Frequently Asked Questions about Selling a House Direct to an Investor for Cash

There are no selling costs when you sell your house to Home Buyer Louisiana. Since we are investors buying the property direct there are no real estate agent fees or commissions. We typically pay all the closing costs so when you sell to your house to us, what we pay is what you get in your pocket.

No, we buy houses in as-is condition, no repairs will be needed on your end. We will be purchasing and taking responsibility for rehabbing the property. You won’t need to stage or clean up the house. If you have unwanted furniture or items in the house we can donate what we can to charity and dispose of the rest. Our goal is to make selling your house to us a very easy process.

We often close within 7 days. In some cases it may take longer, like when a property is in a deceased persons name and we need to do a succession as part of the sales process. The average time that we close on a house we buy is 14 days. If you don’t want to close fast and would prefer more time in your house we will obviously work to your schedule. Give us a call if you want to sell your house fast and we can discuss your specific situation.

We are real estate investors and make our money from flipping houses and holding rentals. We are always looking to buy houses that we can add value to. These houses are then fully renovated, held as either; rental properties, sold on the MLS to homeowners, or sold off in bulk to other investment firms and hedge funds. We won’t buy every house we look at, it will need to fit into our current strategy and be a mutually beneficial deal to you and to us. We have a vast network of rehabbers in Greater New Orleans so even if we are to busy for your project we are likely to have a partner that will buy the house.

We buy houses all over Louisiana. Our office is in downtown New Orleans and our main focus is the Greater New Orleans Area and Baton Rouge.  We own rentals all over Louisiana but have a real concentration in Metairie, Marrero and Slidell.

We pay a fair price for the condition of the house. When we make an offer we consider the price we could sell the property for when fully renovated, the costs associated with renovating the property and factor in a profit margin to compensate us for the time it will take us to complete and sell/rent the property. You could get that profit yourself if you have the time and money to perform this renovation yourself and we encourage people to do this if you have the means and ability. If you don’t have the time or money for this then people really value being able to turn the property into cash within 7 to 30 days and leaving the problems with the property for us to solve.

There is never an obligation. We know that deals need to be win-win to work so if for whatever reason you think our offer isn’t a win for you then we would encourage you to reject it. We have been investing for many years and know that deals get rejected as often as they get accepted and don’t take it personally. We have a philosophy that if everyone isn’t smiling at the closing table then we don’t want to do the deal.

Yes we do pay Cash for houses, but we don’t give you a duffel bag of money in exchange for the title. We pay the cash to the title company who holds it in escrow until the closing. The title company will give you a certified check at the closing. The title companies job is to ensure that we get clear title to the property and all the owners are paid the proper amounts. They then provide title insurance which insures that it was a valid transaction where you were paid what was agreed to and we got clear title to the property.

All sales will be completed by a reputable title company. While we will pay the closing the cost, the Title Attorney does not work for us. There job is to ensure that it is a legal transaction and that title insurance is issued. They effectively represent the title insurance company and need to make sure that the rightful owners receive the money for the property and we get legal title. While we are organizing the closing you can consult with the title company and ask them any questions you have.

This means that we buy your house in it’s current condition. We will not ask you to make repairs or clean up the house before closing. This is a legal understanding that the house comes with all its current faults and issues and there is no way we can come back and sue you later because of any issues the house has. You can read more about the legal meaning of As-Is. You can also find our FAQ on selling your house As Is

No, we are not affiliated with any Realtors association; we are a private Real Estate Investors who purchase our properties direct from the owners.

Real estate agents list properties and hope that someone will buy them. The agent shows the properties to prospective buyers and then take a percentage of the sale price if they find a buyer.  This process often takes 3 to 12 months. Agents provide a great service and will find the most people to look at your house. If you have the flexibility to wait till they find the right buyer then a realtor is a good option. When they find that right buyer who falls in love with your house you will get the most amount of money for your house. Just make sure you account for the commissions and the repairs the buyer asks you to fix to determine what you actually make on the sale of your house.

We are not agents, we are home buyers. Our company actually buys houses. Since we’re actually the one buying the house from you, and we pay with cash, we are able to make a quick decision to buy your house and you can sell your house fast. Our sale isn’t contingent on bank financing so you avoid the long waits, the inspection reports and demands to fix things. We pride ourselves on being really easy to work with so selling your house is an easy experience.

Yes you can. Just note that the agents commission will come out of the proceeds from the sale.

We buy lots and land in Louisiana. As long as there are no title issues we can buy your lot fast for cash so you don’t need to keep paying the taxes and maintaining the lot.

Yes you can, we buy houses from out of state owners all the time. If you live out of state you will not have to travel to complete the sale. All documents’ can be sent via fax, certified mail or email. We may request that some documents be notarized or that a copy of your driver’s license is submitted just to confirm you are the legal owner. This is all handled by a Title Attorney who will ensure the transaction is done properly.

Yes. If you have already gone through succession this is just like every other sale. If you haven’t yet gone through succession you will need to do this before you can legally sell the house. You can however enter an agreement to sell the house before you have gone through succession. The Title Attorney will organize the succession as part of the sales process. The benefit of this is you don’t need top pay for the succession upfront as the title attorney can deduct this from your proceeds of the sale. We buy houses like this regularly. You can also see our frequently asked questions on selling an inherited house

Yes you can. The standard way to do this is to bring a check to the closing to pay the difference to the bank. Obviously this is not a great option because who wants to pay money to sell their house. We have strategies to deal with situations like this. The most common one is where we leave the financing in place and we start making the payments on your note. When we do this we can generally pay more than the market value as we don’t need to tie up our own cash so don’t need to get as high a return. These situations are all different so you are best to reach out to us so we can discuss your specific situation. See our frequently asked questions on selling a house with negative equity

Yes you can. We help people in these situations all the time. If you are facing foreclosure and there is equity in your house then selling it before it is foreclosed upon helps you get that equity out of the house. Since we pay cash we can buy houses quickly so we can often save your equity even if your foreclosure date is very soon. For more information visit our foreclosure frequently asked question page on selling a house before foreclosure.

Yes you can, unless your property has already been foreclosed on. In Louisiana when you are behind on property taxes the city sells your tax debt to investors. Just because an investor bought your tax debt doesn’t mean you lost your property. If the house is inhabited the owner of the tax deb cannot foreclose for 3 years and if the house is vacant it is 18 months. You can get your house back before it is foreclosed on by paying off the tax debt and the interest. You can sell your house even if someone owns the tax debt, the debtor will just have to paid off at the closing from the proceeds of the sale.

You can read more about what happens if you don’t pay your property taxes in Louisiana here. We also have a FAQ on selling a house with liens or tax debt.

Yes you can sell a house with tenants. It makes it a little difficult to stage the property and hold open houses but investors like us would be interested in buying the house with a tenant in there. You can see our FAQ page on selling a rental property with tenants for more information.

This is similar to FSBO (For Sale by Owner) in the sense that it is a direct transaction between the home owner and the buyer with no realtors involved. With a traditional FSBO you would post all the details about your house on a site like craigslist and get people to call you. If you contact us to buy your house it is similar but you won’t have to post pictures publicly and allow anyone to see you house. You can see our FAQ page on selling a house For Sale By Owner (FSBO).

Of course every home buyer is going to claim to be reputable (we think we are the best house buyers in New Orleans), so the better question is probably what external references can you use to validate if a house buyer is reputable? Some of the things you should look for:

– Can they show HUD statements of other transactions they have done in the area?
– Can they show you that they have proof of funds for the purchase?
– Are they registered with the Better Business Bureau?
– Can they give you references of other home owners who they have bought houses from?

Ensuring that your home buyer can provide that information should ensure that you choose a reputable investor to buy your house.

Yes we do. We work with a Title Attorney and the County to establish that proper heirship has been determined and that the proper documents are in order upon closing. The title attorney we use can help organize this if needed and the cost associated with probate can generally be taken from your sales proceeds so you won’t be out of pocket. If you a heir to a property that is still in a deceased persons name, we can organize the succession as part of the sales process.

Learn more about Probate & Succession in Louisiana. We also have an FAQ page on selling a house in succession.

Yes we buy houses in the historic core neighborhoods.The process to get permits to rehab the property is much harder but the houses are so beautiful it is worth the extra effort.

Yes you can. All jails have a notary who can facilitate the signing of relevant paperwork.

We don’t personally but do have a big network of property investors who we know and trust. Below are some investors in different markets you might be interested in:

– Atlanta, Georgia
– Baltimore, Maryland
– Bay Area, California
– Birmingham, Alabama
– Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
– Dallas, Texas
– Denver, Colorado
– Grand Rapids, Michigan
– Jacksonville, Florida
– Kansas City, Missouri
– Louisville, Kentucky
– Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
– San Antonio, Texas
– San Diego, California
– Springfield, Massachusetts
– St Louis, Missouri
– Orlando, Florida
– Tucson, Arizona
– Warner Robins, Georgia
– Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area