Have you recently been thinking of selling your house?
If so, you may have heard about iBuyers. Maybe, you’re considering selling your house to one too.
But what exactly are iBuyers? And should you sell your house to one?
In this in-depth article, we’ll explore 16 reasons why you should sell your house directly to an iBuyer.
But first, let’s answer the question we touched on above - What exactly is an iBuyer?
The short answer: An iBuyer is a company that typically makes fast, cash offers for properties in their as-is condition.
iBuyers differ from a traditional real estate sale because they make an offer to purchase your house directly from you, without the need to go through the trouble and time of a conventional listing and sale.
Now that we know what iBuyers are let’s jump into why you’d want to sell your house to one.
You Will Not Have to Make Any Expensive Repairs to the Property
One of the great things about selling to an iBuyer is they will not ask you to do any repairs to the property before closing.
It’s almost guaranteed that a traditional buyer will ask you to make costly repairs before the deal closes.
When a traditional buyer sees something in an inspection report they don’t like; they can ask you to repair it.
Especially if there’s anything wrong with a major system.
Did your HVAC just die?
Are your pipes leaking
Is the electrical not up to code?
A traditional buyer will ask you to spend thousands of dollars to fix it.
An iBuyer won’t care.
iBuyers Don’t Ask For Concessions
When you sell your house to a traditional buyer, they will most likely ask you for seller concessions.
Seller concessions typically come in the form of down payment assistance or other contributions towards closing costs.
For example, if a buyer has to bring $20,000 in total closing costs to the table, they may ask you to contribute $5,000 to help soften the blow.
You can deny or reduce the concessions you’re willing to offer, but that could jeopardize the sale.
iBuyers will not ask you for seller concessions.
Some iBuyers Will Offer to Pay Closing Costs
Not only will iBuyers not ask you to contribute towards their closing costs, but they will likely offer to help pay your portion of the closing costs.
Typical seller closing costs include:
City and county transfer tax.
Recording fees.
Escrow fees.
Title search fees.
Many iBuyers will offer to pay these costs for you.
iBuyers Can Close on Your Timeline
A challenging part of selling your house traditionally is the timing of it all.
You have to list your house and wait to get offers.
Then, buyers may only be concerned with their needs.
And buyers can run into delays with their financing or include a home sale contingency, which makes the entire deal contingent on their house selling.
All of these things add unpredictable elements to when you’ll be able to close the deal.
iBuyers are often able to work on your timeline. They can close quickly, sometimes as fast as seven days.
Additionally, they can offer an extended escrow period if you need more time to prepare to move.
iBuyers offer a level of certainty in terms of timing that a traditional buyer cannot.
iBuyers Don’t Charge Realtor Commissions
What’s the single most expensive line item you have to pay when selling your house?
Agent commissions!
You can avoid realtor commissions by trying to sell FSBO, or you can sell your house directly to an iBuyer, as they do not charge you realtor commissions.
You Won’t Have to Wait to Get an Offer off the MLS
As we mentioned above, one of the things that’s tricky about selling to a traditional buyer is the timing.
When you sell to an iBuyer, they will work with you to close on your timeline.
iBuyers Don’t Care About The Inspection Results
When selling a house, you never know how a buyer will respond to the inspection results.
Many real estate sales fall through because a buyer didn’t like something in the inspection.
Traditional buyers are likely to:
Ask you to perform pricey repairs to the property before closing.
Negotiate a lower price.
Back out of the deal entirely.
iBuyers typically plan on buying houses that need work and try to factor in any anticipated repairs into their offer.
It’s unlikely an iBuyer would back out of buying your house based on an inspection’s results.
However, if they are expecting the foundation is in good condition, but the inspection shows there’s $20,000 worth of foundation repairs needed, they’ll probably want to renegotiate with you.
You Won’t Have to Pay to Stage the Property
Staging a property is highly recommended when you decide to list your house on the market.
But staging can be expensive, and not everyone can pay for it.
Staging is great because it allows people to visualize themselves living in the property. And this helps them form an emotional connection with the house.
It doesn’t matter to iBuyers if the property is staged, as they have no intention of living in it.
iBuyers Typically Use Cash or Specialized Loans
When a traditional buyer submits an offer for your house, you have to consider the type of financing they’re using.
FHA
VA
Conventional
USDA
Each type of financing comes with its own set of strings attached.
I won’t discuss each type of financing in-depth here, as I do so in this article: How to pick the best offer for your house.
iBuyers will purchase your house using cash or a specialized loan designed to close quickly. These specialized loans also don’t require minimum property standards to be met like other financing types.
Why does this matter to you?
A common reason traditional home sales fail is that the buyer can not secure financing.
You do not have to worry about this when selling to an iBuyer.
iBuyers Are Professionals
Whether the iBuyer you’re working with is big or small, you can count on them being professionals.
Do your due diligence, though, and check them out online.
Look at any reviews and testimonials they have from past clients.
Some people may pose as professional home buyers, but they have no experience at all in reality.
When working with a legitimate iBuyer, you can count on them to get to the closing table with ease.
iBuyers Won’t Ask for an Expensive Home Warranty
Home warranties are commonly asked for by traditional buyers, and they can be pricey.
Buyers are smart to ask for home warranties, though, as they will help cover any repairs that come up after closing on a property.
For example, a home warranty company may:
Help repair plumbing issues.
Resolve electrical issues.
Fix a problem with the HVAC system.
Of course, there are many rules and stipulations, and buyers have to pay a service fee each time they call a technician.
However, home warranties help buyers feel secure after their purchase.
A good home warranty can easily cost you over $500.
iBuyers won’t ask for one since they buy the house as-is and anticipate putting some work into it.
Some iBuyers May Go The Extra Mile To Help You
Depending on the iBuyer you’re working with, they may go the extra mile to help you post-closing.
How might they help you?
They might offer to help you with moving expenses.
They may offer to arrange your move.
If you have items that you need to find storage for, they may offer to help you with that too.
I’ve even heard a story from a small home buyer purchasing flights for the seller so they could move across the country to be with their daughter.
I can’t guarantee the buyer you work with will offer to go above and beyond for you, but you can certainly ask!
It’s doubtful a traditional buyer will offer to help you move.
iBuyers Don’t Get Cold Feet
We’ve all heard of buyers' remorse. You may have even experienced it yourself recently.
Homebuyers are not exempt from getting cold feet.
Maybe they decided they don’t like the schools.
Maybe they found a house that better meets their needs.
Or, maybe they decided to keep renting an apartment.
Whatever the reason, if a buyer wants to back out of the sale, they can point to something in the inspection results and be fully within their rights to do so.
iBuyers are highly unlikely to back out of a deal because they changed their mind.
Remember, iBuyers buy homes as a business. If they made you an offer for your house, they want to close the deal.
There’s No Need to Schedule Open Houses
Don’t like the idea of opening up your house to the public for hours on the weekend?
That’s okay; not everyone wants to let a bunch of strangers roam around their house unchecked.
When you sell directly to an iBuyer, you will not have to hold any open houses.
It is important to note that some people will have to come by and view the house even if you sell to an iBuyer.
A representative for the company for an initial visit.
Contractors.
Inspectors.
Maybe an appraiser.
There will be a few required visits, so be ready to let a couple of people in.
You Don’t Have to Be Ready To Leave Your House At A Moments Notice
When selling your house on the market, it must be easy to show.
An interested buyer may see your listing on Zillow and want to view it right away.
In this case, you have to be ready to leave your house at a moment’s notice. Sellers are typically asked to leave the house during showings.
You can set things up where viewings require a 24-hour notice, but this could hurt you.
Imagine a buyer is waiting to view your house, and in the meantime, they view a different one.
The buyer winds up liking the other house and buying that one instead of yours.
You won’t run into this issue with iBuyers.
The Property Won’t Have to Meet Any Minimum Standards
We briefly touched on different types of financing earlier, such as FHA or VA loans.
There’s one more caveat that traditional buyers come with, and it depends on if they’re using one of the loans mentioned above.
FHA, VA, USDA, and other loan programs require a property to meet a minimum set of requirements before the loan can close.
If your house doesn’t meet the minimum requirements, two scenarios could play out:
The sale gets canceled, and you have to wait for another offer.
You have to spend money on repairs so the house can meet the requirements and close.
When you sell your house directly to an iBuyer, you don’t have to worry about the house meeting minimum requirements.
There are home buying companies that will buy your house even if it needs to be torn to the ground.
Interested in Selling to A Direct Home Buyer?
Does selling to a direct home buyer sound like the right option for you?
If so, Contenza Properties may be the right option for you.
We don’t charge you any fees.
There’s no need to do any cleaning or staging.
We never ask you to do any repairs.
And we go above and beyond for the sellers who work with us.
Submit your information below using our simple form, and one of our friendly representatives will get back to you shortly.
About The Author
Jordan Reid founded Contenza Properties in April of 2018 to help homeowners solve their real estate problems quickly.
Since then, Jordan has helped multiple homeowners facing difficult situations such as divorce, property liens, and unwanted property inheritance.
Jordan believes in putting people first, and numbers second, which helps him reach the best possible solutions for the homeowners he works with.
Currently, Jordan and his team at Contenza Properties offer their professional home buying services in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Knoxville, Tennessee.