We want to do something that most people in our industry wouldn’t dare do. Admit that we have competitors! There are a LOT of options out there when you get ready to sell your house. Which option you chose, and which company you work with, is important. Today we want to compare our services with one of our better known competitors: 18002SellHomes™.
Need to sell your house fast, as-is and get the cash you need? Get in touch with us using the form below and we’ll get with you ASAP!
18002SellHomes Company Background
The company most people know as 18002SellHomes™ was founded largely by Leo Kingston. His wife, Paulette, can often be seen in the commercials (although people often mistake her for Linda Soundtrack). Before he started 18002SellHomes™ Leo was already a seasoned home buyer. He started buying houses shortly after high school.
18002SellHomes™ is actually the company phone number; not the company name. And the commercials? They are designed to make sure you don’t forget that phone number.
While you could say that the company is “family owned” it’s a bit more complicated than that. A few years back Leo in essence sold the company to a long time friend. Even before that there were licensing agreements in place. Selling a home in Tulsa, Oklahoma? You would be dealing with totally different company than if you were selling a house in Oklahoma City.
Even if you had a house in the OKC metro area to sell the staff changed regularly. The person you deal with today may not be the same person that held that position 6 months ago.
Why Having A Closing Matters
In one of our previous articles we wrote about What A Closing Is. Typically a Closing is handled by a Title Company for two reasons.
- First the title company can be sure that the seller has marketable title to the property.
- Second the title company makes sure that both the seller AND the buyer fulfill their obligations.
18002SellHomes™ has a habit of avoiding formal closings at title companies. While this may seem like no big deal to save a few dollars it can have a MASSIVE impact on the seller. That’s because a title company has a lot of important responsibilities beyond just handing out checks.
18002SellHomes Failed To Record Deeds
On multiple occasions 18002SellHomes™ failed to record deeds to houses they had purchased. Normally the title company would send the deed to the county to be properly recorded. By avoiding a formal Closing 18002SellHomes™ was able to hold onto the deed leaving the house in the name of the seller.
This is a huge problem. For instance, in some cases these houses had city liens against them that were continuing to pile up. Since the deed wasn’t recorded the seller was still responsible for these liens and could even be summoned to court. And if the seller didn’t show up to court a warrant for their arrest could have been issued. Even though they had already sold the house!
This also exposed sellers to potential liability. Often the houses needed repair. Many were also vacant. If someone had been injured on the property it could have been the previous owner facing liability.
Why Would 18002SellHomes Buy A House And Not Record The Deed?
To understand why this happened you first need to understand public records. Real property records are public records. This means you can easily look up who owns a property. But you can also see when they purchased it and for how much.
Since 18002SellHomes™ often resells the houses they buy this hurt their negotiations. When they would record a deed they had to tell the county how much they paid for the house. Since it is perjury to give a false sales price recording a deed meant everyone knew what they paid for the house. Then when they would try and resell the house people would use this information against them.
18002SellHomes™ solution to this problem was to avoid using a title company for closing. It would save them a few dollars but they could also hold onto the deed. By not having the deed recorded no sales information was recorded either. This meant they could hold onto the deed until it was beneficial to them.
Buying Houses Isn’t Always Easy
The business of buying houses isn’t always an easy one. But there is no excuse for deliberately holding onto the deed after telling a client that the transaction is completed. It’s just unethical. And it can lead to some serious legal repercussions for clients selling you their home.
This is one of the reasons that 181-Close-Now absolutely insists on having formal closings. We want out clients to have the peace of mind to know that everything was done right the first time.
Not All We Buy Houses Companies Are Equal
Clients will often tell us that they have called our competitors as well. Unlike most companies that buy houses we welcome this! Because not all home buying companies are the same. In fact we only have a small handful of real competitors in the Oklahoma City area. 18002SellHomes™ is one of them.
Typically the price we offer for a house will be very close to the price our competitors offer. It will usually come down to who you feel can get the transaction closed faster. Who will take better care of you and will let you sleep easy at night? We like out clients to know that they are in good hands. That’s why our Closing Options Analysts work so hard to make sure you’re well informed each step of the way.
A Higher Price Isn’t Always A Better Offer
But what if a competitor offers you way more than 181-Close-Now? Chances are that isn’t a real competitor. Fly-by-night “gurus” who have never bought or sold a single house are a real problem in this business. Especially in an industry that requires decades of expertise that’s not a good thing.
In fact this is such a problem in our industry we will be devoting an entire series to it. We want our clients to know when they’re dealing with a professional home buying company. It’s also important that you know how to spot scams that can cost you big time. Few things are more expensive than working with an inexperienced home buyer.
18002SellHomes Or 181-Close-Now: Which Company Has Bought Houses The Longest?
This is a REALLY hard question to answer. First because both 18002SellHomes™ and 181-Close-Now have histories that go back decades. Second because we don’t have complete histories on all of our competitors.
Here at 181-Close-Now we can trace our history back through four generations of real estate professionals. Our family was building, buying, fixing, selling and renting properties back in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. In an industry where experience and expertise matter we are happy to be one of the most experienced teams in town.
Deciding Who To Work With
If it’s time to sell your house and you want to avoid making costly repairs it’s important you work with a company you can trust. The team at 181-Close-Now wants every client to feel like they are family. Most importantly we want every transaction to be something our clients will remember fondly for a long time.
Need to sell your house fast? Want to sell your home as-is without making repairs just send us a message and we will be happy to help!
18002SellHomes™ is a great company. In fact when we first decided to move from residential construction to focusing on buying houses as-is one of our Closing Options Analysts even worked for them for a few months. While there is nothing proprietary or ground breaking about what they do they are one of our most well known competitors.
In an industry where the price is usually pretty close between competitors who do you trust becomes a deciding factor. Who do you trust to get you to a closing table faster? Which company will take better care of you and keep you well informed? Who do you trust to handle every aspect of the transaction so you can sleep easy at night?
Selling Your House To 181-Close-Now
181-Close-Now makes selling your house as-is fast and easy. Don’t take our word for it. Check out our Client Testimonials and see what our past clients thought of their experience.
Where Do We Buy Houses?
We buy houses in Oklahoma City, Moore, Yukon, Norman, Del City, Midwest City, Bethany, Edmond, Warr Acres, The Village and Mustang. If you need to sell your house fast 181-Close-Now makes the process fast and easy.
As Featured On
181-Close-Now is proud to be recognized as one of Oklahoma’s best home buying companies. We’ve been featured on NBC News, FOX, The CW, ABC News and many more!
Get In Touch With Us
Even if you aren’t ready to sell your house you can still get in touch. Questions or concerns? Our team is here to help! You can use our Contact Us page, call us at 1(812)567-3669 or email Support@181closenow.com Or just send us a quick message:
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Disclaimer: All information in this article was obtained from previous clients, associates and friends of 181-Close-Now LLC or is a matter of public record or public knowledge. All copyrights and trademarks are property of their respective owners.