You may have a few cash buyers interested in your Augusta home and all of them seem to offer the same thing… They will pay cash for your Augusta house and can close quickly.
On the surface level, everyone seems the same but it isn’t until you dig deeper where you will start to find discrepancies.
Before choosing a buyer to move forward with, here is the checklist I recommend you go through. At the bottom, you will be able to download a copy to keep on hand while speaking with potential buyers.
1. Is the Buyer Local?
Being local can make a huge impact on the timeline and ease of the sale. If someone is not local, they will most likely want to see the interior of the home before closing. This means that #1 they cant close as fast as they will need to find time to see the property or #2 they will have someone come out and see it for them. Having someone come see the home for them means more coordination on your end and someone coming inside your home you don’t know or have spoken with yet.
2. Are They The End Buyer?
The “end buyer” means the person who is presenting you with an offer is the one who will be purchasing the home. You may think that this is always the case but you will be surprised at how many “buyers” aren’t the ones who close on the home. In short, someone will make you an offer for say $100k. They will then sell their rights to purchase your home for say $110k via assignment of contract. In return, they made $10k for the rights to purchase your home.
3. How Long Of a Due Diligence Period Are They Requesting?
The due diligence period gives the buyer the right to back out of the contract within a pre-determined amount of days with no repercussions. The longer the due diligence period, the longer you will be responsible for paying holding costs on the property and potentially waste of your time.
Generally speaking, we only ask for 3 -5 days of due diligence… sometimes even shorter.
4. How Has Their Communication Been?
Communication in the early stages is a tall tale sign of how it will be once the home is under contract. It is imperative that all parties are “on the ball” with responding as not moving fast can quickly delay your closing. Make sure to take note of how their responses are when you are initially talking to them.
5. How Much Are They Putting Down For Earnest Money?
As mentioned above, if a seller backs out after the due diligence period has expired, they lose their earnest money. The earnest money they put down directly represents how serious they are in purchasing the property.
6. Do They Have A Website or A Facebook Page?
This hot market has brought an influx of new investors who want to try their hand at investing. That said, you may be the first seller they are working with. Although I am all for people trying new things, you may not want to go through the trials and tribulations of this investor learning how to do their first deal. A quick online search of their name should bring up results and reviews of how they do business.
7. How Long Have They Been In Business?
In addition to looking at online reviews, you also want to see how long they have been in business. It’s easy to quickly push out new business names online and this is a common practice for those who have previously received bad reviews.
8. Can They Provide References?
Those who have a track record of working with professional standards will have no problem sending over a few references for you to follow up.
