The average time to sell a home is 25 days. This is significantly better than how things were back in 2010 when the average time it took to sell a house was 140 days. However, this is not fast, and your home is not guaranteed to sell in 25 days. There are a number of factors that determine how quickly you can sell your home, such as location, season, and others.

If you want to sell your home in Albuquerque quickly, what do you do? You may have seen those "we buy houses for cash" signs. Are you able to sell your home in a few days without doing any repairs, or even cleaning it up for walkthroughs by buyers? 

If it sounds too good to be true, perhaps it is.

Let’s see what’s going on with these home buyers.

Who Are They?

Buyers who offer to buy homes for cash are not the typical buyer. Their purpose isn't to live in or find a rental property. Their aim is to earn a quick profit by investing in properties. 

The objective of such home buyers is to buy a house for the cheapest possible price, fix it up, and resell it soon after. In just a few months, they often make a large profit. 

Who Do They Target?

In order to accomplish this, they specifically target motivated and desperate sellers. Have you tried listing your home for sale and the listing expired without a sale? A cash buyer probably contacted you soon after. When you fail on the open market, you may have no choice but to sell your house for cash at a rock bottom price.

It is possible that your home did not do well on the market for any number of reasons. You can ask a knowledgeable agent what changes to make for your next attempt. A good agent will always provide you with a better return than a cash buyer.

In the same vein, cash buyers go after people in situations that require a fast sale. A few examples include:

  • Divorcing sellers
  • Bankruptcy
  • Foreclosure
  • Employment change
  • Probate sales

Often these buyers are called "opportunity investors". Their goal is to earn some serious cash. Opportunities are often found in other people's misfortune.

Benefits

The fact that they can sell their home quickly, however, may seem like a blessing to some people in these situations. A fast sale would take care of their problem of not getting enough return on their investment.

Cash buyers are also quick to close. 

It typically takes about 30 days to close a financed purchase. In most cases, it's the lender who drags out the process by requiring appraisals and other paperwork and procedures before approving the funds release.

This is not an issue for cash buyers. It's quite common for them to visit your home within two days after you contact them. You may receive an offer on the spot or within the next few days. Most of the time, titles are cleared by a title company that they have on-hand. 

Also, a home inspection can slow down the transaction. Usually, buyers request them before closing the sale, and may even request repairs to be made.

This is not what cash buyers do. As a rule, they buy the house "as is" and do the repairs later.

You will hand over the keys in only a few days, and the house will be sold.

Negatives

This sounds really good, doesn't it? Where's the catch?

Your profits and equity will most likely disappear. A cash buyer's offer is often just enough to pay off your mortgage. Generally, you will only receive 50-80% of the market value. 

To save on the hassle of conventional marketing, 80% of the market value might seem attractive. Yet the average is about 65% of the market value. Alternatives exist, as well, such as iBuyers such as Opendoor, which offer a more convenient and speedy buying process.

These types of companies should also be treated with extreme caution. They are scammers in some cases. Buying a home, but not paying for the mortgage, is a common scheme. There have been a number of instances where sellers who no longer owned the property found themselves still responsible for paying the mortgage.

Make sure you do your research before selling your home to a cash buyer. Selling a property to get rid of it is not the only option. Alternatives are available that are more lucrative.

Contact us today to help you buy or sell your next home in Albuquerque. Looking for the perfect home for sale in Albuquerque? Our easy-to-use home search tool can help you start the process. Join us twice a week on our blog for more real estate advice and great reasons to buy a home in Albuquerque and the surrounding area. Follow us on Facebook for the latest Albuquerque real estate updates.

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Looking for the perfect home for sale in Albuquerque? Our easy-to-use home search tool can help you start the process. Join us twice a week on our blog for more real estate advice and great reasons to buy a home in Albuquerque and the surrounding area. Follow us on Facebook for the latest Albuquerque real estate updates.

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