Our offers
How we calculate our cash offer
Four numbers, in the same order every time. We will show you all four for your house, because a number you cannot check is just a number you have to trust.
How we get to the number
Here is the arithmetic. All of it.
Every cash buyer uses this formula. Most will not show it to you. Now you can hold any offer against it — ours included.
What it would sell for, repaired
What comparable houses nearby actually closed at
$220,000
What the repairs cost
Roof, systems, kitchen, floors — at what a contractor charges us
$42,000
Costs of holding and reselling
Taxes, insurance, utilities, financing, and our commission on the way out
$21,500
Our margin
What we make for the risk of what is behind the walls
$25,000
What we would offer you
$131,500
These figures are an illustration, not an offer. They show the shape of the calculation, not a number for your house. Yours depends on what it would sell for repaired, what it needs, and where it sits. Ask and we will walk you through all four numbers for your address.
Where each number comes from
After-repair value is what the house would sell for on the open market once it is fixed. We take it from what comparable houses nearby actually closed at recently — not from list prices, and not from an automated estimate. On a street with few recent sales this is the hardest number to pin down, and it is the one most worth arguing with us about.
Repairs is what the work costs us, at contractor pricing rather than retail. This is usually where our number differs most from a seller’s expectation, in both directions. Cosmetic work costs less than people fear. Structural, mechanical and sewer work costs more.
Costs covers everything between buying and reselling: insurance, property taxes, utilities, financing, closing costs on both ends, and the commission we pay when we sell. These are boring and they are not small.
Margin is what we make for taking the risk. We are not going to pretend it is charity. The risk is real — the surprise behind the wall, the market moving during the renovation, the buyer who falls through — and the margin is what covers being wrong.
Honestly compared
Us versus listing with an agent.
Both are legitimate ways to sell a house. They are good at different things, and one row below goes to the agent.
Time to close
- Janam
- 7–21 days. You pick the date.
- Agent
- 60–90 days, once you add listing time and financing.
Agent commission
- Janam
- None. There is no agent in the transaction.
- Agent
- 5–6% of the sale price, split between both sides.
Closing costs
- Janam
- We cover standard closing costs.
- Agent
- Usually 1–3%, and customarily yours to pay.
Repairs
- Janam
- None. Including the things you would rather not mention.
- Agent
- Before listing, then again after the inspection.
Cleaning and showings
- Janam
- None. No open houses, nothing to keep show-ready.
- Agent
- Showings on the buyer's schedule, often for weeks.
Financing falling through
- Janam
- Not a risk. We do not use a lender.
- Agent
- A loan can collapse late. A low appraisal can reopen the price.
Certainty the sale actually happens
- Janam
- High. Title is the main variable, and we check it early.
- Agent
- Depends on a buyer and a lender you do not control.
Gross sale price
Advantage: agent
- Janam
- Below retail. This is the real trade-off.
- Agent
- Usually higher. On the open market a listed house fetches more.
If your house is in good condition and you can wait three months, listing with an agent will usually put more money in your pocket. We compete on what you keep after costs, on how fast it closes, and on whether it closes at all. If listing is the better answer for you, we will say so on the phone.
What actually changes your number
- Structural problems — foundation, framing, roof structure
- Mechanical systems at the end of their lives, especially sewer laterals
- Anything that would stop a future buyer's lender from financing the house
- Occupancy: vacant, owner-occupied, or tenanted, and the state of the tenancy
- Liens, back taxes, and open code cases, which come out of the proceeds
- How recently comparable houses nearby have actually sold
What barely changes it: paint colour, clutter, dated fixtures, and how clean the house is. We are renovating it regardless. Do not spend money tidying up for us — see selling a house that needs repairs for why that spending rarely comes back.
Questions about our offers.
Somewhat, and honestly less than people expect. The arithmetic is the arithmetic. What genuinely moves it is new information — a repair that turns out to be cheaper than we assumed, a comparable sale we missed, or a condition detail we got wrong. Show us the error and the number changes. Simply asking for more rarely does anything, and we would rather say that than haggle theatrically.
A Zestimate is an automated guess at retail value for a house in average condition. It is not an offer, nobody will pay it, and it does not know your roof is failing. Our number starts from what comparable houses actually closed at, then subtracts real costs.
No commission and no fees, and we pay standard closing costs. Amounts owed against the property — mortgage payoff, delinquent taxes, liens — still come out of the proceeds, because those attach to the house rather than to how you sell it.
It should not, and it does not if what you told us was accurate. The times a number gets revised are the times something material surfaces that nobody mentioned — an undisclosed structural problem, a second tenant, a lien. Tell us everything up front and the first number is the closing number.
Long enough for you to think about it and get a second opinion. We do not use expiring offers as a pressure tactic. If the market moves substantially or the condition changes we will requote, and we will tell you why.
See the four numbers for your house.
Send the address and we will come back within 24 hours with the offer and the arithmetic behind it, in writing.
Prefer to talk? (816) 477-3671