Question to sell my home "as is"

[Meshia Smith]

I am interested in selling my current home cash/as is to an investor or wholesaler. After some major research, I landed upon a local guy here (Memphis) who seems to have a decent rapport and following. He has seemingly been in this business for some years. I reached out to him and expressed interest in selling my property of 17 years. It does need work/repairs and inquired as to how we could possibly move forward. He asked for the address. I provided it. He followed up with "Do you have a price in mind if I can get you cash next week?" - Since I've never reached out to anyone or done this process before, I replied "I have not landed on a definite price". ALL he said was "Let me know when you have a number in mind". That response somewhat stunted me as a newbie reaching out to someone for the 1st time. He didn't ask if we could speak further or if he could view the property in person, (although I'm sure online he can see a limited outdoor view), nor ask for my contact info, email address NOTHING to go from there regarding negotiations. I almost feel deflated before even starting. Is that the norm when reaching out to an investor or wholesaler? In my research, I read a lot about initial transactions, but this isn't quite what ANY of the scenarios presented. How do I move forward? Does this mean he's just not interested? Do I just reach out to someone else altogether? Or follow up with him on a price? Or is this some kind of waiting game tactics investors use?? Or is it common practice to already have a price when you're not used to this industry? I am truly confused. 

[Lydia R.]

@Meshia Smith Typically an investor wants to know if they are in the same ballpark as the homeowner before they invest a lot of time or energy into all the research that goes into putting a house under contract. Usually if the seller isnt willing to give at least a range of what they would like to sell their property for then the investor interprets this as the seller not being serious about selling. Let me put it into perspective, if you went to a car dealership and saw a car that you liked and asked the salesman how much and they said I dunno, how much would you pay for this car? How would you feel about that interaction? Its the same thing when a homeowner contacts an investor.

I think in most negotiations the homeowner thinks that the investor would be willing to pay more and the seller is afraid of leaving money on the table, which is a valid concern, but most investors are really trying to pay less. I always ask my seller what they want and we start from their number. If its fair then I wont negotiate too hard because they are being fair and reasonable. If they want 300k for a house that will only sell for 310k fixed up then I know we are going to be too far apart and I dont want to waste their time.

I think you should weigh your options. If you have an idea of what you want for a house then call some local investors and tell them what you want. If they give a lot of push back or their number is drastically different from yours ask them to send you some comps to support it. As others have commented, you can also get a realtor. Make sure you ask a lot of questions before you sign anything and also make sure you understand what you will be netting at closing and compare that to what an investor would offer and make a decision on what works best for you. Dont let anyone pressure you into making a hasty decision. Good luck! Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions!