Pros and Cons of Selling Your Home to an Investor
When it comes to selling a house, there are numerous options for homeowners to consider. One option is the traditional method of working with a real estate agent to put the house on the market. Another option is the For Sale By Owner (FSBO) route, in which sellers take on all of the property marketing, negotiating, and other responsibilities themselves instead of ceding control to a real estate professional.
A third option, and one that is becoming increasingly popular across the country, is to sell a home to an investor or investor group. There are real estate wholesalers, flippers, and established cash home buyers that homeowners can seek to make deals with. If you’re considering selling your home, read on to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of selling to an investor.
Pros of Selling Your Home to an Investor
Saving Time and Effort
Selling your home through a real estate agency, or seeking to do so yourself, can be a highly time consuming and labor intensive process. Working with a real estate broker involves a great deal of home preparation, potentially frequent and frustrating showings to prospective buyers, and commission fees that detract from the amount you’ll end up keeping. What’s also risky about selling with an agent is that there are absolutely no guarantees that the house will sell for a reasonable price or even field viable offers at all. The FSBO process requires even more time and effort given that all of the work is handled by the owner directly. Here too, there are no guarantees that the desired outcome will be achieved.
With investors, you don’t have to worry about intensive marketing, inconvenient showings, or the hassle of back and forth negotiations. As many investors are in the business of continually purchasing homes to fix them up and then sell them for profit, deals often happen much quicker than they typically would otherwise. Investors often provide their offers quickly with paperwork kept to as minimal a level as possible. There is no long, drawn out process to concern yourself with, which is a major advantage.
Avoiding Costly Repairs and Maintenance
For those that choose to sell their homes with a real estate agent or via FSBO, there’s the issue of expensive repair work to consider. In order for homes on the market to garner buyer interest and fetch the highest offers possible, they need to look their absolute best and not have any major structural issues that would cause buyers to look elsewhere. Depending on the current condition of your home, this could mean needing to invest a substantial amount of money into making repairs and having any other necessary maintenance work done.
With rare exception, investors buy homes in as-is condition knowing that they will need to spend some money after the fact to improve their overall value and eventually generate profit. This means that they will provide you with their best offer without first requiring you to make any large-scale modifications. In selling to investors, many homeowners greatly appreciate the fact that they don’t need to put resources into first beautifying their properties.
Cons of Selling Your Home to An Investor
Criteria Concerns
Despite the fact that selling a house to an investor is often faster and simpler than other methods, there are a few potential drawbacks to be aware of. It is important to keep in mind that many investors have fairly specific criteria for the homes they choose to purchase. This means that you might not be able to sell your home to an investor if it isn’t the desired type of property or doesn’t fit with other requirements. As such criteria can vary among investors, it will be important to find one that will be interested in what you have and is willing to make a fair offer.
Lack of Offer Flexibility & Price Considerations
Speaking of offers, investors typically do not negotiate with sellers on price. Most investors will make an offer they believe to be reasonable, and allow the homeowner to either take it or leave it. Unless the investor really believes that the property is worth haggling over, they will simply move on in search of other houses to acquire. While many investors make competitive offers, they nevertheless want to resell homes quickly and make as much profit as possible. This means that they might not offer you the highest price possible, and you won’t get as much money for the home than you could otherwise if you sold it through a conventional sale process.
Swift Homes Provides Top Cash Offers for Houses Throughout the United States
Backed by a real estate fund, Swift Homes is able to provide homeowners across America with highly competitive cash offers for their houses. Operating in more than 100 real estate markets nationwide, out team has facilitated the successful sale of 5,000 properties and counting. Our process is straightforward and quick, with some deals closing in as few as 10 days. If you’re interested in selling your home in as-is condition for top cash value, please contact us online or call (877) 861-2466.
