Let the Houston Properties Team manage the process for you

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“When iBuyers compete, you win.” We can help get you 4-5 offers so you can select the best one. If you don’t like any of the offers, we can still help you list in the open market.

As Realtors, our job (and our fiduciary duty) is to help you get the most money for your home. We can assist you in the iBuying process in three ways:

Finding the Right Buyer for Your Home

Currently, we are aware of over 27 different iBuyer platforms (firms like OpenDoor and Zillow are investing the most in marketing, but many others are similar). Some specialize in condos, others in single family homes. Some want to buy properties in the Inner Loop, while others look for properties in the suburbs.

We can submit your home to the Guaranteed Purchase Partners that have shown the highest willingness to pay for properties like yours.

Optimizing Your Submission

Valuation forms are around 10-15 questions long, with some iBuyers requiring you to snap photos of your property. To get the best offers, it pays to be precise with descriptions, taking into account house features that are likely to bump up the offer price.

Our flair for photography, attention to detail, and mastery of real estate language will allow us to present your home in the best possible light.

Providing Leverage

The largest complaints against iBuyers come after sellers are under contract with them “close to closing”. This is when iBuyers try and re-negotiate the price based on repairs and other closing costs. When we submit your information, these iBuyers will know that you have other options and their “take it or leave it” style won’t be effective.

Get Started With iBuyers Now!

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Houston Guide: Common iBuyer Reviews

Opendoor iBuyer Reviews

Googling “Opendoor Reviews” will lead you to an array of common issues sellers often encounter with the company. Here are some of the most common complaints:

• Some sellers reportedly receive impressive initial offers, only to have the agreed upon price retraded once they go under contract due to requested home improvements.
• Others report to have  “exaggerated and overpriced” repairs that eat away from their initial offer.
• Sellers must pay for all repairs discovered during inspections. In a traditional sale, repairs that are not warranted are negotiable

“Avoid this company. Their MO is give a reasonable offer and after the contract process starts they have a 10 day option period where they send out a bunch of inspectors and at the very last minute of the 10th day they will tell you they have to revise their offer due to needed repairs and then drop the price a ridiculous amount! Something so low that you never would’ve considered. It’s the old bait and switch and they play it perfectly. Then ask the for an itemized list of needed repairs and it will be conveniently unavailable. Meanwhile you’ve lost 10 days of your house being on the market. Do yourself a favor a list your home with a reputable realtor and stay away from these scammers.” Troy, Reviews.io

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“Please look into Opendoor before you consider their offers. Their initial offer is deceptive and their exclusive contract charges excessive fees back to the seller. Read the reviews online and do some research, they are misleading and taking advantage of people’s ignorance of real estate.” – Bryan Carlson, Facebook

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“Every repair they identified was exaggerated and overpriced. The repairs we made on our own were typically 1/3 of what they said it would cost. We were asked to hold money in escrow in case of damage during a pier repair. They would not respond to emails or requests for the money, then miraculously produced an invoice in exactly the amount held in escrow. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!!!” – Anonymous, Reviews.io

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“This is a business with a strategy to send mass low ball offers hoping to find that desperate person. If your not a desperate person, hire a realtor and sell your home for 35-60% more than their joke offer.” – John, Reviews.io

Offerpad iBuyer Reviews

Similar to Opendoor reviews, Offerpad reviews reveal common customer issues that include:

• Bait and switching
• Overpriced repairs that were not conducted
• A knack of backing out, mid-deal

“Sellers beware! From a colleague: I was trying to work with a client regarding selling their house, they keep canceling our appointments and ended up selling to Offerpad/Zillow. They sent me the Offerpad offer, I was shocked! They lost some much money, let me break this down. Offerpad offered $405,000.00 to buy their house. Then they charged the seller, $30,375.00 for a Buyer Service fee(not sure what that is), $8100.00 in closing cost, which left their net proceeds $366,525.00. Their house was in incredible shape and highly upgraded in every room. Offerpad then put it right back on the market for $465,000.00, it sold for $459,000.00 in 11 days. That is a 9.5% commission/closing cost to the seller to pay Offerpad and a huge profit of $92,475.00 for Offerpad in less then 30 days! This is crazy!!!!!!! I could have gotten the house sold in a very quick time, saved them 3.0% of the commission/closing cost and that extra $92,475.00 would have went to my seller.” – Ellen Burton, Facebook.com.

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“We sold our house to this company. In the contract they stated that they needed $9,000.00 to replace the air conditioner, paint exterior house, paint over chalkboard paint on cabinet, fix interior walls, fix exterior stucco, replace missing doors, and other items. They would not budge on anything even though we fixed some of the stuff and some of these things were not needed as repairs. They sold the house and did not do anything that was in our contract. They also told us that we had to leave our refrigerator because they couldn’t sell without it. They sold it minus the refrigerator. We have photographic evidence and our former neighbor that said he would testify as to what they did to our house which was nothing!!!! We felt bullied into taking the loss of money. They were not the nicest. If we tried to dispute they would give us the run around till we caved. We have tried to contact them and they refuse to answer. We have heard multiple people state they had the same issue…” – bbb.org

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“Offerpad backed out of the deal “due to market conditions” after taking a full 10 business days after the home inspection where nothing was noted wrong with house.  Beware! They will offer you a market rate, but will just waste your time. Oh, then call you back and offer $20K less to add to the experience! Not worth your time.” – Ron Faulkner, Google Reviews

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“Enormously unprofessional and quite simply dishonest.  I was made an offer on my property subject to procuring a building permit for past work. After spending $2,300 for architectural drawings and a permit, they decided to not complete the transaction. they also never provided a copy of their inspection report or that they deposited earnest money. I did everything they asked of me, and they reneged. Complete dishonest and did not live up to their agreement.” – Mark Nicotera, Google Reviews

Redfin iBuyer Reviews

“The algorithm that Redfin is using to determine estimated home value has a glitch in it’s calculation of the system that allows owners to evaluate the price of their home. I’m assuming this is an isolated incident relative to the area of my home, or even possibly a glitch with my home only. I have reached out to customer service multiple times to notify them that all details of my home are correct, that I have used the estimator and it is wrong, there are sales within 10 blocks that are 100k over the estimate they have assigned, and are similar homes. I think my estimate is $70k too low at his time, and I have adjusted it for the current lull in the market by 10k. This negatively impacts my ability to sell my home, and I cannot afford to have this site saying my home is worth 70k less. I am not an owner over-valuing my house. this home sold for 50k more than their redfin estimate less than 2 years ago in a market that has grown considerably, and I have tons of supportive data to show recent COMPARABLE home sales. Once I go into their estimator (which they will try to use this as defense – but it is not functioning properly) the estimator changes actual sales prices of VERY comparable homes within blocks of mine, and ‘automatically’ knocks down the price of the recent sale by 100k. This is not functioning properly. I understand that this could be a very tiny isolated glitch, but it heavily affects my life, my family and my finances and I will not stop reaching out until someone corrects it.” – bbb.com

Zillow Instant Offer iBuyer Reviews

“‼️I want to go over the Zillow instant offer and the rest of the Internet buyer market such as opendoor, offerpad and knock‼️

Now I am saying this as a Zillow five star rated agent and an advocate of the browsing platform that Zillow has to offer buyers. That being said, I received my instant offer from Zillow and there are over 11% in real estate fees being charged to the seller. They also offered $15,000 below market value. In total it was a net loss of about $60,000 if I chose to accept the Zillow offer. My advice to sellers is to consult with your realtor, identify the avg days on market for your area, generate a comparative market analysis for your property and and an estimated settlement statement to identify how much money will be in your pocket at close! Do not let an iBuyer take advantage of your current circumstance.” – Nathan Leidigh, Facebook.com

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“I’ll be blunt. Zillow doesn’t care about home buyers’ and sellers’ best interests like agents do because they are not fiduciaries. They simply want to capitalize on consumer desire for instant gratification in buying or selling their largest, most valuable asset. They care far more about their stock price than you getting a fair deal. Don’t fall for it.” – Miguel Duque, Facebook.com

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“For years, homebuyers and sellers have been lured by the Zestimate, Zillow’s estimation of a property’s value. What real estate pros know is that Zestimates aren’t accurate.

Zillow’s Zestimate is “calculated from public and user-submitted data, taking into account special features, location, and market conditions” and is what Zillow calls “a starting point.” And according to Stan Humphries, creator of the Zestimate home valuation and Zillow Group chief analytics officer, the error rate is about 5 percent nationwide.

Zillow, in an indirect affirmation of the problem, has launched a competition to create a better valuation model. So, for now, skip the Zestimate.

With any valuation model, you should find out what factors are part of the equation. At minimum, you want official filed records and recent sold prices of comparable homes in the neighborhood.

For the most accurate evaluation, nothing beats an in-home consultation by a local agent. Because the home is unique. There may be upgrades, layout features and other factors that can have a direct impact on a home’s market value.

Sellers need to know what their home is actually worth; the computer’s best guess is only a starting point for a proper valuation.” – Chris Rediger, 7 Reasons Instant Home Purchase Offers Aren’t Good for Sellers

“If a home does not need a lot of work and is “near market ready,” those are the homes that sell the fastest and for top dollar! Also, with ‘every sale’ you have the ability to control and negotiate the timing and closing dates. Once again, this business model from Zillow Offers to Offerpad and the like is built on the premise that you ‘can’t sell quickly’ in the traditional market and that you ‘might consider taking less on your home’ not to show it or deal with the ‘trouble’ of being inconvenienced. For me, to be able to walk away with an additional 10%-15% on my home personally at closing, ‘trouble me all you like!’” – Hank Bailey, Good News For Sellers: Zillow Is Buying Homes. Is it good news though?

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“When I received the inspection report and new offer, everything changed!  First they provided an offer which was based on the first inspection, not the second inspection.  I told them the problem and the realtor who gave me the offer ignored what I said. The Zillow representative stepped in and was professional and said they would stop and investigate the issue.  One day later they said they were firm on the price. They dropped the offer by $30k and ironically said the air conditioner didn’t work. They wanted $4000 to replace the outside unit. The reduced price did not match the cost of repairs.  However the inspector took pictures showing temperatures and showed that the AC worked, but later documented that it didn’t work. First we have to understand that I had the thermostat set for 88 degrees (the outside temperature was 110F). The output from the AC will only drop a percentage of the ambient temperature.  I think they were expecting an output of 50 degrees or so. I argued with them on the condition of the AC even though pictures showed it was clearly working, but they wouldn’t budge on their ruling.

So they thought I would go for it but I didn’t.  They thought I wanted to quickly unload the property but I didn’t.  

Original value:  $224,000

Zillow Cash Offer: $181,000” – Darrel D., Zillow Cash Offer – My Experience

Knock iBuyer Reviews

“This organization is very close to committing fraud. I’m surprised there hasn’t been a class action lawsuit by now. I wish someone had put this post here before I pulled the trigger and went with Knock.Com. Their “business model” ensures that you pay triple the costs of using a traditional broker. They say on their website, on social media, on the phone and in emails that they pay for the mortgage and utilities on the new place, while you pay the mortgage and utilities on your old place until it sells. And all they ask is the real estate commission on both sides of these transactions. Wow. What’s the catch? What’s the catch? What’s the catch? I asked that question 20 times before I signed on the dotted line. Then here it comes. First, I find a place I want. It’s time for earnest money. But I’m not the buyer, remember? Too bad. I’m on the hook for that and I haven’t even sold my home yet. Pay utilities at the new place while you pay at the old? Try you pay for BOTH at the same time. They are SURE they mentioned that to you…don’t you remember? Lastly, you pay closing costs as the seller, closing costs when they are the buyer and closing costs when you buy from them. Ain’t this fun? Here’s an article that you should read closely…because the representatives at Knock will NOT tell you these things until the ball is in motion:” Better Business Bureau, bbb.com.

Homie iBuyer Reviews

“This organization is very close to committing fraud. I’m surprised there hasn’t been a class action lawsuit by now. I wish someone had put this post here before I pulled the trigger and went with Knock.Com. Their “business model” ensures that you pay triple the costs of using a traditional broker. They say on their website, on social media, on the phone and in emails that they pay for the mortgage and utilities on the new place, while you pay the mortgage and utilities on your old place until it sells. And all they ask is the real estate commission on both sides of these transactions. Wow. What’s the catch? What’s the catch? What’s the catch? I asked that question 20 times before I signed on the dotted line. Then here it comes. First, I find a place I want. It’s time for earnest money. But I’m not the buyer, remember? Too bad. I’m on the hook for that and I haven’t even sold my home yet. Pay utilities at the new place while you pay at the old? Try you pay for BOTH at the same time. They are SURE they mentioned that to you…don’t you remember? Lastly, you pay closing costs as the seller, closing costs when they are the buyer and closing costs when you buy from them. Ain’t this fun? Here’s an article that you should read closely…because the representatives at Knock will NOT tell you these things until the ball is in motion:” Better Business Bureau, bbb.com.

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“Very difficult to work with if you are a buyer and not utilizing Homie yourself. Does not communicate with our agent, very difficult to get ahold of anyone to schedule showings, poor communication overall. They do not have the sellers best interest at heart and do not get to know their clients, you are just another number to them. They promote saving you money, but ask yourself the question, is something as big as buying or selling your home really something you want to bargain on? From what I can tell you get what you pay for, and the discount is far from worth the lack of service. We have now walked away from two homes represented by Homie despite loving the home, being pre-qualified, and offering a quick close, all because they were too difficult to work with. Get an agent that gets to know you and your needs, looks out for your best interests, and works hard to sell your home.” Ronald L., Yelp

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“Terrible service.  They are NOT able to communicate with potential buyers and sellers are losing customers because of it.  There is not customer service phone number for realtors to use to represent their clients. Homie does not have the seller’s best interest in mind.  Our realtor tried sending an addendum to the sellers after the inspection, to renegotiate, based on the problems. 2 days later . . . homie had NOT given that addendum to the sellers.  This company is TERRIBLE for buying or selling a home.” -Sarah D., Yelp

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“Shit. Just garbage. I would give 0 stars if I could. Extremely non-responsive, i’ve been waiting for 4 days just to get a damn offer in. The owner and I have agreed on a price and we are both just waiting on Homie.  I’m at the point of just forgetting about buying this house. Don’t use them. Absolute garbage.” – Keagan M., Yelp