The convenience of selling your home without the hassle of getting it ready, putting it on the market, showings, open houses, negotiations, and repairs comes at a cost...a significant part of your equity.
Companies, referred to as iBuyers, that buy homes from sellers are for-profit organizations. They expect to profit from sellers who are willing to discount the proceeds they'll realize as an alternative to the conventional method of selling a home for people who need a quick sale.
The promotions for these companies generally state that you can receive a cash offer a few minutes after putting your address online. The discount can be between 10 to 18% compared to the average selling costs from 6 to 9%. The cost to a person with a $100,000 equity could be as much as ten thousand dollars.
Even after you accept an offer, there can be contingencies in the contract that allow the company to inspect the home to discover the condition and reassess the offer to make even more deductions. If the seller isn't willing to accept them, the buyer can withdraw from the sale without penalty.
This appears on the surface to be a friendly, accommodating service, but it can be adversarial. The seller wants to maximize their proceeds, and the buyer wants to buy it as cheaply as possible.
Compare this to working directly with a real estate professional acting as your agent. They have to put your interests above their own. They have a fiduciary duty of care, integrity, honesty, and loyalty in their dealings with you. Other responsibilities include confidentiality, disclosure, obedience, and accounting to the seller.
In this traditional model, your agent provides you with the facts of what homes have sold for in the area and their opinion and recommendations on what the most likely sale price will be. Your agent will provide you with an estimate of the sales expenses based on different possibilities.
Your agent can advise you on work that should be done before listing, arrange to stage your home will show at its best, and estimate the time it will be on the market. Based on low inventories in some price ranges, it could be surprisingly short.
As an owner, you made an investment in your home in cash and maintenance. You're entitled to maximize your proceeds based on the risk taken to purchase a home. The convenience of a quick offer comes at a cost. You need to compare the two alternatives to see which one benefits you the most based on your situation.