell your personal details or are brokers basically passing those details onto small-scale investors.
They will give you all kinds of promises to try and get you to sign up for an option contract. With that, they then have you where they want you as you can’t sell to anyone else, while they find the funding or a buyer.
Are All-Cash Property Buying Companies Rip-Offs?
No, the good news is that not all cash property buyers are scam artists. It does mean you need to be extra vigilant when you decide to work with that kind of company, though. If you are looking to make as much money from your property sale as possible, it is best to look to more conventional methods, but if your need to move on is greater than your need to sell at the best price possible.
Use the highlighted scams as a guide to know what you need to look out for and to avoid being caught out. Cash Home is a company that is not out to rip you off, but instead has the buying power, experience, and expertise to buy most homes and will be able to do it.