Cash-for-home buyers explain: How we buy houses in Houston

While avoiding foreclosure or any emergency situation like divorces, relocation, debts, inheritance and deaths, it often becomes very challenging to sell houses for many reasons. Buyers, before making such huge investments tend to research and value properties and consider all the options available to them. When it comes to selling houses, owners generally have two options, either list it with the help of a real estate agent or sell it over to the many house-for-cash agencies.

The principle problem with Real estate agencies is that they just list your house on property listings and forget about it. No added effort is given even if you wish to sell the house quickly. Also, for a person going through a financially rough patch, giving a hefty sum as the brokerage fee might not be conducive to your situation.  The location and condition of the house is important as well for making it attractive to the buyers, hence if not favorable, the house might not get sold at all. There is no assurance and one has to bear more costs, often selling the house at cheap rates due to emergencies.

House-for cash agencies, on the other hand do valuation of your property for you, share the results and buy the house for cash. Thus, they are perfect when you need the money and need no fuss. These agencies often work in tandem with realty investors and therefore have ready availability of cash to help you sort out all your financial hiccups quickly.

Since there are numerous foreclosures happening in the US every day, many such agencies have been set up to help out people in distress. Houston, Texas has one of the highest concentrations of such agencies, who can often be seen with signs outside their offices that say ‘We buy houses in Houston’. While some of them genuinely help people in distress, a few others also scam other people into submitting their properties. Hence, care should be taken to avoid such companies and proper research should be done before the deal is made.

Emergencies demand drastic actions and selling houses can be a huge challenge for the uninitiated. House-for-cash agencies buy your house within a week of registering and with them; there is no deferred payment or installments involved and you get all the money at hand.

The methods that they use in acquiring plots are completely different from the process of how we buy houses normally. House-for-cash agencies have a list of properties that risk going into foreclosure and contact them when they need the money most. Some also arrange an alternative home for the residents for a short time and once the house is theirs, they also give the original owners an opportunity to get their properties back.

The condition of the house may be shabby and even if the plot is at a remote place, these agencies and their investors buy them instantly hoping that the prices would increase again when the markets improve. They also help individuals who have for long, dreamt of buying homes in Houston.

A Guide to Averting Foreclosure in Houston

Foreclosures and the laws corresponding to it are made to protect the interest of both buyers and sellers. From the lay man’s perspective it might look cruel to take possession of somebody’s property against their will, but these laws are formulated to ensure that lenders do not have to bare losses due to concurrent bad-debts from defaulters.  

In USA, there are a high number of defaulters per state and strict laws are made to counter them. At the same time, laws are also made to protect the innocents from companies or individuals who mislead them and make them fall into a trap of wrongful foreclosure suits. Every state in the US has different laws corresponding to foreclosures, though loaning companies in all states start the process of foreclosure only three to six months after the first missed payment. Therefore, if one has missed their monthly payments due to some difficulties, they should always inform their lenders so that they do not take any legal action against them. Avoiding calls from lenders only accelerates the foreclosure process and makes it worse on one’s credit statement.

There are generally three foreclosure processes which are followed in the USA which include Judicial Foreclosure, Power of Sale (Non-judicial) and Strict foreclosure though they are adapted differently in each state. In Texas for example, only judicial and non-judicial foreclosures are practiced. There are several law firms and housing companies in cities like Houston to help people on the verge of having foreclosures on their properties. They can both solicit and advice their clients on how to stop foreclosure in Houston, Texas and come to an amicable settlement with their lenders.

Most foreclosures, that happen in Houston, Texas are non-judicial in nature and are governed by the 51^st Chapter of the property code. Once a defaulter does not make the payment within 60 days, they are sent a legal document (Notice of Default & Intent to accelerate) and this is the last chance for defaulters to avoid foreclosure. 

There is no right of redemption in averting foreclosure in Houston, though deficiency judgments are allowed. The state of Texas usually follows two methods of foreclosure, which are given below-

1. Judicial Foreclosure

In this judicial process of foreclosure, the lender files a lawsuit to obtain a court order to foreclose; it is used when no power of sale is present in the mortgage or deed of trust. Hence, stopping foreclosures in these cases are difficult. After the court declares a foreclosure, the property will generally be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

2. Non-Judicial (Power of Sale) Foreclosure

The non-judicial foreclosure is used when a power of sale clause exists within a mortgage or deed of trust. A "power of sale" clause is the clause in a deed of trust or mortgage in which the borrower pre-authorizes the sale of property to pay off the balance on a loan in the event of their default.

A small number of states also follow the process of ‘Strict Foreclosure’ in which the lender files a lawsuit to the defaulting home-owner. If unable to pay within the stipulated time, the property is directly handed over to the mortgage holder.