Selling to Us vs. Listing With a Texas Agent
Two legitimate options. They're good at different things.
| Listing with an agent | Selling to us | |
|---|---|---|
| Commission | Typically a percentage of the sale price, negotiated with your broker | None — there is no agent in the deal |
| Closing costs | Seller normally pays a share, and buyers often ask for help with theirs | We pay the customary closing costs on our side |
| Repairs before sale | Usually needed to compete, plus whatever inspection turns up | None — we buy the house as it is |
| Cleaning and staging | Expected, and repeated before each showing | Not needed. Leave what you don't want |
| Showings | Ongoing, often on short notice, until it's under contract | One walkthrough with us |
| Financing falling through | A real risk — the buyer's lender or appraisal can kill the deal late | No lender involved, so no financing contingency |
| Time to close | Marketing time plus a typical 30–45 day escrow | As fast as about a week, or whenever you want |
| Occupied by a tenant | Complicates showings and narrows your buyer pool | Fine — we buy tenant-occupied houses |
| Price you'll see | Higher gross price when the house shows well and you can wait | Below retail — that's the trade for speed and certainty |
List with an agent when…
- The house shows well or needs only cosmetic work
- You can wait for marketing time plus a 30–45 day escrow
- You can live with showings on short notice
- You have cash available for repairs the inspection turns up
- Maximum gross price matters more than certainty
In that situation an agent will very likely net you more money than we will, and we'd tell you so.
Sell to a cash buyer when…
- The repair list is long or expensive
- A deadline is driving the decision — a foreclosure date, a job start, a divorce decree
- There's a tenant, a hoarding situation or damage that scares off retail buyers
- You don't want the property one day longer than necessary
- Certainty is worth more to you than the last few percent of price
That's the trade. Speed and certainty cost something, and the price is where it shows up.
Run your own numbers
The comparison people usually skip is holding cost. Every month a house sits unsold, you're still paying the mortgage, the taxes, the insurance and the utilities — and in Texas property tax and insurance are not small line items. Three or four extra months of that, plus repairs and a commission, closes a lot of the gap between a retail price and a cash price.
We'd rather you do that math honestly than take our word for it. Get a comparative market analysis from an agent you trust, get an offer from us, and put both on the same page: gross price, minus commission, minus concessions, minus repairs, minus holding costs, minus the risk the first deal falls apart. Compare the bottom lines, not the headlines.
Getting an offer from us costs nothing and doesn't obligate you to anything — it just gives you a real number for the comparison. Plenty of people use ours as a floor while they test the market, and that's a perfectly reasonable way to use it.
Find out what we'd pay for your house
Tell us the address and a little about the property. There is no fee, no listing agreement and no obligation to accept anything we offer.