How to tell a real cash buyer from someone who will assign your contract

“We buy houses” is not a business model. It is a headline. Under it you will find three different animals.

Direct buyer

Buys with their own funds or a private line they control. Walks the house. Writes a number. Closes in their name, or an LLC they actually own. If they assign, they tell you in the contract before you sign.

Sean is this. Silver Key Home Offer LLC. He came out of construction. He swings a hammer before he writes an offer. He lives in Shasta County. Silverkey makes cash offers on houses in Redding and Shasta County. He is not a call center.

Wholesaler

Puts your house under contract and sells the contract. Sometimes that is disclosed. Sometimes the “buyer” you met never had the money. The close date slides. A new name shows up in escrow. The number you agreed to is no longer the number.

Assignment is not illegal. Surprise assignment is how sellers get burned. If the contract lets them assign, read that sentence out loud.

Lead mill

A national site with a yellow logo. You fill a form. Your phone rings from three states. Your information is sold. Nobody is buying your house. They are buying your attention.

Questions that end the conversation fast

• Whose money is this? Can you prove funds?
• Will you close in your entity, and which one?
• Do you assign? Is that in paragraph X?
• Who shows up to walk the house — you, or “a local partner”?
• What happens if you cannot close? Who keeps the earnest money?

If a company asks you to pay a fee for an offer, stop. Sean does not charge for the offer, and he does not charge if you walk.