While you may receive lots of letters or phone calls from “legitimate buyers” stating they are interested in your property in Florida, many of them can be just inexperienced adventurers or, even worse, scammers trying some trickery to end up buying your house for an unfair price.
Many of these “cash buyers” will make you an attractive initial offer, only to lower that offer later on or charge undisclosed fees. Many of them will do that right before closing, when here’s little to no time for you to be able to do anything about it.
But how can you know if a potential buyer is “the real deal”?
Below you will find some ways to avoid scammers/inexperienced buyers that can turn the dream of selling your house into a nightmare:
1. Check if the buyer is experienced or just a recent initiated in the real estate world
A great way to check if you are dealing with an experienced cash buyer is to look at their information in the public records. The more houses they bought, the more you will see their names recorded, and that is for sure an indicator of how serious your buyer is and how capable he/she is at helping you throughout the process. Being new to the market is not necessarily a bad thing, however most of the times this is an individual who is not able to deal with what the process entails, especially if it involves more complicated situations such as probates, unpaid mortgages, and so on, and this can cost you time and money.
2. Check if the buyer a legitimate company or just a virtual copycat
Today, there’s a large number of companies that exist only in the virtual world and are not actual corporations. These companies will copy the landing pages of real companies and will say they do the same type of job; however, they are merely virtual copycats that are not able to put a deal together. They will, in reality, sell your information to other companies for a fee, and you will become nothing more than a lead to many different companies. A way to prevent that is checking your State’s Division of Corporations, making sure to only share your information with accredited institutions.
3. Check if the offer is too good to be true
Ver heard the phrase “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is”? This knowledge seems to go a long way when the subject is real estate. While it’s easy to be excited about good news when trying to sell your home, it’s also easy to oversee some of the issues that can happen along the way. Many buyers will have many hidden fees and others will have a buying strategy of hitting you with an attractive initial offer, only to lower that over the time with the most different types of excuses/strategies. It is very common that unscrupulous investors also have the house under contract, only to hold it for a long time as they try to resell them to someone else. In many cases, they simply can’t find another buyer and will left you where you started, only with less time and, most likely, less money. Once again, recurring to the public records is the best strategy to check if the buyer you are dealing with is a real closer, and that the sale is going to be completed.
4. Make sure you are dealing with professional real estate agents/investors
It’s always a good idea to deal with licensed, experienced real estate professionals. They will not always make you the highest offer, but they will definitely give you a fair one, one they actually will be able to close and get you your well-deserved – and so much expected – cash. One way to check if the buyer you are dealing with is a licensed real estate professional is to inquire the Department of Business and Professional Regulation of your State.
Bonus tip:
If you want to be 100% positive you are making the right decision and selling to a trustworthy buyer, make sure to contact a company that has a long record of actually buying properties, and that is dependable and experienced, like Homeinc. We have helped thousands of homeowners sell their houses fast for cash, assisting with their process and making everything simple and easy. No wonder we have so many 5-star reviews, all from real-life sellers. Call us on 888-850-2636 to receive your instant cash offer, that will be fair and provided by an experienced real estate professional.
