There is nothing inherently wrong with selling a home for cash. Nor is there anything wrong with selling to an investor. For some homeowners, a quick sale with no repairs, showings or preparation may be exactly what they want. Convenience has value, and sometimes people are perfectly willing to accept less money in exchange for it. However, make no mistake about it, you are accepting less money in exchange for this convenience. Sometimes, a lot less.

What bothers me the most about this situation is when the person being targeted may not fully understand just how much they’re giving up for that convenience.  And I’ve noticed that some of these solicitations seem particularly interested in more mature homeowners.

Think about the circumstances that can come with that stage of life. Maybe you’ve recently lost a spouse who always handled the finances. Maybe you or your spouse has received a life-altering diagnosis. Maybe stairs have become harder, maintaining the yard is becoming overwhelming or the house you’ve lived in for 30 or 40 years has simply become more than you can manage. Now imagine someone appearing at your door with what sounds like the solution to all of it. Easy cash, easy sale, just sign here and we’ll handle everything else.

That sales pitch sounds very different when you’re exhausted, grieving, frightened or overwhelmed. Just a couple of weeks ago, a woman contacted me about selling her home. When I met with her, she proceeded to tell me about a visit she had the day before. A real estate agent had come to her door and offered to buy her house for cash. She didn’t know exactly what her home was worth, but fortunately, she knew enough to recognize that his offer seemed low. She wisely refused the offer. However, this person didn’t leave. Instead, he increased the offer, just a little. When she still expressed her disinterest, he increased it a little more and then a little more again. Eventually, after enough back and forth, she was exhausted and just agreed to the sale just to get him off her porch. He immediately pulled out a contract, filled it in and had her sign it.

He apparently didn’t know what was happening inside that house before he knocked on the door. Her husband had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and it was progressing rapidly. She had reached the point where she could no longer care for him by herself. One of her sons had offered to have her move to another state to live with him while her husband moved into a memory-care facility. She gratefully accepted.

She was dealing with a rapidly changing marriage, a devastating diagnosis, a major move, the prospect of placing her husband in care and the sale of the home they had built their life in. And then someone showed up at the door offering cash and promising to make at least one of those problems disappear. The timing ironically couldn’t have been better. At least for him. Almost immediately after he left with the signed contract, she regretted it. She called and told him she had changed her mind. She explained that she really didn’t want to sell the house to him after all. According to her, his response was essentially: Too late. It’s a done deal. By the time she was sitting across from me telling me the story, she wasn’t asking how to get the highest possible price for her home. She was trying to figure out whether she still had a home to sell. I asked to see the contract. She had indeed signed it. I did see one significant problem; she wasn’t the only owner of the home. The property was owned by both her and her husband. I asked whether she had a power of attorney giving her authority to sign on his behalf. She didn’t.

In fact, she told me she had specifically explained that to the agent when she signed the contract. Her husband, because of the progression of his Alzheimer’s disease, was not in a position to simply sign the agreement himself, and she did not have legal authority to sign for him. Yet the agent told her the deal was done. When she tried to back out, he told her they would put a lien on the property if she didn’t go through with it. This essentially puts the world on notice that someone else claims an interest connected to the property. This had officially wandered out of Realtor territory and into attorney territory.

That is where this stopped being another mildly irritating “WE BUY HOUSES” story for me.  Because there is a tremendous difference between finding a motivated seller and finding a vulnerable one. There is also a marked difference between making someone an offer and wearing them down until they finally say yes.

Maybe a homeowner knowingly decides that getting $95,000 less for a house is worth it because they don’t want to repair it, clean it, list it, show it or empty it. Fine. That’s their decision to make. But they should go into the deal with eyes wide open. First, they should know how much they are actually leaving on the table. These people are still going to inspect the property and although they won’t ask for repairs, as promised, that doesn’t mean they won’t ask you to pay for it. Oh, and the things they can find.

Once the inspection is complete, don’t be surprised if that already-below-market cash offer gets another haircut. Suddenly, the roof has only five years of life left. The furnace is old. The electrical panel is outdated. There’s a crack in the foundation that has apparently been promoted to a structural event. The water heater looks suspicious. And heaven help you if they discover evidence that a mouse once snuck into the basement. Again, they’re investors. The numbers must work for them. I understand that. But homeowners need to understand it too. The original low-ball cash offer may not necessarily be the number you ultimately walk away with.

And that, my friends, is why I wish every homeowner, especially those making major decisions during an already difficult period, would do one simple thing before signing anything: Find out what the house is actually worth. You don’t have to list it. You don’t have to make repairs. You don’t have to put a sign in the yard or let strangers wander through your bedroom on Saturday afternoon. You do need to get this important information.

Talk to a reputable real estate professional. Ask for comparable sales. Get another opinion. Talk to your children, attorney, financial adviser or someone you trust. Then decide whether the convenience being offered is worth the amount of equity you’re potentially leaving behind. Maybe it is. But make that decision with the numbers sitting in front of you, not with someone standing on your porch holding a contract.

Jen Fischer is an associate broker and Realtor. She can be reached at 801-645-2134 or jen@jen-fischer.com.