Did you know that cash sales accounted for 15% of all home sales in July of 2020? This means that investors looking to buy homes for cash have made up a significant portion of the market recently, especially in Vermont, which has seen the third-highest increase in real estate prices in the past year.
So what’s the big deal? Are these companies legitimate? Can homeowners like you really sell for cash in Vermont? Read on to learn more about cash buying companies in Vermont.
What Is a House Buying Company?
The first question to answer is, what is a house buying company?
A house buying company, also known as a cash house buying company according to Homelight, is a company that will purchase property directly from you, the owner, rather than having to go through an estate agent. This means your house doesn’t have to sit on the open market for weeks for the chance of finding a buyer.
It also means that you don’t have to deal with the hassle of working with a real estate agent. On top of the difficulty in finding one that you work well with without clashing for months on end, working with an agent means that you’ll have to pay a hefty commission. You’ll also be responsible for additional contingencies and costs from their agency before they even list the property.
Using a cash buyer in Vermont avoids the middleman and lets you directly control the house sale from start to finish. It can also mean avoiding foreclosure if you find yourself struggling with your mortgage payments, as you can use the cash from the sale to pay off the loan so that it doesn’t end up on your record.
How Do House Buying Companies Work?
Cash home buyers work very differently from traditional home selling venues like real estate agents. They don’t work on commission, and they don’t go through the regular market to sell your house. Instead, they use cash sales to buy properties as-is and then resell them for a profit.
You will generally get slightly lower offers from cash house buyers than you would from a traditional home sale in Vermont. This is understandable considering the benefits of selling your house for cash. With Vermont cash buyers, you don’t have to go through the process of depersonalizing, staging, and listing your home over the course of months. You’re still likely to get a fair offer that is near market value.
Rather, you can sell your house for cash fast and be in a new home in weeks. You’re trading a high price for the control, simplicity, and efficiency of a cash sale.
What Types of House Buying Companies Are There?
The process of using companies who buy houses for cash is significantly faster and simpler than listing through a traditional realtor or going through an FSBO (For Sale By Owner) sale. Not all house buying companies look the same, though. These home buyers come in a few different varieties depending on the intent behind the sale.
- House flippers are house buying companies whose intention is to buy a project property, remodel or renovate it to add value to it, and then re-sell the newly-refurbished property quickly for a profit. They’ll usually buy homes that need cosmetic or simple mechanical repairs that can be done relatively quickly and easily.
- Buy-and-hold companies are exactly what they sound like. They’ll buy without having the intention of selling the houses again, but rather use them as a rental property that might be updated to turn a profit. While these companies will often buy homes in need of some light work, they’re not going to invest in more costly projects.
- iBuyers, short for “instant buyers,” rely on the internet to make immediate offers to buy your house, sight-unseen. These are sites like Zillow and Opendoor. iBuyers would rather buy properties in very good shape and will charge a fee for the costs of purchase, marketing, and sale. They make up a solid 1% of home purchases in Vermont and across the US.
- Trade-in companies will buy your house and hold its value as collateral until you purchase a new property. As the name implies, you are essentially trading one property or another. These are slightly less common than the other kinds of cash home buyers, but are just as efficient and have just as many benefits.
Cash buyers are different from FSBO in that you still have the outside expert help to get an excellent deal when selling your house for cash in Vermont. These companies work with thousands of homes and have years of experience to rely on, meaning that, if you have any questions, they’ll be able to answer them for you reliably. You remain in control without the stress of running the sale completely alone.
Who Can Buy My House for Cash?
So who are these cash house buyers? Cash home buying companies are small groups of individuals recognized as a single legal entity who can buy a house outright without going through additional lender financing. They’re usually run locally, so understand the Vermont buyer better than a larger firm.
The focus of companies who buy houses for cash is to provide legitimate, measurable value. Cash home buyers attempt to add monetary value to their communities by improving the properties that they sell through renovation. They also add value by making life easier for those selling in their community by providing a fast and fair outlet to move on to the next property without damaging their records.
The number of investors involved in these cash home buying companies varies based on the kind of house buyers they are. You may be dealing with a single person or family that is house-flipping, or you may be dealing with a group of individual investors who work together to sell houses for cash fast through an iBuyer website.
You can often find these companies and their customers’ reviews online through sites like the Better Business Bureau.
How Does Selling Houses for Cash Work?
There are quite a few benefits to selling houses for cash, but one of the biggest is the simplicity of the process. Selling your house for cash in Vermont happens in three main steps.
A cash buyer will often request information about the home first to determine appropriate valuation. This might include general specifications like square footage, home layout, the property’s age, and the date of the last inspection. They may also request information about any current or previous damage and repairs to the property.
Once all of this information has been submitted and reviewed, if the home buying company is interested in the property, then they’ll make a cash offer that you can look over. If you accept it, then the company will send out an inspector to do their due diligence and ensure that their offer is accurate to the condition of the home. They’ll make sure that there aren’t any repairs to be made that would affect the quick sale.
After a successful home inspection, your closing date may be in as little as 7 days. Some cash buying companies will charge a small fee for selling your home to a new owner, depending on the company you choose, but you won’t have to deal with high closing costs or commissions.
It really is that simple. No open houses, no market wait, no real estate commissions. Just submit, accept, and get paid a fair cash offer.
Sell Your House Fast With a Vermont Cash Home Buyer
If you’re looking to sell your house fast, a cash house buyer might be the right option for you. Made up of small groups or individuals, these companies cut the agents and the market wait time out of the process and put cash in your hands within weeks, or even days.
Companies that buy houses in Burlington generally have lighter requirements for property prep and inspection than traditional sales. Their fast closing times and fair, immediate home offers can be an excellent way to avoid foreclosures and move quickly through a process that, done traditionally, would be costly, lengthy, and frustrating.
Though it may seem too good to be true (and there are many scams out there), Vermont homeowners are earning fast cash every day through hardworking, legitimate real estate investors trying to improve their communities one property at a time.
The process of selling your house for cash in Vermont is a faster and simpler method for everyone involved.
Burlington House Buyers Will Buy Your Vermont Home for Cash
Looking to sell your home for cash? We buy houses in Vermont!
Consider Burlington House Buyers to sell your house as-is, on your own terms, to a local Vermont buyer. Locally owned and operated by a Vermont native family, Burlington House Buyers wants to provide an honest, transparent selling process for hardworking people like you. Contact Burlington House Buyers today for a cash offer.