Are you feeling the pressure of selling a home due to life changes like inheritance, relocation, or divorce? This video addresses the stress you might face when needing to sell your house fast. We examine “fast cash” offers often seen on postcards, questioning if they truly provide a quick and painless solution for home selling. Learn how to navigate these options and why selling fast does not require selling at a discount.
Eric Andersen, B.A., M.Div.
Owner/Designated Managing Broker, Andersen Realty Group
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Transcript:
I. The Temptation of “Fast Cash”
You’re stressed, overwhelmed, and just want it over with. Maybe it’s a family home you inherited and don’t have time to clear out. Maybe it’s a job relocation, divorce, or financial issues that has you needing to move quickly. Whatever the reason, selling the home feels like it might just be the straw that broke the camel’s back. But then you see a postcard in the mail: “We buy houses fast, for cash, in any condition.” It sounds like the answer to your prayers! No showings. No cleaning. No hassle. Just sign on the dotted line, and you’ll have a check in your hand within a week. But what if that lifeline is actually a drain?
II. What “Fast Cash” Really Costs
Cash buyers aren’t charities. They’re investors, and their profit comes from the difference between what they pay you and what they sell it for. That means they’re taking a significant cut of your equity in exchange for the promise of a quick sale. So two things we’ll want to consider is one, how much equity you’re giving them, and two, how much time and stress are you actually saving? First, the equity question. Cash offers typically come in at twenty to forty percent below market value, and sometimes less, especially when the seller is desperate. Without question, these offers will cost you tens of thousand of dollars. Homeowners have taken two hundred fifty thousand dollars on a four hundred thousand dollar home because the investor convinced them it would save them time and stress. But will it? One seller I recently worked with was originally planning on taking one of these all-cash offers from a wholesaler. The house needed some cosmetic updates, and they didn’t want to deal with it. But after a conversation about what “as-is” really means on the open market, they listed with me instead. Within days, we had multiple offers, including one from an investor, all for well above the price they almost accepted, and they didn’t have to do a thing to get their home ready. My process can be as quick and easy as the fast-cash guys, and sometimes, it’s even faster and easier.
III. What Listing Can Actually Look Like
There’s a myth that listing your home means months of stress, constant showings over a period of several months, and thousands of dollars in preparations. That simply doesn’t have to be the case. You absolutely have the option to list your home as-is and not make a single update. You can also do it discreetly, say, by soft-launching on the private listing network to gauge buyer interest. Many of my clients have sold directly off the private listing network without ever going on Zillow or putting a sign in the yard. If you really want to sell to an investor, I can help you find one who sees your on the open market and has to compete with other buyers. In many cases, the process takes days, not months. You don’t need need granite counters to get a solid offer. Sometimes, all you need is the right help.
IV. “Fast-Cash” Isn’t Always Fast (or Painless)
Fast-cash buyers often promise a 7-day close but sometimes drag out negotiations or add surprise inspections. Some will have you sign a contract and then try to renegotiate the terms once they have you on the hook. Others will assign your contract to a different buyer altogether, and who knows what will happen then. There have been situations where a seller accepted an offer, only to be ghosted or lowballed after an “inspection” turned up issues the buyer already knew about. Wholesalers are famous for selling their contracts before the sale even closes and flipping that contract to someone else for a higher price. I once saw a seller accept a three hundred thousand dollar offer from a wholesaler, who then assigned the contract to another buyer for forty thousand dollars more. The investor didn’t take any risk or make any improvements, but merely capitalized on the seller’s urgency, making a profit off the gap between desperation and information. The property changed hands, but the seller left forty thousand dollars on the table without even knowing it. And had they listed the home, it would have undoubtedly sold for more.
Consider my listing, 3117 Oak Ave. in Brookfield. The home needed extensive renovations, to put it mildly. We received several investor offers for this property between $200,000 and $210,000. Naturally, these investors insisted this was a fair price—even above market value—and urged us to accept. No one will pay more, they insisted. It’s the same tactic they use when attempting to purchase off-market homes. But I knew with a little patience, we would do better. And we did. We ended up selling for $236,000, or $26,182 more than our highest investor offer.
Selling to a fast-cash buyer is like pawning a Rolex for pennies on the dollar even though you knew someone who had access to thousands of buyers ready to pay a fair price. It may sound easier, but it actually isn’t, and the cost is ridiculous.
V. A Better Way: Quick, Clean, and Fair
You don’t have to choose between speed and value. A well-marketed home, priced strategically and presented thoughtfully, can attract serious buyers quickly. You can still sell as-is without the hassle. You can still have a short timeline. But you also get something that fast-cash buyers will never offer: the benefit of market competition. Your home isn’t just a problem to offload. It’s an asset, and you and your home deserve better.
Before you needlessly give an investor your equity, let’s talk. You may find that listing your home is much faster and easier than you expected. It doesn’t cost anything to have a conversation, and it may just save you everything. I’m Eric with Andersen Realty Group, a family-owned brokerage where we treat our clients like family.