Review of Companies that Buy Houses Online

I’m pushing almost a decade since I bought my home and now that the kids have moved out and to college, we’re thinking of moving into a new house. We’ve heard the buzz in the real estate industry about companies that buy houses online, so we figured we would take a look at some of the big players and share what we’ve found. So, if you’re contemplating selling your home, you might be able to sell to an online company without the time-consuming house tours and expensive concessions of traditional home sales. Here is our review of three of the bigger players in the “cash for homes” market.

1. We Buy Ugly Houses

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This may be the most noticeable of the “sell your house fast” types of companies due to their funny mascot and silly tagline. We Buy Ugly Houses is a fast way to sell your home because they don’t rely on a traditional mortgage to provide funding. The process is straightforward enough. You contact We Buy Ugly Houses about selling your home.

They make a home inspection appointment and write you an offer for your house as-is. The appraisal may include some of the closing costs as well as an analysis of your property’s location. An advantage is that you don’t have to pay a realtor’s commission or make repairs to sell your house. They’ll even buy homes with foundation issues and ones in “undesirable” neighborhoods.

2. Offerpad

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Offerpad works on a similar business model and will make a cash offer to sell your home, with the selling fees already incorporated into the offer. Offerpad bas been buying homes for just over three years now and operating primarily online until the inspection period. They’ll make you an offer if you need to sell your house fast, allowing you to skip the time it takes to find a realtor, take pictures, list the home online and potentially wait months for a buyer. Offerpad will buy condos, townhomes, and single-family houses.

The main benefits of Offerpad are that they will provide a cash offer just based on the home info you provide in the purchase request, allow you to pick your closing date(s) and will provide a free local move – that’s pretty helpful, moving isn’t always fun. This is ideal for sellers that need cash fast for or those that just don’t wish to take the time to go through a protracted selling process. As of early 2019, Offerpad is not nationwide and is only buying houses in Arizona, Texas, Florida, Nevada, California, Georgia and North Carolina with plans to expand into more states and cities over the next few years.

3. National Cash Offer

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National Cash Offer may be a boon to some landlords. They focus on anyone who wants to sell their home fast, but many of their clients are owner-turned-landlords that just want to get out of the tenant business. They will buy houses anywhere in the country, although the focus primarily on single-family homes. They’ll write a cash offer after they conduct an appraisal, and they have an in-house real estate appraisal team, which have certain things that they’ll let slide and some things (like foundation issues or termites) that tend to be deal breakers.

In conclusion, if you’re a homeowner and looking to sell your house, you may want to look into these real estate technology-based companies that will provide you an (almost) instant offer online and potentially buy your house directly. All three of these companies are upfront about fees associated with selling your home to them. They will write a fair, cash offer for your house, but don’t expect to reach the maximum home value from them, it’s the convenience factor you are selling with a higher focus is on helping people who want to sell their house fast, versus getting the highest offer, like a traditional real estate agent will.