Thinking of Selling Your House?
We Buy Houses.
Maybe you have a few questions. Excellent. Most people do.
Here’s a quick collection of some of the questions people ask us…along with our answers. If you have a question that’s not covered here, don’t hesitate to contact us (or give us a call or text) and we’ll be happy to answer it for you.
Q: Will you be listing my house on the MLS or actually buying it?
A: Jonathan Swanson, Broker @ RE/MAX Essential is not like traditional investors or agents. We focus on helping you sell your house with the method that will work best for reaching your goals. If you’re looking for speed and convenience, we can buy your house for cash in 21 days or less without putting it on the MLS. If you’re looking for top dollar for your near-perfect home, our industry-leading marketing strategy can help you sell your Wilmington house quickly, listed on the MLS as a traditional real estate listing marketed all over the world through RE/MAX Essential in Wilmington, NC.
Q: How much do you pay for houses?
A: Many of the houses we purchase are below average market value but they’re also below average condition (we specifically look for houses like this so we can fix and resell them for a profit to a homeowner). We are looking to get a fair discount on a property. However, in our experience, many sellers aren’t necessarily expecting a large “windfall” on the property. Our clients appreciate that we can offer cash, we close very quickly if needed (no waiting for financing), and no time, effort or expense is required on their part to spend money fixing up the property or pay fees or commissions. If that’s what you’re looking for and you see the value in getting your house sold fast, let’s see if we can come to a fair win-win price.
Besides, our no-obligation process means that you do not have to accept the offer we give…but it’s good to know what we’re offering! Many people don’t accept our offer at first, but after thinking about it, they call us back and we make a deal.
Your advantage is trading equity for convenience and predictability. We’re willing to take the risk of paying holding costs like taxes, insurance, utilities, making repairs, working with contractors to coordinate repairs, dealing with supply chain issues, spending money on repairs, and waiting for the house to sell while it’s on the market, and hope we make a little money for our time and effort before the market changes.
Q: How do you determine the price to offer on my house?
A: Great question, and we’re an open book: Our process is very straightforward. We physically (in person) look at the location of the property, and examine what repairs are needed to make it ready to sell on the retail market, the current condition of the property, and the sold prices of comparable houses in the area recently. It’s a bit of a risk calculation that is difficult to show and explain. We’ve been doing this for a long time. We usually have a gut feeling about how difficult and time-consuming it will be to get houses bought, fixed and rented or sold. We can pay more for houses that only need cosmetic updating. On the contrary, we can’t pay as much for homes with years of deferred maintenance, structural issues, or other high-cost repairs. We are always interested in ANY house you want to sell, regardless of the condition or the repairs needed. We rarely visit a house we don’t make an offer on. The repairs needed are the biggest variable in our offer price calculation.
As you know, the market has been good but changes almost daily. Homes in good locations, in great condition at the right price sell quickly. We take many pieces of information into consideration…and come up with a fair price that works for us and hopefully for you too. If someone makes an offer on your house without looking at it, can you take them seriously? Did you look at it before you bought it? We don’t think you can buy a house without physically looking at it and making a fair offer to the seller.
Q: Are there any fees or commissions to work with you?
A: We are both real estate investors able to pay cash ourselves or bring you an investor buyer. We are licensed and reputable real estate agents. If you choose to have us list your house on the market using our marketing methods to sell your Wilmington house fast and for market value, our fees are defined in the paperwork and are similar to other agents. However, we do have a NO FEE option, which is our Quick Cash Close option where we make you a fair all-cash offer, charge no fees, and we or our investor buyer pay all closing costs as well. Contact us at (910) 538-7737 or submit the form on our site so we can walk you through how we can help you sell your house and reach your goals while putting the most money in your pocket.
Q: How are you different from a traditional real estate agent?
A: Great question! Many years ago we discovered that so many Wilmington house sellers in difficult situations were being ignored and under-served by real estate investors AND agents who were limited in how they could solve homeowners’ problems. For most real estate agents to take on a listing, the house has to be “show ready,” which often requires you to spend money on repairs, hold open houses, keep everything clean all the time, show the house to several potential buyers, and deal with the stressful problem of flaky buyers backing out at the last minute, painful post-inspection negotiations and repairs after the deal is made, or a retail buyer’s financing falling through right before closing.
On the other hand, many real estate investors make cash offers based on a formula that works for their business model, but for a seller who isn’t necessarily in a hurry or is indeed willing to go through the traditional selling process, that offer is often unreasonably low so the investors can sell the contract to someone else without actually buying or improving the house. In some cases, these investors do not have the ability to close on your house, their only option is to find a buyer who will pay more than they’ve agreed to pay you.
In some cases, there are options to use creative financing. We can talk about that on a case-by-case basis.
At Jonathan Swanson, Broker @ RE/MAX Essential, we are able to serve you with several options to sell, and you can pick the one that best helps you reach your goals.
If you’re looking for speed and convenience, you don’t want to deal with repairs, and you’re willing to give up a bit of equity for that convenience, great! Our Cash Offer program probably works for you.
If you’re seeking top dollar and can wait for the right retail buyer to come along, great! We are at a full-service franchise of a national company, RE/MAX Essential. We’ll make a few recommendations on getting your retail-ready home ready for professional photos and we’ll list your home on the market in the MLS and work hard to get it sold for you so you can put the most money in your pocket.
Essentially, the primary way we are different is that we don’t box you into a single option. We offer choices so you can choose what works for you.
Q: Is there any obligation when I submit my info?
A: There is absolutely zero obligation for you and we keep your info private. Once you tell us a bit about your property, we’ll take a look at the info you provided, call with you to find out a bit more. We’ll schedule an appointment to see the house if it makes sense for both of us and make you at least one offer that’s fair for you and fair for us. From there, it’s 100% your decision on whether or not you’d like to sell your house to us. We will follow up with you but we won’t hassle or harass you. We will try to help you. It’s 100% your decision and you decide what’s right for you. Let us know when you decide. Take your time.
Ready To See What We Can Pay for Your House?
Get A No-Hassle, No-Obligation, Cash Offer on Your Home.
Get the FREE Guide and then give us a call at (910) 538-7737 and we’ll discuss what your home is worth and what we can offer to buy it for with our Cash Offer Program.