Remember Tarek el Moussa from Flip or Flop on HGTV? Or do you still currently watch him?
Well, he launched a new business that buys houses, aptly named, “Tarek Buys Houses.”
And hey, it’s possible he might even buy your home. However, the sale probably won’t be televised.
But the basic idea behind the whole venture is the same. To buy cheap, fix, and sell higher. Otherwise known as flipping. Let’s learn more.
What Is Tarek Buys Houses?
- An iBuyer, aka instant buyer of residential real estate in Southern California and other areas (North Carolina?)
- They purchase your home for cash so you don’t have to put it on the market
- They then make necessary repairs/upgrades and then list it or rent it out
- NO fees or commissions are charged
In short, Tarek Buys Houses is an iBuyer service, short for instant buyer. Instead of listing your home with a real estate agent, you can sell it to them nearly instantly.
How fast depends on the initial consultation and subsequent offer, but they aim to close in as quickly as seven days.
In fact, they say they’re able to make a decision to buy your house within a couple days, and sometimes even the same day.
All you have to do is fill out a short form on their website with your contact info and asking price and they do the rest.
Best of all, they pay cash, and they purchase the property as-is, meaning you don’t need to make repairs, find a real estate agent, stage it, hold open houses, and so on.
This type of service could be especially helpful if you have your eye on a replacement home, and need cash to make an offer.
Compare that to selling your home with an agent on the MLS, which could take anywhere from a month to a year, depending on how hot your home and market are.
Tarek Buys Houses Doesn’t Charge Fees, But…
Of course, there’s a cost to using an iBuyer, mainly in that you’re paying for the convenience of a quick, no questions asked sale.
Sure, you don’t have to pay real estate agent commissions or any fees, per the company.
But if their “fair no-obligation, no-hassle offer” is much lower than what you could sell your home for on the open market, it might not matter.
Now it’s unclear what they offer for homes, but most iBuyers offer significantly less than what the home might fetch on the market.
They come up with their valuation by considering the home’s location, its condition, what repairs are needed, and the value of comparable sales sold in the area recently.
Tarek Buys Houses Isn’t the Only iBuyer on the Market
In fact, there are many nowadays, including We Buy Ugly Houses, which has been around a long time, along with newcomers like Zillow Offers and RedfinNow, and Seller’s Advantage.
It’s actually a pretty crowded business at the moment, along with discount real estate brokerages charging 1% commission instead of 2.5-3%.
Of course, some of those other iBuyers charge a service fee, which can be quite similar to a typical real estate agent’s commission.
So if Tarek Buys Houses doesn’t charge any fees, and offers a similar price, they might be the company to go with.
You’d certainly want to compare offers from multiple iBuyers if you go down that road, considering how simple it is to generate one.
And since most if not all of these companies are no-obligation, it makes sense to shop around.
In summary, Tarek Buys Houses could be a good solution if you need to sell your home quickly and don’t want to deal with buyer scrutiny, repairs, staging, and so on.
Just expect a lower price than what it might fetch on the open market, especially with the real estate market being pretty hot at the moment.
Tarek Buys Houses Highlights
- No need to list your home or hire a real estate agent
- The company buys homes in any condition
- Receive a cash offer in as little as a day, close as quickly as a week
- Offer based on location, condition, repairs needed, and comparable sales
- No obligation to accept their all-cash offer
- They also have a team of real estate agents if you decide to list your home instead
- Target market is Southern California but other areas considered as well