We Buy Ugly Houses Review: Pros and Cons for Home Sellers

We Buy Ugly Houses is a brand that many have heard of. As part of the HomeVestors Inc. franchise corporation, they are a national real estate investment franchise that purchases “ugly” homes. They then either flip them for a profit, keep them as a rental property, or wholesales the contract to another investor. We Buy Ugly Houses franchises tend to operate in major metro areas and their surrounding suburbs.

How it works with We Buy Ugly Houses

When dealing with We Buy Ugly Houses and selling your home for cash, the process will be much like working with other real estate investors. They will either view the home or collect information from you, make you an all cash offer, and close on the transaction at mutually agreeable closing date.

How We Buy Ugly Houses Gives you an offer

First We Buy Ugly houses will search out distressed properties, or wait for you to call them since you probably saw a sign of theirs offering cash for your home. They will then offer you a below market price for your home and quickly flip your property after making some small repairs.

How We Buy Ugly Houses Franchises

We buy ugly houses is actually owned by a company called Homevestors. Basically, they license out the name to independent investors that use the name to gather leads.

Each Franchise is trained by the Homevestors parent company, but each franchise holder will operate totally different from the next on, so you NEVER know what you really getting depending on which franchisee you actually call. With ListingSpark you always know what you’re getting. With over 25 markets, our process is simple, fast, consistent and you make more on the sale of your home than Homevestors.

The Pros & Cons of Selling to We Buy Ugly Houses

When taking an objective looks at how “We Buy Ugly Houses” works, its apparent there are some well-defined upsides for home-sellers, as well as some significant downsides. Let’s take a closer look at how these pro’s and con’s breakdown. 

“We Buy Ugly Houses” Pros

There can be a variety of reasons why you would choose to sell your house for cash and work with a buyer like We Buy Ugly Houses. Here are a few reasons why selling your home for cash may be a good option for you.

They are a national brand

We Buy Ugly Houses has been in business since 1996 and has purchased over 100,000 homes per their website. With that kind of track record, there is a level of trust you may not get from other more niche investors or investment firms.

No repairs are necessary

We Buy Ugly Houses is not going to ask you as the seller to make any repairs, they are buying “as-is”

Quick Closing

In many cases We Buy Ugly Houses deals can close within 2 weeks or less

Flexible Move-Out

Many times We Buy Ugly Houses can work with the seller on a move out date that is flexible since they are not operating on the same timeline as a more traditional home buyer or real estate investor.

All Cash.

Most traditional buyers have to get a mortgage. With a mortgage comes a heightened risk of the transaction falling apart due to problems with the loan. You don’t have to worry about that when you are selling houses for cash.

No Commissions.

Because you are not officially on the market, you have the opportunity to avoid paying real estate commissions.

“We Buy Ugly Houses” Cons

Whenever you are selling to an investor a real estate investment firm, you should always expect some kind of a catch or a trade off for the convenience. Here are a few Cons you should look out for.

Leaving money on the table.

Because We Buy Ugly Houses are real estate investors, they need to be able to acquire properties below market value and turn a profit. So in most cases, when you sell houses for cash, you are taking an offer far below market value.

Multiple rounds of negotiating.

It’s not uncommon for “We Buy Ugly Houses” to agree to a price and then after you have an executed contract, they send out their contractors or inspectors and attempt to re-negotiate the contract and push for a lower price. These type of questionable tactics are used to push sellers into accepting extremely low offers. While this probably isn’t Homevestors company policy, there are many examples of individual franchisees using unsavory and borderline unethical tactics.

They may decide it’s not the right investment

Because We Buy Ugly Houses is an investment firm that makes lots of offers on a daily basis. Sometimes their initial offer or terms they agree on end up not working out after they dig deeper in the numbers and they end up terminating the contract.

The entire selling process timeline may take longer.

Although the “expedited” closing period can only take about three to four weeks (or sometimes longer), the entire selling process may be extended a month or longer than a full-rate agent.

Alternatives to “We Buy Ugly Houses” Cash Buyers

Even though “We Buy Ugly Houses” may be a viable option for fast moving home-sellers willing to leave some money on the table, the downsides may drive other sellers away. There are a lot of different options out there if you are looking to sell your home quickly, and it is important to weigh all your options. Here is a list of a few alternatives to “We Buy Ugly Houses” cash buyers.

• ListingSpark – ListingSpark is the EASIEST way to sell your home for top dollar with NO LISTING COMMISSION!
• Opendoor – High fees up to 9%
• OfferPad – High fees not all houses apply
• Zillow Offers – Same as Opendoor and OfferPad

Why you should consider ListingSpark as a We Buy Ugly Houses Alternative

At ListingSpark our goal is to give every seller we work with the best possible outcome. Whether that is maximizing profits, speed, vetting and qualifying buyers or coordinating the right move out date, ListingSpark has you covered. Here is a list of reasons why ListingSpark is the best option for home sellers.

What ListingSpark Offers

• Maximum Exposure. We tap in to the largest buyer’s pool possible through the MLS and hundreds of other popular websites like Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com.
• High Quality Listing. All of our listings come with complimentary professional photos so you can always be confident your listing will stand out against the competition
• Digital Lockbox, Showing Notifications and Feedback. We offer Showingtime that tracks all showings and solicits agents for feedback. All ListingSpark listings also receive a digital supra lockbox for safe and secure showings.
• Market Data. Every ListingSpark listing receives up to date market data to ensure you are making an informed pricing decision whether that means you want to sell for the highest price possible, or price your home more aggressively for a quick sale.
• Easy to use Dashboard to manage your listing. The ListingSpark dashboard allows you to edit your listing anywhere, any time from multiple devices. Through the dashboard, you can also review offers and negotiate the best terms.
• Integrated Title Company. Every ListingSpark listing has the benefit of working with Spark Title our integrated title company that can not only save additional money in fees (many cases as much as $500) we also start the title process earlier, so by the time you get a contract, the title process has already started.
• No Bloated Commissions. ListingSpark charges an extremely low daily rate of $7 per day to list your home. Many times , our clients have multiple offers within just a few days and close within a month, paying us less than $250 total for their listing. Click here for an in-depth breakdown of how much you can save.

If you want to get the most possible money while still selling your home quickly, you should compare all of your options. ListingSpark can list your home on the MLS for only $7 a day or just 1/2%.