Desperate to sell your house, 5 tips for dealing with real estate investors

Selling your home in a slow housing market can be the most frustrating thing a home seller faces. With so many homes on the market, you can feel overwhelmed and start to think that your property is just another among millions. Your property may not have enough equity
for a real estate agent to be interested. Another hurdle is that about half the homes in our nation have lost value and some homeowners are finding they owe more than the home is worth. It may be worthwhile and profitable for sellers to consider private real estate investors to help alleviate some of the pressures that come with selling a home in a declining market.

While the Wall Street bailout will help many homeowners in the future, many sellers need or want to sell their homes before the property loses value. There are a number of other reasons a homeowner may need or want to sell as well, such as job loss or a decline in household income, causing the homeowner to have difficulty making their house payments, divorce , the house needs major repairs, the family is growing. and the house is downsizing, the seller needs to downsize, a job transfer, making payments on two different houses, perhaps the seller needs to move to care for a loved one. Although these circumstances are the most common, there are many others that are not mentioned here.

Real estate investment companies may be the best and fastest option in this type of situation. There are many of them to choose from. Homeowners should research and try to deal with local investors in their area with a strong reputation for being trustworthy, competent and fair. They are usually advertised locally in newspapers, billboards, the Internet, or those “We Buy Houses” signs. While I’m not advocating for any particular type of investor, I suggest sellers check out every real estate investor they choose to deal with, some of these types are just as legit as others are not.

1.) Please answer all questions about your home that you feel are safe, use your best judgment. Most investors have a website and a form you can fill out to get started. If there is something you don’t understand, ASK!

2.) Usually the first rule of thumb is to meet face to face with them as soon as you’ve developed a certain level of comfort over the phone, ask lots of questions (an honest investor doesn’t mind answering their “dumb questions”). Ask to see their contracts before any signing, and try to be flexible with fairness to both parties in mind.

3.) Take them on a tour of your home and allow a representative from your team or company to look at your home for a potential purchase. Sometimes you may need to get creative to make the deal work, but if you feel there is something you don’t understand, give them a chance to answer all your questions to your satisfaction.

4.) If you can’t afford a lawyer to review the documents, a close friend or family member may have some helpful advice to help you overcome any potential fears that prevent you from making a fair deal with a reputable investor. Many people miss out on selling their home to honest investors by not understanding why contracts are written a certain way or by not thinking creatively when trying to negotiate with a real estate investment company. Most companies have someone willing to show you how they arrived at the numbers or terms found in your proposal or contract.

5.) Lastly, judgment is the key, some people who claim to be investors are just hopeful they fly at night and know very little about real estate, however many real estate professionals are 100% legit and can help you. get out of a desperate situation. they are good people and are willing to take a lot of pressure off homeowners who need to sell their home fast.

Sellers in our slow real estate market need to know that there are real estate investment companies and individual investors who are there to help them and want to deal fairly with them. Good luck, good deal and good sales.