When you decide to sell your house, there are 3 pathways to choose: 1) Selling it through a realtor, 2) For sale by owner, and 3) Selling directly through an investor. If you choose either of the first 2 routes, odds are good that the buyers you will attract are planning to live in the home. If you sell to an investor, he or she will likely either “flip” and re-sell the house, or turn it into a rental property. Knowing the difference between working with traditional buyers versus real estate investors will help you decide which options is best for you.
The current condition of your home is a key factor in deciding whether you should try to sell your house to an investor or to a traditional buyer. If your house is in great shape with no need for repairs or updates, selling your house to a traditional buyer (either with a realtor or for sale by owner) is probably your best bet. The buyer will do an inspection, and likely have some things that they want you to fix, but if there are no major issues, the buyer and seller can usually agree on something reasonable.
If, however, your house is in need of repairs, or if you haven’t updated the house to keep up with current trends, you will face several challenges when trying to sell to a traditional buyer. Although an investor will still do an inspection before buying your house, he/she is only looking for a few major problems. Unless the inspector finds something extremely major (like a crumbling foundation), the investor will still want to buy your house, and will never ask you to make repairs first. Compare this to a traditional buyer who will be concerned by things like stains or carpets, dings in the wall, wallpaper to be removed, etc.
Try walking around your house and imagine that you are a potential buyer who may want to live there. Are there projects that would need to be done? Repairs that need to be made? If you want to save yourself the stress and hassle of jumping through hoops to make your house perfect for the next owner, you owe it to yourself to do your homework and look into selling to a cash investor. Not only will you not have to make any repairs, you will not pay any commissions or closing costs, and you can close in as soon as 2 weeks, or pick any other closing date that is convenient for you.
If you consider selling your Indianapolis house and want to sell direct to an investor knowing the difference between working with traditional buyers versus real estate investors will help you decide which options is best for you. If you decide selling your house direct is the best option for you, then work with a professional home buying company with the knowledge, experience and resources to ensure a successful outcome. At Ittenbach Capital, we are passionate about building solutions for homeowners who need to sell their houses fast and re looking for creative solutions for difficult houses.