There is more than one way to do this.
Most companies that buy houses have exactly one offer. We have four, and we can do all four — including the listing, because we are licensed in Ohio. Which one suits you depends on what your house needs and how much time you have.
Speed and price pull
against each other.
Every option below is a different point on the same line. The fastest one pays the least, because we are the buyer and everything that goes wrong afterward is ours. The one that pays the most takes months, because the open market sets the price. Everything else sits in between.
We will tell you which one we think fits your house, including when that is the one we make the least on. A seller who took the wrong option is not a deal we want.
On the first three we are the buyer. We sign the purchase agreement ourselves, as a principal and in our own interest, and on some houses we assign that agreement to an investor on our buyers list who closes in our place — the number you agreed and the date you picked do not change. On those three we are not acting for you, and we do not pretend to be. The fourth is not our purchase at all: it is a listing, handled through an Ohio brokerage, and the duties owed to you there are owed by the brokerage rather than by us. You can start with a cash number and decide to list instead — asking for one commits you to nothing.
The four, compared.
| Option | How long | What it pays | What it costs you | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| We buy it ourselves | As fast as title allows — often 10 to 14 days | Lowest of the four | No commission, no closing costs, no repairs | Certainty and speed above all |
| We bring it to our buyer network | Usually under 30 days | Above a direct purchase | No commission, no closing costs, no repairs | Cash and certainty without leaving money on the table |
| Best of Both Worlds | Usually 1 to 3 months | Above a cash offer — a retail buyer pays more | No commission, no closing costs, no repairs | Sellers who want more than a cash number and can give it a month or two |
| We list it and represent you | Typically 3 to 6 months | Highest potential | Standard commission, repairs and concessions | Move-in-ready houses with no time pressure |
We buy it ourselves
The fastest and most certain of the four. Also the lowest number.
We buy the house for our own account, as it stands. There is no lender to satisfy, no appraisal to come in low, no inspection contingency and nobody else to line up, so this moves as fast as the title company can clear the title.
You leave what you do not want. You fix nothing, you clean nothing out, and you pay no commission and no closing costs on our side. If there is a tenant, a hoarding situation, fire damage, or a violation letter from the city, none of that stops the sale.
- How long
- As fast as title allows — often 10 to 14 days
- What it pays
- Lowest of the four
- What it costs you
- No commission, no closing costs, no repairs
- Best when
- Certainty and speed above all
We bring it to our buyer network
Still a cash close, at a better number than we would pay ourselves.
This is what we do most. We match the house against the buy boxes the investors and landlords on our list have already given us, agree terms with you, and that buyer closes.
You get the same cash convenience — no listing, no showings, no repairs, no financing that can fall through — at a better number than we would offer on our own account, because there is a real pool of buyers competing for it rather than one.
- How long
- Usually under 30 days
- What it pays
- Above a direct purchase
- What it costs you
- No commission, no closing costs, no repairs
- Best when
- Cash and certainty without leaving money on the table
Best of Both Worlds
Everything that makes a cash sale easy, at a price a regular buyer will pay. Usually finished in one to three months.
A cash offer is quick, but it comes from an investor, and an investor has to leave room to make money on the house. A listing reaches the people who will pay the most — a family who actually wants to live there — but it costs you a commission and it usually runs three to six months.
This sits between the two. We agree a number with you in writing and guarantee it, then we take the house to the open retail market instead of only to the investors on our list. The buyer who closes is usually someone buying a home to live in, and they pay more than an investor would.
Nothing else about it changes. You sell it exactly as it stands and fix nothing. You clear nothing out. There is no commission and no closing costs on our side, and there is no stream of showings you have to keep the house clean for. It simply takes a little longer than a cash close — usually one to three months, against the three to six a listing runs.
Who carries the risk, and how you get out.
Your number is agreed in writing before we start, and it is guaranteed — it does not move. If the house takes longer than we thought or sells for less than we projected, that is our problem, not yours; you are paid what we agreed. We keep whatever the sale brings above your number and our costs, and that is what we are paid for carrying the risk and doing the marketing. If no buyer turns up we come back to you rather than leave you waiting, and you can walk away owing nothing.
- How long
- Usually 1 to 3 months
- What it pays
- Above a cash offer — a retail buyer pays more
- What it costs you
- No commission, no closing costs, no repairs
- Best when
- Sellers who want more than a cash number and can give it a month or two
We list it and represent you
Top of market, on the open market — and you do not have to go and find an agent to do it.
If the house is in good shape — updated, nothing deferred, nothing a buyer would flinch at — and you are not in a hurry, the open market will usually beat any cash number. When that is true we will say so rather than talk you out of it.
You do not have to go and find an agent for this, and you do not have to explain the house to somebody new. The people here hold Ohio real estate licenses, and a listing is handled through an Ohio brokerage — same people, on the brokerage's paperwork. Sell Now Pros does not list houses. The brokerage does, and the duties owed to you on that sale are owed by it.
It is an ordinary listing on ordinary terms. You pay the commission set out in the listing agreement, and you carry the repairs and concessions a retail sale usually involves. None of it is discounted because you came to us first, and none of it is marked up because you did.
The conflict of interest, said out loud.
Read this one twice. The same people who would like to buy your house at a discount are also the people you would list it with to sell it at a premium. Those pull in opposite directions, so weigh our advice about which option suits you with that in mind rather than taking it on trust. Get a second opinion. Use any brokerage in Ohio you like — it costs you nothing with us either way. And ask us which of the four we would take if it were our house; you will get a straight answer, including when that answer is that someone else should list it.
- How long
- Typically 3 to 6 months
- What it pays
- Highest potential
- What it costs you
- Standard commission, repairs and concessions
- Best when
- Move-in-ready houses with no time pressure
Send the address and we will tell you.
You do not have to pick one now. Tell us about the house and we will say which of the four we think fits it, and why — including when the honest answer is that you would do better listing it with an agent.