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 Honest opinion on 'we buy ugly houses'?Not that company in particular, but in general ...what is the lowdown on these companies who promise to buy your house as is, quickly? Are they legit? Do they give you a fair price or extreme lowball prices? How do they work? Just curious.. |
 10-06-2008, 09:55 AM | |||
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From what I heard they offer you like 50% fair market value. |
| 10-06-2008, 10:04 AM | |||
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They are a business, and have to see the profit margin on the front end. No business makes money buying at full retail and then re-selling. Of course, they profit by rehabbing "ugly" homes that many others will not touch. There is nothing wrong with this, especially if they bail an owner out of a property when no one else will. Of course, all business should be conducted in the light of day, with integrity. I have not done business with these firms, and can't speak to any one firm's operations, but to the general business model. |
| 10-23-2008, 01:19 PM | |||
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 I hope this is the right place to post this. =]Hello. I have my home listed for sale by owner on Craigslist right now. I had a gentleman write to me and say that he would give me $85,000.00 cash (it's listed at $108,950). Because we want to move so badly and the $85,000.00 is as low as we could go (but still do-able) we are considering it. Here are the emails he has sent to us, do you believe them to be legit or a scam?? His first email: I invest nationally and make very aggressive offers. My offer would be for $85,000. I can close quickly. That's it. Then I replied and asked if he was local. His second reply: Vykki, I am not in your area. Although my offer is very aggressive I operate very openly. To be completely upfront my interest would be to have an agreement with you at $85,000 in turn I would then market the property to other investors in that area. I would charge the other investor a fee for my position on the contract with you. Why consider this? Because I am an investor and I know how to locate others. I would need a contract to secure my position before contacting other investors. I am open to discussing as well. OK, so my husband calls and gets a few things out of him, but he's a bit hard to understand and my hubby had to leave for work. So he told him to send an email with more info. He sends this: A few questions and a quick outline. First if you ever questions please ask me. Two you should never get a different story than what I am telling you if you do then again ask me, please. My goals are simple: There are only two: One - that I am successful a creating a solution for you and get your house closed in as fast a time as possible (flexible to your time – not trying rush you out of your house) Two – that I create a profit for my business by being open and honest. Questions for you: How long have you lived in the home? How much did you pay? Do you have a move date set? If so when? If you could chose when would you prefer to move? What is included with the sale of the home? Appliances etc Have you or is the property listed with a Realtor? Process: We have already established a price - $85,000 The type of contract I plan to use is called an option agreement. It is different than a purchase agreement in that it gives me the option to purchase at a certain price but is not an obligation to purchase. It is an obligation on your part for the duration of the contract. The duration of the contract I would like to keep to __________ days from date of signature. After the contract expires you are no longer obligated to me or anyone I have assigned the contract to. ( I do not know what time frame you are on so I left this blank.) Please let me know what questions you have via email or call. Talk to you soon I was thinking about the email (all this started yesterday) so I didn't reply right away. Then early this morning I get this short reply: Are you interested in moving forward or ? (Of course I keep editing his name and number for his privacy, so there was a signature). But this seems pushy, right?? So I asked him if a "private person" were to want to buy the home, could I sell it to them because our contract is only for any investors that he finds. But, if I can make a sale, I'd like to. It's like we have an obligation to him, but he doesn't have one to us. Here's my final reply from him in which I just said "I'll speak with my husband this evening, thanks" For the first two weeks I would want 5 days to commit or release you. After the first two weeks I would do the same within 3 days or sooner. By commit I mean a purchase agreement with earnest money. What do you think of this?? Do you think this man is legit? Do people really do this? I looked up his company he lists in his signature on BBB and it's a mailbox manufacturing company. Should his "investing" company be on there or is it considered private? Has anyone else dealt with this? Thanks for making it this far in the reading of this looong drawn out post. Any help what-so-ever will be greatly appreciated. For the record, we really want to sell this home because we are reloacting from California to Washington. Thanks! |
| 10-23-2008, 01:23 PM | |||
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Scam! |
| 10-23-2008, 01:30 PM | |||
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Is he actually a franchisee of the company known as HomeVestors (We Buy Ugly Houses)? Because they're legit as far as I have seen. You won't get near market value for your house because they need to turn around and make a profit on it, or renovate it and then resell, but you would close fast on your house. |
| 10-23-2008, 01:32 PM | |||
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Vykki, Don't do it!!! |
| 10-23-2008, 01:44 PM | |||
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Yikes - without any concrete info to enable you to perform a background check I personally would run like a scalded dog! |
| 10-23-2008, 01:56 PM | |||
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Thank you all for your replies. Like the saying goes, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". It just struck me strange that he was so pushy right away, the last email was last night and the first thing this morning he wants to know if we still want to do it. Thanks again, everyone! *Vykki* |
| 10-23-2008, 01:59 PM | |||
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Even if this person is legit, it seems like a very one sided contract. Meaning, they only buy your home if they locate another buyer for more than $85,000. Otherwise, they have no obligation to buy your home. Also, a contract with them would prevent you from immediately accepting offers from any other potential buyers, and I think that will make it tougher to get any other offers. For me, it does not pass the smell test!! |
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| 10-23-2008, 02:12 PM | |||
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I agree with everyone, this "option" is not clearly defined, nor does the contract seem legal...craigslist is great for people (I admit I'm addicted to it!) but it also leaves you open to scams...this guy is probably in cameroon or nigeria..as the wording on the email reminds of the many emails I have received from scammers like that. My next bet is that if and when he does exercise this "option" agreement he will likely try to give you a cashiers check, money order, escrow overseas or something like that...on craigslist you'll see at the top that they strongly advise people to stay away from offers like that. My gut is this guy is scamming you and thinks he can get away with it because you are the owner selling and he thinks he can pull a fast one...RUN!!! fast and far away from this person. |
| 10-23-2008, 04:28 PM | |||
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No one here can advise you. If you have interest, take the offer/contract to your attorney. I have seen nothing that makes me think it is only a scam. Taking an option to buy, while marketing for an end buyer with full transparency is legitimate, although it is not very common in residential real estate. The amount of the option price, and the length of the option period would be of paramount interest to me. And, of course, the $85,000 is negotiable. All that said, this is the wrong place to seek advice. Talk to your attorney. One typical reason to rush you is to prevent that attorney conference from happening, IMO. |
| 10-23-2008, 04:31 PM | |||
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The part that makes this the scam is it is on Craigslist. The concept could be legimete. But I'll give the OP odds 10:1 that the person will claim to have an offer and (as someone else said) the "buyer" will send a certified check for the amount of the house plus some extra, and ask the seller to send the extra to a 3rd party. But the cashier's check will be phony. I sold a car on Craigslist once and had people all over the world trying to buy it. Ignore these offers. |
| 10-23-2008, 04:47 PM | |||
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I have sold cars, a storage building, furniture, business services, houses, a computer, and junk via Craigslist. That the contact is through Craigslist has almost no bearing on the legitimacy of the offer. Basically, it would seem that the OP has been contacted by a moonlight "investor" who has been mentored by some infomercial guru. If they come to a valid contractual agreement, and he does what the contract says he will do, then it may well not be a scam. But, she should be talking to an attorney to formulate a response. |
| 10-23-2008, 07:11 PM | |||
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There are some well run internet scams out there.. I've had the usual nigeria/wherever offers on a few laptops I've sold on ebay.. But I once tried to sell a windows piece of software for like $600 on craigslist (I thought it was a 3 license copy) and the scammer actually had a check over-nighted ups'd from some place in texas.. of course the check had to be authorized by the company is what I learned when taking it to the issuing bank to cash it (the scammer had nothing to say about fixing the authorizing of the check.. but my point is they either know how to get access to automated computer systems (somehow I can't think of how a UPS over-nighted check can be automated) or they had people in the U.S. helping them out.. since I thought his typed "english" was bad) |
- Bob Ramsey, Bamhart, MO
HomeVestors franchisees buy houses at a discount. But when they buy your house, they will:
- Pay cash
- Pay most normal closing costs
- Buy "as is"
- Typically close fast
People sell their houses to us for a variety of reasons, including:
- Foreclosure avoidance
- Divorce
- Job transfer
- Unexpected property inheritance
- Downsizing
- Retiring
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