Will an Investor Really Close on My House?

Sure, you’ve seen ads from investors looking to buy houses directly before. Many tout similar reasons why you should sell your house to them–they buy with cash, close quickly, and will take your property “as is” to name a few. Investors can offer a lot of advantages during the home sale process that traditional sales can’t. Because many home buyers have relationships with lenders or use their own cash they can waive this contingency along with so many others because of their experience in dealing with houses that need some element of renovation. Of course, just as if you’d interview multiple Realtors before choosing one to list your house, you’ll want to carefully select the investor/buyer of your home to work with too.

Ask the investor, “are you actually the person/company closing on this house?” Many investors will put a house under contract with an option to be able to transfer that contract to someone else for more than you agreed to sell the house for. This often leads to delays and in many cases deals fall apart because the buyer/investor didn’t intend to close on the house unless he/she could assign it to someone else for a profit.

If you get a bad feeling from someone you’re meeting with, move on. Usually your intuition is correct. Work with an investor who treats you with respect and listens to what’s important to you.