If you live in a detached house, you’ve probably received several of the letters seen above over the years. This company is offering to buy my house in what they call a “simple, stress-free process.”
I wanted to find out what they meant, so I called them. They asked me how much I wanted for my house, and when I didn’t answer, they asked that same question at least two more times.
I said I wasn’t necessarily in a rush to sell, and I didn’t know what my home was worth, but that I received their letter and was curious about what they’d offer. They said they’d call me back tomorrow with a dollar figure for a “cash offer.”
When they called back, they offered me almost 15% less than my estimate of fair market value. Real estate fees vary, but I’ve never heard of an agent charging anywhere near 15%, so I would lose a lot of money by selling to them.
Companies like this are counting on three things:
- You don’t know what your home is worth.
- You don’t know what your agent will charge you.
- You don’t know that while there’s some work involved in listing your home for sale, a great real estate agent will help you manage and mitigate that effort.
This strategy is a numbers game. If companies send out 50,000 flyers, one or two homeowners are so afraid to engage with the public sales process – or are so adverse to paying a real estate agent – that they’ll sell at a significant discount. These sellers probably don’t know how much money they’re losing.
Letters like this one are, at best, a waste of paper. At worst, they’re predatory. If you receive one, send it straight to the recycling bin.
A Q&A with Mary Cleaver, the author of You Can’t Live in the Ceilings.
Mary Cleaver recently published You Can’t Live in the Ceilings, a practical guide to everything about buying and selling real estate in BC. We sat down with her to ask why she wrote this book and what she hopes Homeseekers will gain from reading it.
