If you’ve been driving around in Central Mississippi, chances are you’ve seen some billboards and yard signs advertising companies that buy houses.
Often times they say things like “We Buy Central Mississippi Houses!” or “Cash For Your House”.
Are These “We Buy Houses in Central Mississippi Companies” Credible?
How do I know if the local house buying companies out there are honest and credible?
Well… sometimes they all look the same at the start… but below we’ll walk you through some things to look for in a local house buying company before you should work with them.
Buying and selling houses is a valid and respectable profession that can help communities and house sellers in many ways. But just like any other line of work – a minority of house buyers in any market are the ones who make the rest of us look bad. They make an initial offer to buy your property, but greatly reduce the offer after inspecting the property. We always have a partner take a first hand look at your property before we make an offer.
There are people who are really great, ethical folks who improve their neighborhoods one property at a time. It is their goal to help as many people as possible, both sellers and the next buyer or tenant, while making a fair profit.
And then there’s shady, dishonest people who put money ahead of the well-being of their clients and who would sign the contract to sell their own grandmother with one hand while stabbing you in the back with the other – as long as they were making enough money. The sick feeling I had when another investor told me how he “stole that house from an old lady” won’t be forgotten any time soon.
We’ll help you avoid these “shady house buyers” so you can work with honest, ethical, and reputable local companies who can buy your house for a fair all cash offer and close on your schedule.
But let’s not focus on the negative – at least not yet.
First, let’s cover exactly what the best house-flippers are doing. They never rush or pressure you to sign a contract with their company. If you don’t feel good about the deal, then we don’t want to be your buyer.
Yes, they are out there.
What Reputable Central Mississippi House Buyers Are Doing
- Helping folks improve their lives by accessing the money they need right away. People often need the cash in their house to cover unexpected medical expenses, or to relocate to be close to a relative. We can make that happen in just a few days, and we deliver peace of mind. We allow you the choice of taking everything from the house with you, or just what you need/want, and we take care of the rest. We make offers with the intent to close, not to sell that offer to another investor or buyer.
- Helping sellers get rid of a burdensome property without the hassle of having to list it with a broker and wait months and month for a sale. Some sellers just don’t want the burden of time, unqualified buyers, home inspection repairs and the longer process when a buyer gets a loan. While one of our partners is a licensed agent and can help if that is your preferred path, you are under no obligation to work with them. Sometimes the property is in such a state of disrepair, the seller is overwhelmed with the thought of improving the property.
- Creating local jobs. We hire plumbers, contractors, electricians, brokers, title reps, loan officers, administrators and many other folks along the way. The average real estate transaction involves 86 people from start to finish. Our investments help create real jobs for people around Central Mississippi MS. We love our local small business vendors helping us improve our properties. They refer sellers to us and sometime buy the property from us after we finish the rehab!
- Buying US products. We spend tons of money on materials that are made right here in the USA – that creates jobs in our timber mills, factories, supply shops, distribution centers and more. The US economy depends on steady improvement, and that requires investment from folks like us. We use local small businesses to acquire as much as possible of our materials. It is always a great feeling to share with the next buyer about all the local vendors involved with each property.
- Increasing the value of Central Mississippi neighborhoods. When we improve a house, we’re helping to increase the value of the entire community. We often repair abandoned and neglected houses, turning them into beautiful homes for families. That activity strengthens Central Mississippi. We often have neighbors stop and offer their thanks just for simply cleaning up the landscaping. That first view from the curb is what everyone sees daily and that is always one of our first action items.
- Increasing the tax base. When a new buyer takes over one of our properties, they’ll pay a higher tax rate based on the new and improved value. Those taxes go to pay for our schools, fire, police, libraries, streets and other valuable pieces of infrastructure. Again, improving our neighborhoods.
Pretty cool stuff, right?
Lots of people think of house-flipping as a get-rich-quick scheme. That’s fueled by silly “reality” shows that amp up the drama because the reality of what we do on a daily basis is actually pretty boring. Some popular tv shows make this look easy and very profitable. While we always strive to make a profit, hidden defects we uncover with eat into those quickly. A modest profit is our typical goal, but we do have to build in margins for those unexpected repairs.
Most of our work is coordinating with lots of people to make sure things are happening on time. We have to keep track of lots of moving parts. This is the hardest part of what we do as we try to minimize our time back to the market but have to wait on our preferred vendors, material backorders and out of stock items, weather delays, etc.
So let’s get back to how you can use this information to find out if someone is a credible investor, and not just pulling a house buying scam.
How To Ensure You’re Working With A Reputable Local House Buyer
When you talk with a local house buyer to potentially buy your house… ask them some of the questions below to ensure they’re reputable, knowledgeable, and honest.
Ask open-ended questions like:
- How do you help your clients?
- What do you do for people?
- Can you tell me more about your services?
- What aspect of your business makes you the proudest?
- How would you describe your investment philosophy?
- How can I know that you’ll close on my house when you say you will?
We are happy to answer any of these questions as well as any other without any fast talking manipulation tactics.
Second, look for tell tale signs of tactics that those few shady operators tend to use.
- “Kitchen table closings” – If a property buyer tries to get you to sign the deed (ownership) of your house over to them at your house, rather than a professional place like a closing attorney or title company… be leery. Most reputable house buying services will perform the actual closing of the sale at a neutral 3rd party place… like a title company. This ensures everything is done right and on the up and up. We always close in the office of a neutral 3rd party, not at your house, unless you request this. Additional documentation is required when we do this for verification purposes.
- Pressuring you into a fast closing – If a house buyer tries to pressure you into selling your house and says that you have to make the decision today, be leery. Most reputable house buying services will make you and offer and that offer will be on the table for at least 2-7 days (minimum) for you to make a decision. The reason reputable house buying services like ours at IM, LLC do place deadlines on our offers is because the market changes and values can change week to week depending on other sales in the area, also… we buy multiple houses a month and when we make you an offer we’re assuring you that the cash to purchase your house is ready and we’ll reserve that cash for several days so if you do want to sell your house, we can close on your schedule. If you feel the offer isn’t a fit for you, then we’ll assign those funds to help another seller with their home sale. We want to work in your timeframe whenever possible and try to offer multiple solutions for you to consider.
Most scammers are looking for a quick score, and not an in-depth interview. This is definitely a RED FLAG!!
Chances are good that they’ll find excuses to get off the phone and move on to someone who doesn’t ask too many questions. Sometimes we are super busy, but we will schedule a call time that is convenient to both parties allowing ample time to answer your questions
True investors who run honest and ethical Central Mississippi house buying services, however, are building long-term businesses based on relationships and community development. We are Helpers and not here to rush you into a big decision. We will walk away if you are comfortable with our offer.
So when you’re looking at one of the “we buy houses in Central Mississippi companies“… never be afraid to ask questions!