5 Things To Look For When Deciding What “We Buy Houses” Company To Work With
We Buy Houses Companies are a dime a dozen these days. Just google: We Buy Houses [insert City Name] and you will find pages of websites and people who claim to have legitimate house buying businesses. The truth is, many are not. Anyone can put together a website these days. In fact, you can even buy a website that has pre-written content. So how you do determine what companies are credible and which ones are not?
What is their web site like?
Just because a company has a poor website doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad company. Not everyone is tech savvy! But when a We Buy Houses company has a well thought out website with pictures of the owners, happy sellers, legitimate contact info and testimonials more times than not they are probably credible. Do they show pictures of any current projects? Does it look like they are actively closing deals and keeping busy? Often times, business owners will document their projects on social media and have a following.
Check Reviews: Is the business registered on Google?
Google makes it difficult for someone to manipulate reviews. The owner cannot edit or delete them. So if someone had a bad experience with a company and leaves a poor review, there’s no taking it down. Google now has verified reviews and you can check the profile of the person who left the review. Additionally, Google also does a a great job verifying whether or not your business is legitimate but asking you to confirm your physical address and many other criteria related to your business.
Does a real person answer the phone?
I can’t tell you how many times I call a number from a website and get an answering service, someone from overseas, or a generic voice recording. What’s worse is when you leave a voicemail you don’t even get a call back! Not sure how some people stay in business. Well, the answer is they probably don’t. If you are wondering whether or not they are legit, just call the number on the website and see what happens. If you get a live person, great! There is a good chance they are legitimate and are welcoming new customers.
Ask for references
Why not? If they are a legit business they should have a long list of happy customers that would gladly put in a good word for them. If they stall or are unable to give you anything, that would be a red flag.
Is the business BBB Accredited?
The Better Business Bureau is still a great way to check credibility of a business. Not any company can be represented by the BBB. They do a very thorough review of each business and even check references to verify that suppliers and contractors that work with you have proper licensure. This is also another platform where a unsatisfied customer can leave a bad review and effect a BBB rating.
The bottom line, do your homework. If you find someone that checks all of these boxes its probably worth giving them a shot. The good ones that are doing lots of deals are also making the highest offers and outbidding their competition. All the more reason to find a credible home buyer!