Frequently Asked Questions
Maybe you have a few questions. That’s okay; most people do. So here’s a quick collection of some of the questions people ask us… along with our answers. If you still have a question, don’t hesitate to contact us (or give us a call) and we’ll be happy to answer it for you.
Can you Sell A home On the Market in As-Is Condition:
What Does As-Is Condition Mean:
Do I Have To Pay My Taxes Before Selling? :
How Do I Get Paid For My House By An Investor:
How Is The Value Of My House Determined:
HOW FAST CAN YOU BUY MY HOUSE?
Hey, Berks County, April Crossley here with Berks County House Buyers, and we’re answering some of your most common questions.
Oftentimes people will ask us how quickly we can buy a house. Sometimes sellers aren’t in a huge rush and that’s okay, we buy on your timeline. We don’t rush you out of the home by any means. But sometimes sellers are in a hurry. Just this past week, we had two sellers that called us that wanted us to buy their house immediately, within three to five days. Sometimes this is possible, sometimes it’s not, and I’m not trying to be vague about the answer but it really depends where your house is in Berks County. So if you’re in the city of Redding for example, you have to schedule a final water reading with them, which we help you with, but it can take them some time to get out to the property. It might take them a week, a week and a half, maybe a couple days if you’re lucky, but you can’t have settlement without that final water reading.
Some townships also require what’s called a property transfer inspection and you have to schedule that with the township. Again, we do all of that. We do the scheduling, we take care of it and we can meet the inspector there, but you can’t actually sell the property until that property transfer inspection’s done.
The other thing that it depends on is the title company and how quickly the title work comes back. If you have a mortgage company in place and we need to get a mortgage payoff, that takes a little bit longer because we have to contact the mortgage company to find out what that pay off is. If the title company’s not extremely busy, we can typically get the closing done pretty quick, usually within a week, maybe two weeks. Again, we’re not rushing anyone out, but sometimes when people want to sell in three days or a day or five days, that might be cutting it a little close just because of the things I mention, mentioned, excuse me, previously in the video about just getting the transfer inspections done and final water readings and all the things that the municipalities and townships and the city requires before you actually sell the property. So there’s a lot of factors.
So if you call us or reach out to us via email, you can reach us, aprilbuyshousesberks@gmail.com, you can follow us on Facebook at Berks County House buyers, or you can follow us on Instagram at Berks County House Buyers. Just message us or shoot us an email, let us know where the house is that you’re looking to sell and we can kind of give you a ballpark timeframe. We’re used to working with a lot of the municipalities and townships in Berks County. It’s where we’re from, we’ve lived here our whole life, we’ve been buying here for 12 years, so we’re really used to how things work depending on what area the house is in.
Look forward to hearing from you and helping you with any other questions that you have. Thanks, Berks County. Have a great day.
CAN YOU SELL A HOME IN NEED OF REPAIR:
Hey, Berks County, it’s April with Berks County House Buyers, and we’re answering some of your most frequently asked questions. A lot of times people will ask us if they can sell their home on the market as is without doing any repair to it. So there’s not an issue but a little bit of a hiccup when you sell your home on the market. People are typically getting a mortgage, they’re going to buy with a mortgage. And when they get a mortgage, the mortgage company requires an appraisal, and that appraiser or also sometimes a home inspector requires that certain things are fixed in order for the homeowner to get that mortgage.
So for example, you can’t have any chipping paint for a lot of these mortgages, anything that’s chipping paint has to be scraped and painted. You have to have handrails going to the basement, handrails on all the steps. Railings around porches that are more than, I believe 18 inches off the ground. You have to have a working septic system. You have to have a roof that’s in good condition. There’s a whole list of things. You have to have a working kitchen, a working bathroom. Sometimes people in Berks County have houses that have been a little let go and they’re in need of repair, and they don’t have the money, or sometimes they have the money but they just don’t have the time, and they don’t want the hassle of finding contractors and working with contractors and putting money into a house to get it fixed up. So, that’s when they’re calling Berks County House Buyers to get a fair cash offer on their home.
With us, we pay cash, so we don’t do any inspections. There aren’t any mortgage contingencies, there’s no appraisal. We’re just buying it as is. So we’ll walk through, take a look at it and give you some options for selling. Sometimes we give people the market value and we tell them what they need to fix if they would want to put it on the market for a buyer that’s getting a mortgage. That’s always where you’ll get the most amount of money for the home is listed on the market with an agent.
It’s not the quickest way to sell and it’s not the easiest way to sell however. So sometimes families are overwhelmed or sellers are overwhelmed and they’re just looking for a quick fair cash offer on their house in Berks County, and that’s where Berks County House Buyers comes in. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us. If you want a free consultation on your home, you can reach us at 610-816-6205, and you can check out more information on our website, www.berksdirectcashbuyers.com.
I CAN’T AFFORD TO KEEP UP WITH MY HOUSE:
If you have a house in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and you’re having trouble maintaining it, that’s okay. This happens to a lot of people. A home is a big deal. It’s a lot to keep up with, mowing the lawn, trimming back the trees, keeping the bushes and landscaping in check, scraping and painting the exterior, keeping the house up to date and fixing everything. Houses get old. They start to fall apart, and people are really short on time and often don’t have time to fix things.
When they go to sell, sometimes they meet with real estate agents that tell them, “You have to fix this. You have to fix that. You have to put a roof on it in order to sell the property,” and that’s just not the case. At Berks Direct Cash Buyers, we buy the house as it sits, even if it’s in need of some work. So, if you have a house that’s been let go, and you haven’t been able to keep up with it, no worries. Give us a call today or check us out, www.berksdirectcashbuyers.com.
WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF SELLING A HOME:
We’ve been buying houses in Berks County for about 12 years now and a lot of times people will ask us, what is it going to cost me to sell my home?
When you sell your house for cash to Berks County House Buyers, we pay all of your closing costs. We’ll come out, take a look at the home so that we can give you the best offer possible. And the number we give you is with us paying your transfer tax and any fees. We settle at a title company, just like if you would sell what the real estate agent, but you don’t have commissions and you don’t have transfer tax and you don’t have any other fees. We pick up all of those costs. So the number that we give you is the number with us paying all those fees so that you don’t have to pay anything to sell your house in Berks County.
CAN YOU SELL A HOUSE WITH A FAILED SEPTIC SYSTEM:
Hey, Berks County. Today we’re answering your questions about septic systems. A lot of people will message me and ask, “Do I buy houses in Berks County with failed septic systems?” Or “Do I buy houses in Berks County that have septic systems in general?” And the answer is yes, that we do. Often times, depending on the age, we might have the septic system inspected. The cost of that inspection is on us, so you don’t have to pay for the inspection. If you know that your septic system has failed, we will buy a house with a failed septic system and we’ll take on the responsibility of installing the new system.
Typically, a buyer will not be able to get financing for a house with a failed septic system. So a cash buyer like Berks Direct Cash Buyers is your best route to go. We’ll buy the house as it sits and we’ll take care of replacing the septic system so that you don’t have to go through that.
For more information, you can visit us at www.berksdirectcashbuyers.com.
ARE WE BUY HOUSES A SCAM:
Are you scamming me? This is probably one of the number one questions I get asked because we are Berks County house buyers. Oftentimes, homeowners think because you purchased homes and renovate homes or you want to buy their home to use as a rental or something that there’s some kind of scam going on, and this just isn’t the case. People have a legitimate reason for feeling this way, and I’m going to tell you why. I have talked to homeowners in Berks County that have gotten taken advantage of by house buying companies, and it’s unfortunate and it’s sad.
These companies don’t put these people before their profits. They’re just all about cheesy sales pitches and trying to make the most money they can as opposed to helping the homeowner first. Here’s two red flags that you can look out for that accompany might be taking advantage of you. Number one, they make you an offer over the phone without even coming out and looking at the house. Why would they do this? Because they’re going to have you sign a contract electronically with contingencies in it. What they’re going to do then is come out and have a contractor come and look at the house and then re-negotiate the price and drop the price or tell you they don’t want to purchase the house at all.
They’re wasting a ton of time by making you an offer over the phone. It might seem like a great offer, but then when they come out to the house, they’ll change their mind. What we do is we gather some information over the phone to make sure we can truly help you before we come out and take a look at the house. Then we come out and thoroughly review the home so we can get you the highest offer possible.
Red flag number two is when a company makes you an offer that’s way higher than what other companies are making you. This unfortunately is a tactic I’ve seen used by multiple companies in the area. What they do is they make a really high offer or they tell you they can pay you whatever you want for the house. Then they come out and take a look at the home and they re-negotiate the price, or they tell you they have to find another investor that can buy it at that price.
What happens is they then drag out the process until perhaps say two weeks before settlement. They’ll say, “Oh yeah, we’re going to settle on December 29th.” On December 25th, they’ll reach out to them and say, “Oh, we couldn’t find an investor to buy it at that price.” Or, “We had our contractor review things and now we need to drop the price and re-negotiate and pay you 30 grand less.”
The reason they intentionally drag it out is because they know they have you under the gun. You’re under pressure. You’re supposed to sell this house within five days. You’ve already packed your stuff and you’re ready to go, and now they’re pulling this on you that they need to drop the price significantly, or that they have no one to buy the house and they can’t purchase it. It is sad, but I’ve seen both these things happen multiple times in Berks County. Hopefully this open discussion about scams that are out there can help you. You can always reach us at www.berksdirectcashbuyers.com if you’re looking to get an offer on your home in Berks County.
WHY SELL TO A CASH BUYER:
Hey, Berks County, a lot of times people will ask me, why would someone sell to Berks County House Buyers and sell their house cash instead of just listing it on the market with an agent?
I’ll tell you the reasons people sell to us.
The first reason is typically, if they have a home that’s in need of repair. They don’t want to do any fix-up or getting it ready for the market. When a traditional home owner buys it, they’re going to get financing, so for them to get financing, you can’t really have any chipping paint or an old roof. You have to have a heater that works. A kitchen in place that’s working. And sometimes people have homes that are really in need of repair so they’re not market ready and they wouldn’t be eligible for financing if a traditional buyer came along. Because we buy houses cash in Berks County, you don’t have to worry about having financing when you’re selling to us or us being able to get qualified for financing, I should say.
The other reason people usually sell to us is because they have a house that’s full of stuff and they don’t have time to clean it out. They just want to take with them what they want and leave the rest behind. When you sell it on the market, you’re going to have to have that whole house, I believe the term they use is cleaned out and broom swept. In good condition, to be able to sell it on the market.
Sometimes people get really overwhelmed. They live in a house for a long time, they accumulate a lot of stuff, and they don’t want to clean all that stuff out prior to selling it. So with us, you just pack up what you want to take with you and you leave the rest behind and we take care of cleaning it out.
The other reason people sell to us is typically speed. They need to move quickly. We buy houses that are in need of repair in Berks County, but we also buy houses that are in good condition. For example, we just bought a home, all it needed was a little bit of carpet. The homeowners actually cleaned the majority of the stuff out. The house was in great condition, but they found another house they wanted to buy and they needed to sell their house quickly in order to get that other one under contract, so speed was a factor.
We also do with a lot of people that are downsizing or going to the next level of care and they need to sell the home quickly so that they have cash in hand so that they can move. Or they’re in pre-foreclosure and they want to sell the house quickly before it goes to foreclosure to try and save their credit.
Really, if a home’s in need of repair, if it’s full of stuff, if you need to sell really quickly, Berks County House Buyers is probably a good option for you to sell your house cash.
If you have a house that’s in great shape and you have time and the resources to clean it out and put it on the market, you probably want to explore an option of listing it with a real estate agent.
I hope that helped answer your questions.
Please feel free to give us a call and check out our website, BerksDirectCashBuyers.com, for more information.
My name’s April Crossley and we are buying houses cash in Berks County.
CAN YOU SELL A TENANT OCCUPIED PROPERTY:
Hey everyone. April Crossley here, from Berks County House Buyers, and I’m answering some of the most common questions that I get asked when sellers call because they have a home they need to sell. A lot of times, people will call us, that own an investment property, or they have the house as a rental. So they’re not living there full-time, they’re renting it out, and they need to sell the house. And they often ask, can I sell this house while a tenant is still living in it, and you can.
We do buy houses in Berks County, that are tenant occupied. If it’s a difficult tenant that needs to be evicted, we do take care of that for you. So you don’t have to go through the eviction process before we buy the house. We will buy the house if the tenants great, and they want to stay in place, but we’ll also buy the house if the tenant’s not so great, and that’s your reason for selling. So whether the house is occupied, or the house is vacant, we will work it out. We can buy it either way, and take care of all the headaches for you.
CAN I RENT MY HOUSE BACK AFTER I SELL IT?:
Hey, everyone. April Crossley here from Berks Direct Cash Buyers, and we’re answering more questions that sellers commonly ask us. Today we’re going to talk about renting a house back to a seller. A lot of times sellers will inquire about selling their home quickly but they still need a little bit of time to move to something else, and they’re working on saving a little bit more money to move to something else. They’ll ask us, “Can I sell you my house,” we’ll got to settlement, we’ll buy it, so that they have the money from the sale, but then they want to rent the house back for like a week, or two, or three weeks, or a month. And we do do this, we can rent the house back to you, as the seller.
What we’ll do is we will purchase the house, so you’ll have the money from the sale to go buy something else, and we’ll do a lease agreement with you. So basically you’ll become a tenant under a lease agreement and you can rent your home so that you’re not in any rush to pack or to move or anything like that. We really do make it as flexible as possible. To find out if your home is a good fit for us, you can find out more information about our company at www.berksdirectcashbuyers.com, or you can give me a call directly, 610-334-0608. We look forward to helping you.
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY WE BUY HOUSES PEOPLE OUT THERE? :
Hey Berks County, April Crossley here answering some more of your commonly asked questions when you’re looking to sell your home cash. A lot of people ask me, “Why are there so many We Buy Houses signs out there? It seems like everybody buys houses, cash.” There’s a ton of people from out-of-state and out-of-state companies that are coming to the area. And here’s a few things that you need to look out for when you’re dealing with a company that says that they can “buy your home quickly” or “buy your home cash”.
Number one: you want to make sure that they’re local. This way you know you’re getting the highest and best amount for your property. So at Berks County House Buyers, we’ve been working in the Berks County market for close to 12 years now. So we know what home values are inside out, upside down and backwards. Number two: you want to make sure that company has your best interest at heart. At Berks County Direct Cash Buyers, we always say. “People before profits.” Our goal is to give you multiple options for selling and let you pick the option that’s best for you. Number three: you don’t want to sign a contract with a company that says. “And/or assigns”, what this means is that company isn’t actually, buying your property. What they’ll usually do is try to get you to agree to a price over the phone. Or, they’ll just ask you what you’re looking for and tell you that they can pay you that amount. Either without seeing your home or put the property under contract, right away.
What they’re doing is, they’re just putting the property under contract in writing for whatever you’re asking for. But they have escape clauses in their contract. They’re going to take that contract and sell it to another company. What this means for you is that they’re going to put your property out there, in an email on the internet, with the address telling other investors that it’s for sale. And trying to sell that property to other investors. So it puts you at risk with your property. And opens up your property address to tons of people. So at Berks County House Buyers, we don’t do this. Our contract does not say “and/or assigns”. We come out, we take a look at the property. We do a brief walk-thru, it takes us about 20 minutes. And we take our time and get back to you with a solid offer, that we know we can purchase the property for. And we buy directly, we’re not selling the contract or trying to sell your house to another investor.
What’s happening with these other companies, is they’re giving you whatever you ask for or they’re offering too much. And then, a week before you’re supposed to go to settlement or the day of closing. I’ve had sellers tell me, even the day of closing. These companies are backing out because, they couldn’t find another investor to buy the house at that price. So they’re not showing up for settlement and they’re not actually, buying your home.
So be really careful. There are lots of companies out there, that are coming to the area and they do not have your best interest at heart. To see if your home is a good fit for us at Burks County House Buyers, you can visit us at www.berksdirectcashbuyers.com, and download our seller packet to find out more about our company. Or you can give us call at 610-334-0608. We look forward to helping you.
DO YOU MAKE ANY MONEY IF YOU SELL TO A WE BUY HOUSES COMPANY? :
Hey Berks County, we’re answering some of your commonly asked questions when you visit our website and inquire about selling your house quickly for cash to Berks Direct Cash Buyers. So here at Berks County House Buyers, a lot of people ask us can they break even when they sell their home.
Are they going to make any money if they sell it to a, “We Buy Houses Company,” or are they going to walk away from the table with any money or does it cost them anything? So first I want you to know, it doesn’t cost you anything to sell. You don’t have to bring any money to the table, that’s all your closing costs and everything will come out of the profit or sometimes the company will pay all of your closing costs depending what’s owed on the home.
So you don’t have to bring any money to the table or come out of pocket with any money. Can you make a profit? So here’s where having a free consultation really comes in handy. We’ll come out to the home and we’ll let you know what you can list the home for on the market and what profit you’ll make and what you can sell it for cash, and what profit you’ll make that way as well.
So it really depends on what you owe on the home. Are there any back taxes, are there any other liens on the home, what is the property worth, what is your mortgage balance? A cash offer from an investment company is typically going to come in somewhere around 70 to 75 percent of what you could get on the market.
So on the market is always where you’ll get highest and best. That’s where you’ll get the most amount of money. But it’s not the quickest way to sell, it’s not the easiest way to sell. So if you have a home that’s in need of repair, or one that you need to sell quickly, or you’re just tired of dealing with it and don’t want to wait for it to sit on the market, getting an opinion about what you can get for it cash is a good way to go.
So at Berks Direct Cash Buyers, we try to give you both the market value and the cash value of the home so you can compare them to see what kind of profit you’re going to walk away with. And we break that down for you. We tell you net, “This is what you’re going to make if you list it on the market and this is what you’re going to net if you sell it to us cash.” And we let you pick the option that’s best for you.
So if you’re interested in a free consultation, check us out, www.berksdirectcashbuyers.com or give us a call, 610-334-0608. We look forward to helping you sell your home, Berks County.
DO I HAVE TO PAY THE TAX BILL IF I SELL MY HOUSE TO YOU? :
Hey, Berks County. It’s that time of year again. Tax bills have just come out, and people will often ask us if I wanna sell my house, and I’m gonna sell it to you, do I have to pay the tax bill? Or, if I’m one year or two year or three years behind in taxes, do I have to bring that money to the settlement table? And the answer is no. The taxes will get paid off at settlement. They’ll come out of the profit. We can factor all that in when we do a consultation with you, so we can tell you exactly what you’re gonna net after the taxes are paid off, but the title company will take care of paying off everything for you.
So, if you have a vacant house in Berks County, or you have a house that you inherited in Berks County, or you just have a house that you’re behind on taxes or haven’t paid the taxes yet and you’re getting ready to sell it, call us for a free consultation, 610-334-0608. Don’t pay those taxes yet. We can tell you what you’re gonna net and get those taxes paid off for you. We look forward to helping you. Check us out, www.berksdirectcashbuyers.com. We have been buying houses in Berks County for about 12 years, and helping homeowners, and we looking forward to helping more.
SOME OTHER COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Q: Will you be listing my house on the MLS or actually buying it?
A: Great question. We’re not agents, and we don’t list houses. We are professional home buyers: We buy houses Berks County that meet our purchasing criteria. From there we may repair the house and resell it to another home owner or keep it as a rental ourselves. We DO however work with a licensed agent. When we meet with you, we will have our agent give you a market value for the home. So if you want to list it on the market, you will have that option as well!
Q: Do you pay fair prices for properties?
A: Many of the houses we purchase are below market value (we do this so we can resell it at a profit to another home owner). We are looking to get a fair discount on a property. However, in our experience, many sellers aren’t necessarily expecting a large “windfall” on the property but rather appreciate that we can offer cash, we close very quickly (no waiting for financing), and no time or effort or expense is required on your part of fix up the property or pay agent fees. If that’s what you’re looking for and you see the value in getting your house sold fast… let’s see if we can come to a fair win-win price. (Besides, our no-obligation pricing commitment means that you do not have to move forward with the offer we give… but it’s good to know what we’re offering!)
[DOWNLOAD our free guide that walks you through the Pros and Cons (plus the cost and timeline) of selling your house to a real estate investor… plus learn the pros, cons, and costs of the other two alternatives… listing with an agent or selling it yourself. Head on over here download your free guide →]
Q: How do you determine the price to offer on my house?
A: Great question, and we’re an open book: Our process is very straightforward. We look at the location of the property, what repairs are needed, the current condition of the property, and values of comparable houses sold in the area recently. As you know, house values have taken a huge hit in the last 5 years and most areas still haven’t seen prices come back up. We take many pieces of information into consideration… and come up with a fair price that works for us and works for you too.
Q: Are there any fees or commissions to work with you?
A: This is what makes us stand out from the traditional method of selling your house: There are NO fees or commissions when you sell your house us. We’ll make you an offer, and if it’s a fit then we’ll buy your house (and we’ll often pay for the closing costs too!). No hassle. No fees. We make our money after we pay for repairs on the house (if any) and sell it for a profit (we’re taking all of the risk here on whether we can sell it for a profit or not, once we buy the house from you… the responsibility is ours and you walk away without the burden of the property and it’s payments… and often with cash in your hand).
Q: How are you different from a real estate agent?
A: Real estate agents list properties and hope that someone will buy them. The agent shows the properties to prospective buyers if there are any (the average time to sell a property in many markets right now is 6-12 months) and then take a percentage of the sale price if they find a buyer. Oftentimes, the agent’s commission is 3-6% of the sale price of your house (so if it’s a $100,000 house, you’ll pay between $3,000 – $6,000 in commissions to an agent). Agents provide a great service for those that can wait 6-12 months to sell and who don’t mind giving up some of that sale price to pay for the commissions. But that’s where we’re different: We’re not agents, we’re home buyers. Our company actually buys houses. We don’t list houses. Since we’re actually the one buying the house from you, and we pay with all cash… we can make a decision to buy your house within a couple days (sometimes the same day). Again, we make our living by taking the risk to buy the house with our own cash, repair the house, and market it ourselves to find a buyer (which is the hard part in this market).
Q: Is there any obligation when I submit my info?
A: There is absolutely zero obligation for you. Once you tell us a bit about your property, we’ll take a look at things, maybe set up a call with you to find out a bit more, and make you an all-cash offer that’s fair for you and fair for us. From there, it’s 100% your decision on whether or not you’d like to sell your house to us… and we won’t hassle you, won’t harass you… it’s 100% your decision and we’ll let you decide what’s right for you.
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