If you’re looking to sell your house in Norfolk, Virginia, you have a few different ways to go about it. You can sell a house on the open market through a real estate agent, though you’re going to have to pay commission fees on that sale, not to mention all the marketing and closing costs involved. You can sell the house on your own, which can be extremely hard to do unless you’re an expert. You can rent-to-own in order to sell your house, which has its advantages and disadvantages. 

Or you can sell your house directly to a company that buys houses in any condition. This can often be a logical solution, depending on your situation. Sellers who find themselves needing to sell their house quickly, need to get cash fast, are unable to pay for costly repairs, or are dealing with a financial crisis that they need help with, can turn to companies that buy houses fast in order to find the help they need. A credible company that buys houses as-is will make a fair offer in cash on your house and they can close on the sale in a matter of weeks without involving any middlemen like real estate agents or lenders. 

But how do you know who the credible home buyers are in Norfolk? The same way you know any business is legitimate. You look into them and confirm the details. 

When you want to know if a company that buys houses in Norfolk is legit, start by confirming they actually exist. Do they have a website? Do they have a physical office location? Can you find the names of people associated with the company easily? Are they on social media? Ask yourself basic questions like these and then go find the answers. If the answers are easy to come by, that’s a good sign. If not, then you might have to consider why a company that’s supposed to want to build trust with you would make it hard to know who and where they are. 

What is the value of a credible home buying company? That’s a solid question because along with being a business, you’d like to think if you’re going to sell your house for cash to a company, they should be a solid member of the community. 

A credible company that buys houses as-is in Norfolk should be committed to helping people like you improve their lives and get out of sticky situations when needed. Yes, they want to make money on the house eventually but they also need to do right by those in the community so that you’ll want to spread the word about them to others. They should also have a passion for helping homeowners sell properties that have become a burden. What a relief that kind of service provides to people who are in a rough spot and need to sell their Norfolk house fast. 

A reputable home buying company is creating jobs, buying American-made materials and products, working to increase the value of the neighborhoods around Norfolk where they buy homes, helping to increase the local tax base by renovating properties to attract new residents, and also being a positive force in Norfolk in general.

What should you ask a company that buys homes for cash in order to find out how legitimate they are? If you decide to meet with a home buying company face-to-face, and we encourage you to contact them, there are some important questions you should consider asking to see where they stand. 

Ask them open-ended questions that you’d like to know the answer to, including how they help their clients, what kind of services they provide, what they’re most proud of, how they’d describe their investment philosophy, and why you should trust them with your house? A reputable company that buys houses as-is in Norfolk will have clear, concise, and credible answers for all those questions. 

On the flip side, if someone from a home buying company tries to get you to sign over the deed to your house quickly or anywhere other than their place of business, you should be wary. The same goes for any company that pressures you into making a decision right away and signing legal documents ASAP. A credible company that buys houses should ask what your schedule looks like and how fast you’d like to move. And once they make you an offer, they should give you a reasonable window of at least 48 hours, if not more, to ask questions or accept. Trust your gut and you’ll usually know when things feel rushed or wrong.