Straight Talk About Real Estate

“We want to buy your property with cash. You will have the money in your hands in 10 days.”

I got one of these letters. To find out how it works, I called the number and asked them. The person told me if after doing a title search they decide they want to buy my property, they will pay me 60% of the appraised value in cash.

They do the title search to make sure the house is sellable. If there are too many liens, a cloud on the title, or anything suspicious, I am sure they will not want to buy it. But if the property is clean with nothing “strange” going on, why would I want to sell my house 40% below market? Even if I am hard up for money, I can get a hard money loan, sell my house quickly on the open market by listing it 20% below market. I will still come out ahead.

A caution about these unsolicated offers: Some may not even have any intention to buy even at 40% discount. They ask you for information to do the title search and use the information for fraud. So do not sign anything or give out any information without looking at every word, every small print. When in doubt, and if seems too good to be true, use your common sense and throw those purchase offer letters away.