Frequently Asked Questions
At Owen Buys Houses, we understand that selling your home can be a daunting process, especially when faced with challenging situations like foreclosure, inherited properties, or unwanted repairs. Led by Wahib “Owen” Farooqui, our dedicated team brings years of real estate expertise to help homeowners in Staunton navigate these difficulties with ease. We pride ourselves on offering personalized, compassionate service and a streamlined cash buying process that eliminates the stress of traditional home sales. Whether your property is in perfect condition or needs significant work, we are committed to providing you with a fair cash offer and a hassle-free experience. Our goal is to empower you with the information and support you need to make the best decision for your situation.
Maybe you have a few questions. That’s okay; most people do. Here is 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 anytime. We would be happy to answer it for you.
How do we arrive at your offer price?
- We consider local market conditions, your specific location, recent comparable sales, and what we learn about the condition of your home on our visit.
- Every person’s situation is different, and we know of cash and more creative options to give you the best offer.
- We make sure our offer solves the reason you’re selling, and we come up with a fair price that works for both of us.
Will I get a lowball offer?
- Our goal is to provide you with the fairest offer possible. Unlike other investors, buyers or big companies trying to buy your house, we’re transparent with how we arrive at an offer amount. What we offer is based on what the value of the property may be once we make the necessary improvements and upgrades. We’re entirely upfront with this offer process and happy to walk you through how it works if you wish!
Are there any fees or commissions to work with you?
- 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 directly to us compared to listing fees, where up to 6% comes out of your pocket. We’ll make you an offer and, if it’s a fit, then we’ll buy your house with no hassles and no fees. We’ll often pay for the closing costs, too! We make our money after we pay for repairs on the house and sell it for a profit. We’re taking the risks 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 its payments, as well as cash in your hand.
Is there any obligation when I submit my info?
- 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. We’ll let you decide what’s right for you. No pressure!
How are you different from a real estate agent?
- 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 4-6 months) and then takes a percentage of the sale price if they find a buyer. Oftentimes, the agent’s commission is 6% of the sale price of your house. If it’s a $100,000 house, you’ll pay around $6,000 in commissions to an agent.
- Agents provide a great service for those that can wait 4+ 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. Our company buys the house directly from you. Since we pay with all cash and purchase the house from you, we can make a decision to buy your house within a couple of days (sometimes even 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. And although we have an active real estate license, because we are buying your house and not listing it, there is no commission.
What we look for on our visit.
- Typically, our house appointments last less than an hour, though we’re more than willing to take the time needed to address all your questions. We begin by examining the exterior of the house. Following that, we’ll invite you to guide us through a walkthrough, during which we’ll assess your bedrooms, bathrooms, water heater, HVAC system, and perhaps a couple of other areas of interest.
Will you be listing my house on the MLS or actually buying it?
- Great question. We don’t list houses. We are professional home buyers. That means we actually BUY houses that meet our purchasing criteria, and we don’t use bank financing so you don’t have to worry about our ability to close on a deal. After purchasing, we may repair the house and resell it to another homeowner or keep it as a rental ourselves.
Do you pay fair prices for properties?
- Many of the houses we purchase are below market value. We do this so we can resell it at a profit to another homeowner. We are looking to get a fair discount on a property. In our experience, many sellers aren’t necessarily expecting a large “windfall” on the property. Instead, they appreciate that we can offer cash, we close very quickly (no waiting for financing), and no time, effort, or expense is required on your part to 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 win-win price for both parties. Our no-obligation pricing commitment means that you don’t have to move forward with the offer we give… but it’s good to know what we’re offering!
How do you determine the price to offer on my house?
- 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 the value of comparable houses sold in the area recently. Taking the many pieces of information into consideration, we come up with a fair price that works for us and works for you, too.
How is this different than other other “home buying” companies?
- Unlike other investors, buyers or big companies trying to buy your house, we’re not only the highest paying home buyers around; we are also strictly localized to our neck of the woods in the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia. You’re getting the highest possible offer from a small, family owned business with decades of expertise under our belt! There’s not a situation we haven’t encountered that we can’t handle. Other businesses just want to low ball and throw money at you but we understand your house and future is worth more than that.
What if I don’t want to speak on the phone?
- We understand it can be nerve wracking to speak to someone new for the first time and start talking about your house. In a world of unwanted spam calls, talking about personal matters over the phone with a stranger is the last thing anyone would want to do. Ultimately, our job is to help. We’re not a foreign company that outsources jobs all over the world, especially not one as important as making sure YOU our future Seller is well taken care of. We’re real people behind the phone and you can trust it will be a pleasant experience whether we do business or not. There’s no high pressure sales tactics and it’s perfectly ok to tell us no if the offer isn’t a good fit!
Can’t you just give me the offer? I don’t want to be sold to if I call
- While we do require all our Sellers to follow the same process as part of company policy, all our offers are made within 24 hours at the end of it all. There’s no high pressure sales tactics and it’s perfectly ok to tell us no if the offer isn’t a good fit!
Is this even legit?
- Yes, it is! The real estate industry is rapidly changing, and thousands of homeowners are exploring their options when it comes to selling their house in the fastest, easiest, and most transparent way. That’s where we come in. We offer an alternative for those homeowners who may not have the time or ability to list their house on the market for top dollar. We’ll work with you to assess your situation, make you a transparent all-cash offer, and close on your timeline.
- But hey, we get it why you’d ask. There’s a lot of scams out there! Rest assured, you’re working with the real deal with Owen Buys Houses. If at any point in time you don’t feel comfortable, let us know and we can part ways as friends.
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 versus the pros, cons, and costs of the other two alternatives – listing with an agent or selling it yourself.
Looking for this to be broken down further?
Here’s a comparison chart to give an overview:
Commissions / Fees:
Selling With An Agent
Selling To An Investor
SOLD To Owen Buys Houses
Up to 6%, paid by you, the seller
None
Who Pays Closing Costs?:
Selling With An Agent
Selling To An Investor
SOLD To Owen Buys Houses
2% on average is paid by you, the seller
We pay all costs.
Inspection & Financing*:
Selling With An Agent
Selling To An Investor
SOLD To Owen Buys Houses
Yes, sales can fall through.
None needed
Appraisal Needed:
Selling With An Agent
Selling To An Investor
SOLD To Owen Buys Houses
Yes, the sale is often subject to appraisal.
No, we make cash offers.
Average Days Until Sold:
Selling With An Agent
Selling To An Investor
SOLD To Owen Buys Houses
+/- 91 Days
We provide immediate cash offers.
Number of Showings:
Selling With An Agent
Selling To An Investor
SOLD To Owen Buys Houses
It Depends
1 (Just Us)
Closing Date:
Selling With An Agent
Selling To An Investor
SOLD To Owen Buys Houses
30-60+/- days after accepting the buyer’s offer
The date of YOUR CHOICE.
Who Pays For Repairs?
Selling With An Agent
Selling To An Investor
SOLD To Owen Buys Houses
Negotiated during the inspection period
We pay for all repairs.
*An inspection contingency lets the buyer have time to do an inspection and back out of the sale or negotiate a new price if there are repairs that need to be done. If you can’t come to an agreement with the buyer, the buyer has the right to back out of the sale. Similarly, a financing contingency gives the buyer the wiggle room to back out of the purchase if they can’t obtain a loan or if the home doesn’t appraise for the value that the bank needs to close the loan.
Want To See What We Can Buy Your House For?
Fill Out The Quick Form Below To Get A No-Hassle, No-Obligation, All-Cash Offer
Learn The Pros and Cons Of Selling Your House To A Local Professional Home Buyer – Your FREE Guide:
Download our FREE Guide here and contact us anytime with questions or if you would like a no-hassle Situation Evaluation. Learn more about how we help Staunton homeowners sell their unwanted properties for cash.
Get your FREE Guide and then give us a call at 540-296-2695. We would love to discuss what your home is worth and what we can offer to buy it with our Cash Offer Program.