If you live in Washington DC, selling a home is one of the biggest annoyances you might have to deal with in your time as a homeowner. Moving out of the District is often as many employees are federal. If you are looking to relocate from here, you’ll want to sell your house quickly without the hassle and preferably get an all cash sale. Unfortunately, experiences like this are incredibly uncommon, especially when you use real estate agents.  Houses that are listed on the MLS can sometimes take as long as 8 to 10 months and don’t come without issues. Often deals fall through, for a variety of reasons. Loans fall through, renovations aren’t effective, titles are clean, etc. Additionally, you’ll have to pay 6% for a real estate commission to the agents in addition to typically splitting closing costs. When all is said and done you could be out nearly 10%!

This is in contrast to investors who buy houses in Washington DC such as The House Guys who have been able to set up a process for homeowners to sell a house without dealing with a realtor. The House Guys are fast, reliable, and deal in all cash.

Before working with a home buyer, you’ll need to figure out if the company is genuine or not. Below are a list of things to help you figure out what a responsible home buyer looks like in Washington DC. 

Look at Their Reputation In The Market

Ratings and rankings are important when working with any service. Check google reviews, BBB ratings, and facebook reviews. Those that are well rated are the ones to work with. Make sure to check any negative reviews and if they have been responded to by the owners. You could also check the site based testimonials but those are typically less trustworthy.

Figure out how they will make the transaction easier 

Ask for their detailed roadmap for the entire process. Home buyers should be the most professional and qualified and their approach. They should be able to get you a quote quickly and they will never charge you for an inspection no matter your decision.

Ask them how many houses have they purchased previously

How trustworthy someone is can be determined from their past experiences. Ask them to give you referrals of past home sales. People who have successfully closed 1000’s of deals are the right people with the most experience. They’ll understand the situation of a seller no matter the cost. They also won’t take advantage of the seller even if the sellers are in distress. They have fixed costs and they operate within those bounds.

Ask them what makes them unique

For many people, financial health is more important than anything. This is why many homeowners are looking for a deal that gets them cash for their house. Newcomers in the industry such as The House Guys are really changing the model for selling your home. If you’ve heard of carmax than you know of an industry that was turned upside down. The House guys are working to do the same thing. Streamline the process of buying and selling homes and cutting out the middleman that typically takes a huge cut (realtors and the title companies).

Is the sale guaranteed?

You should certainly be asking them if the home sale is guaranteed. What contingencies are in place? If they decide to back out at the last second what happens? How large is the earnest money deposit and who will get it if the buyer fails to complete the transaction. Regardless of how the transaction goes, be sure to leave a review after it is over.

Make sure this is not a kitchen table closing

You should be working through an attorney or a title company to finalize the transactions. Working with just the buyer and selling to them or feeling rushed (also known as a kitchen table closing) should be avoided. It’s best to work with a title company/attorney to make sure all transactions are on the up and up.