The process
How selling to me actually works, start to finish.
Most people have never sold a house without an agent and have no idea what the mechanics look like. This is the whole thing written out, including the parts that happen after you say yes, so nothing about it is a surprise.
Before you commit to anything
The first four steps cost you nothing and commit you to nothing.
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You send the address
That is genuinely all I need to start. The first conversation is fact finding: the condition of the house, your timing, and what you are trying to accomplish. I do the research on the property and the recent comparable sales once we have agreed a visit, because until I know what shape it is actually in, the numbers a database gives me are not worth much.
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I call you
Usually a short call. What I want to understand is your situation and your timing: what has to happen, by when, and what would count as a good outcome for you. I am not going to ask for your social security number, your bank details or your mortgage account number, and nobody legitimate will.
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I walk the property
Plan on about an hour. I am looking at the roof, the systems, the kitchen and bathrooms, and anything structural, and I walk you through the retail and cash presentations while I am there. You do not need to clean, tidy, fix anything or move anything. Ask me what I am seeing as I go, and I will tell you straight, including the things that are wrong with it.
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You get the numbers in writing
Not one number. What the house should bring on the open market and what I will pay you in cash, side by side, with what each one nets you. If a fix and list, a hybrid or a leaseback fits your situation, those go in as well. This is what that comparison looks like.
You can stop here. Plenty of people do, and that is a normal outcome rather than a failure.
If you decide to go ahead
What happens after you accept.
This is the part nobody explains, and it is where most of the worry lives.
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We sign a purchase agreement
A written contract setting out the price, the closing date, and anything specific we have agreed to. Take it to an attorney first if you want to. I would rather wait a few days than have you sign something you don't understand.
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It goes to a title company
An independent, licensed title company handles the closing. They run the title search, hold any earnest money, prepare the settlement statement, and disburse the funds. The money does not go through my hands and neither does your paperwork. This is the normal way property changes hands in Utah, and it is the main protection you have in the transaction.
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Title gets checked
They confirm you can actually sell: who is on the deed, what liens or judgments exist, whether taxes are owed, whether probate is complete. Most delays in a cash sale happen here rather than anywhere else, and it is why I will not promise you a closing date until title is clear.
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You close, and you get paid
You sign at the title company, or remotely if you have already left the state. Any mortgage and liens are paid off from the proceeds, and the balance goes to you by wire or check from the title company. That usually happens the same day or the next business day.
Before closing: how sellers actually lose their money
Wire fraud is the real risk in a property sale, and it is not rare. Criminals monitor transactions, then email you fake wiring instructions that look exactly like they came from the title company, usually the day before closing.
Never take wire instructions from an email, a text, or a phone number in an email. Before you send or expect any money, call the title company on a number you looked up yourself, and confirm the details out loud with a person you have already spoken to.
If instructions change at the last minute, treat that as fraud until proven otherwise. Legitimate changes are rare, and last-minute ones are the pattern. Neither I nor any title company will be offended by you checking.
What I need from you
Less than you would think.
To start: the address. That is it.
To close, the title company will normally want photo identification, the details of any mortgage or loans secured on the property, and confirmation of who is on the deed. If the property came through an estate, they will want the probate paperwork. If there is a tenant, they will want the lease.
If you do not have something, say so. Most of it can be tracked down and it is rarely a reason a sale does not happen.
What you never have to do
- Repair, clean, paint or stage anything
- Empty the house. Take what you want, leave the rest
- Hold showings, or an open house
- Pay me a fee. There is no cost to you at any point
- Decide on the spot, or decide at all
Where three days is realistic
Clear title, one owner, no mortgage complications, no probate, no tenant. Then the limit is really how fast the title company can work.
Where it will take longer
An estate still in probate, a lien nobody knew about, unpaid taxes, a divorce not yet finalized, or more than one owner who needs to sign. None of these stop a sale. They just mean the honest answer is weeks, not days.
Being straight about timing
Three days is the floor, not the average.
I can close in as little as three days, and I have. But quoting the fastest possible outcome as though it were typical is how people end up making plans around a date that was never realistic.
What actually sets the pace is title, not me and not my funding. Once I have seen the house and the title work has started, I will give you a date I believe rather than the one that sounds best.
If a date genuinely cannot move, tell me at the start. That changes what I would advise, and occasionally it means telling you a cash sale is not the right route at all.
Questions
Answered plainly.
Is there any cost to me?
No. No fee to look, no fee to get the numbers, and on a cash sale no agent commission because I am the buyer rather than your agent. Normal seller closing costs are set out on the settlement statement before you sign it, so there are no surprises at the table.
Am I committed once I give you my address?
No. Nothing is binding until you sign a purchase agreement. Sending an address starts a conversation, not a sale.
Will the offer change after I accept it?
Rarely. The number comes after I have walked the property, which is precisely why I will not give one before. There is no inspection contingency to renegotiate under and no second visit that produces a lower figure. Occasionally something turns up that neither of us knew about, and when that happens I tell you at the time, before I commit to a final number.
Who chooses the title company?
Normally I will suggest one I have worked with, because a title company that knows what it is doing is the difference between a smooth closing and a slow one.
What if something comes up in the title search?
It often does, and most of it is solvable: an old lien never released, a deceased spouse still on the deed, unpaid taxes. The title company will tell us both what it is. It usually means a delay rather than a dead deal.
Start with the address. Everything after that is your decision.
No fee, no obligation, and nothing signed until you have read it. Or just call me if you would rather ask a question first.