Top ten Reasons Selling to a Real Estate Investor May be Right For You

Selling a house can be a long, complicated process that takes months or longer, even during the best of times. You prepare, choose a real estate agent and time of year and maybe even hire a real estate photographer, declutter and depersonalize, so the new owner can see themselves living there. Stage the home, boost curb appeal, write a listing and set aside time for the property to be shown. After you find a potential buyer, you hope the mortgage goes through. Even then, you can expect to wait two months under contract before closing. That’s the way it has to be, right? Not necessarily.

A second path can lead to a property sale that’s quicker and possibly even at a better price. Selling a house to a real estate investor can save time and effort and help you end up with a good, and sometimes even a better price. Handsome Homebuyer, a real estate investor specializing in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City metro area, for instance, buys more than 100 houses a year. It’s worth being aware of real estate investors and reasons that considering a sale to an investor may be right for you.

1. Preparation for selling your house

Selling to a homeowner means you have to spend time and money preparing, incurring carrying costs such as mortgage and taxes all along the way. You may take steps to improve the look, possibly including staging. With a real estate investor, such as Handsome Homebuyer, you’re dealing with a professional home buyer. We see the basic structure, characteristics and space, which we typically improve. Don’t worry about perking up the property. We see the house itself and can estimate its value after we do additional work.

2. Clutter and clean

In a sale to a new homeowner, the seller typically must clean and prepare the house so it’s ready for a new resident. That can mean moving stored items into storage units while you show the house. You also might want to hire a cleaning company. A real estate investor, like Handsome Homebuyer, is in the business of buying homes. We clean and take care of clutter ourselves all the time. We typically go in and renovate, in any case. We’ll take care of whatever you’d rather leave behind. It’s part of our process.

3. Right time to sell your house

When do you sell? If you’re selling to new residents, time matters, from the time of year to, believe it or not, the day of the week. Selling in the winter can be tougher, due to diminished curb appeal unless you happen to be in Aspen. Investors like Handsome Homebuyer don’t just see the house that’s there: We see the renovations we can do, at a discount, to add price. So whether it’s June or December, we can estimate the value of the house after renovations. That can make any time the right time for a real estate investor to buy.

4. As Is or Any Condition

When you sell to a new resident, the new buyer can become concerned if any issues crop up. Real estate investors like Handsome Homebuyer do deals as is. We don’t ask you to make assurances. We check out the house and don’t rely on descriptions. You don’t have to make and substantiate claims.

5. Resolving Problems

Most buyers have no idea how, or whether, to handle issues that can crop up, from zoning to environmental. Real estate investors like Handsome Homebuyer have a staff and experience to handle these. In addition, some issues will make a house unmortgageable. Since we don’t need a mortgage, that’s not an issue for us. We can resolve real estate issues – from non-paying tenants to lack of permits and many more.

6. Mortgage

Many home sales fall through over problems in obtaining a mortgage. More than 17 percent or nearly one in five overall are denied mortgages for large houses, with 12.6 percent denied for medium sized houses and 7.4 percent for small houses, according to Zillow. Real estate investors like Handsome Homebuyer fund the deal ourselves.

7. Closing

Closing in a sale to a new resident easily takes one to two months on average, and that’s after you go into contract. That means more time and carrying costs. During that process, a bank typically gets involved. If problems surface, that can easily torpedo a deal. With a real estate investor, we decide we want a property, and then move to close. The sooner the better.

8. Cash is king

If you can find a self-funded cash offer that you’re happy with, like those made by Handsome Homebuyer, it can save you time and even expenses. “If you are lucky enough to get an all-cash offer that you are pleased with, this process can happen way faster,” according to Hommati.com. Real estate investors already have the funds. We don’t have to begin a long process, but rather handle it in-house with our own professionals.

9. Simplify financing

Real estate investors like Handsome Homebuyer, among the biggest in the New York metro region, typically close more quickly and efficiently. We don’t need additional approvals and our deals don’t fall through the way many others do. “Select an all-cash offer if available to limit possible financing slowdowns,” according to Zillow. A real estate investor is one way to get a cash offer.

10. Track record

When you sell a house, it’s typically something you’ll do once or a few times in your life with a buyer who also will buy a house likely once or a few houses. We buy hundreds of houses. It’s what we do. And we have staff inhouse to handle problems along the way. We’ve also run into just about every conceivable issue and, in nearly all cases, learned to resolve them.

If you’re selling a house, you want to find a buyer who will pay you a good price in a good time-frame. Handsome Homebuyer pays based on what we think a house can be worth, after we invest in it. Since we buy so many houses, we can operate on thinner margins. If you think a real estate investor may be right for you, give us a ring and we’ll see if we can reach a deal. You up may end up liking the process and the price.