Disclaimer: This post is meant to be used for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Links and mentions of Santa Barbara area “we buy houses” companies should not be considered an endorsement. Individual program details frequently change — please visit a company’s website for the most up-to-date information on each program’s fees, market coverage, business model, and more. HomeLight always recommends doing your own research to determine which selling option is best for your situation. We Buy Houses companies in Santa Barbara make all-cash offers for homes that often need some work, enabling sellers who lack the time, expertise, and money for repairs to move quickly and receive the cash proceeds from their home sooner if they need it. Maybe selling your home fast is part of a solution formula for managing debt and expenses caused by a sudden life change, such as the loss of a job, divorce, impacts from a damaging storm, a health crisis, or to cash out an inherited Santa Barbara property to settle an estate. If you need to sell your Santa Barbara home quickly, a We Buy Houses for Cash company could be the best solution. However, before you request a cash offer, it’s important to understand how much a Santa Barbara house-buying company might offer for your home and weigh your options. Once you’re familiar with the process, you can opt to select a company on our list of some of the top contenders and get moving. We Buy Houses companies in Santa Barbara typically promise to give home sellers quick, convenient all-cash offers, and exceptionally speedy closings, often wrapping up the property sale in as few as seven days. These house-buying companies have polished their processes to help sellers who need to move ASAP and tend to target distressed homes in need of repairs. Here’s how the process generally works: If these benefits of selling to a house-buying company in Santa Barbara sound good to you, it’s time to find a legitimate operation you can trust. We’ve compiled some of the top companies that will pay cash for your Mediterranean revival, Spanish villa, or modern coastal home. By selling to one of these companies, you should be able to sell your Santa Barbara home in as little as a week or two. Website: expresshomebuyers.com
Phone number: 877-804-5252
Locations: California, including Santa Barbara, and several states nationwide Express Homebuyers was established in 2003 and helps ease the homebuying process when home sellers face difficult circumstances such as divorce, an inherited home, or a property that is expensive to maintain. Express Homebuyers has purchased more than 4,000 homes. Besides making a fast offer and overseeing all the homebuying details, they also offer a cash advance of up to $10,000, depending on the home seller’s situation. Clients often use this money to assist with moving expenses. Closing costs: Sellers pay no closing costs; Express Homebuyers covers them. Reviews: Express Homebuyers has been BBB accredited since February 2004 and has a B+ rating. Customer reviews highlighted great communication through their transactions, as well as how easy the process was. Several reviewers, including one who acknowledged they were disabled, expressed satisfaction with how comprehensive Express Homebuyers’ services were. One reviewer noted that when his renter left a month earlier than expected, Express Homebuyers responded proactively to speed up the sale. Contact information: homelight.com/simple
Phone: 844-488-8455
Locations: Nationwide, including Santa Barbara Simple Sale, a solution from HomeLight, is an online platform where sellers in Santa Barbara (and across the country) can request a cash offer for their home. Simple Sale connects you to the largest network of cash buyers in the U.S. Partner investors have a wide range of investment strategies, including fix-and-flip and buy-and-hold. This enables Simple Sale to provide cash offers for a wide array of properties, even those that need some or a lot of work, in different locations throughout Santa Barbara. With Simple Sale, you can get an all-cash offer within five days and sell your home in as little as 10 days, skipping the months it can take to sell the traditional way. Closing costs: No prep costs, no agent commissions, and no fees charged by HomeLight. Individual investor fees may vary. Reviews: Simple Sale is a HomeLight platform. HomeLight was founded in 2012 and is BBB accredited with an A+ rating. The company has 4.6 stars on Google based on more than 500 user reviews. Below you can hear about how Baohan Wu, a seller who used Simple Sale to sell his high-rise apartment, closed within three and a half weeks and what he thought of the process overall. Website: johnmedinabuyshouses.com
Phone: 310-928-9688
Locations: California, including Santa Barbara Founded in 2013, John Medina Buys Houses is a local and family-owned home-buying investment company. They strive to present the highest possible offer to their clients by doing their due diligence and extensive research on the home and the current market. They also keep renovation costs as low as possible. Offers are made based on market value and repairs needed. The company asks homeowners to fill out a form that provides information about the house and the owner’s selling timeline. A representative will then schedule an appointment to do a walkthrough of the home and determines an offer price. No cleaning or repairs are required. Closing costs: Sellers pay no closing costs; John Medina Buys Houses covers all costs. Reviews: John Medina Buys Houses has been BBB accredited since September 2015 and has an A+ rating. In its 24 customer reviews on BBB, the company earned 5 stars out of 5 and was uniformly praised for the quality of its personnel, as well as its outstanding professionalism and communication. Two reviewers highlighted how thorough the team was in explaining every step of the process, putting them at ease as they were trying to make decisions in personally stressful situations. Website: webuyhouses.com
Phone number: 877-932-8946
Locations: Nationwide, including Santa Barbara WeBuyHouses.com was founded in 1997 and purchases properties in 200 markets and 30 states. According to their website, they have been used by 1 million homeowners, and have the ability to present a cash offer even in cases where the homeowner is behind on their mortgage or facing foreclosure. The company gathers information from the homeowner, collects additional research about the property, and conducts a home tour. A no-obligation cash offer is usually available within 24 to 48 hours after their tour. If the offer is accepted, it typically takes seven to 14 days to close the sale. Closing costs: Sellers pay no closing costs; WeBuyHouses.com covers them. Reviews: WeBuyHouses.com is BBB accredited since August 2020, and has an A+ rating. Customer reviews for WeBuyHouses.com speak to their professionalism, and understandable procedure. They express how convenient and easy the process was for completing the sale. In reviews posted on the company’s website, one customer commented how grateful he was that he could choose his closing date because he was preparing for an upcoming cross-country move. Website: sellmyhousefast.com
Phone number: 844-207-0788
Locations: California, including Santa Barbara, and nationwide Sell My House Fast is best known for connecting you to a local cash buyer exclusive to the Santa Barbara market. This means you get access to a reputable and qualified local investor. After gathering information from you on your timeline, the current condition of the house, how long you have owned it, and your reason for wanting to sell, they research the property, including conducting a full inspection. Sell My House Fast’s offer is based on the market value of your home, minus the cost of repair, the selling cost, and a return on their investment. Closing costs: Sellers pay no closing costs; Sell My House Fast covers all costs, Reviews: Since Sell My House Fast connects you to a local cash buyer, you should conduct your own research on the company you choose to work with, including checking on their reviews and ensuring they are BBB accredited. You can check your referred company out through Google Reviews, Yelp, or through BBB if they are accredited. There are plenty of valid reasons a Santa Barbara home seller may choose to work with a Cash-For-Homes company. Leading the list are the benefits of speed, certainty, and remarkable convenience. In Santa Barbara, it typically takes around 94 days to sell a home on the market using an agent. That includes an average of 49 days listed on the market until a signed contract, plus the typical 45 days a buyer needs to close on a purchase loan. Compare that to the typical seven to 10 days promised by many house-buying companies in Santa Barbara, and it’s clear why these Cash-For-Homes groups are an attractive option, even though they don’t always offer top dollar for the homes they purchase. These companies are growing in popularity, especially for sellers who do not have the typically required long weeks or months to prepare, market, and close on a traditional home sale. Let’s look at some of the most common reasons Santa Barbara sellers decide to use a We Buy Houses for Cash company over listing a property the traditional way. If you are a homeowner facing any of these circumstances, requesting a cash offer from a We Buy Houses company might be a good option to consider. However, it’s prudent to think of this as a starting point in your search for solutions. You won’t know if it’s your best move until you know more about other options available to you, which we’ll help you review in a minute. At this point, you’ve probably noticed that We Buy Houses for Cash companies in Santa Barbara can trigger a mixed bag of thoughts that can be difficult to sort. You may like the idea of speed and convenience, but you might be having trouble balancing these with the premium you might pay for a cash-offer service. In this next section, we’ll walk you through some of the pros and cons of using a We Buy Houses company so you can better weigh your options. One of the biggest advantages of working with We Buy Houses for Cash companies in Santa Barbara is that you can sell your home as-is with no repairs required, and they’ll buy homes in any condition. If your home was severely damaged in a weather event, or you’ve fallen years behind on routine maintenance, you can still sell without needing to make the extensive repairs that financed buyers may require. Here are some other pros to consider: That all may sound pretty great to you as a seller if you’re looking to move within weeks rather than the months it might take you to list and sell your home on the market with an agent. However, there are downsides to working with Cash-For-Homes companies. Namely, they typically offer substantially below market value for your home. When considering an offer from a We Buy Houses site, remember that these are house-buying companies, which means they’re ultimately trying to make a profit. They plan to fix up your home and either resell it or rent it out. That takes considerable time, skill, and investment. Here are some potential downsides to weigh: Your home is more than a place where you make memories with family, it’s also likely your biggest asset. Sure, you want to sell quickly, but you could be leaving major money on the table if you choose to work with one of these We Buy Houses for Cash companies. Always do your research, compare your options, and consult with a trusted advisor before accepting any offer. For many home sellers, We Buy Houses for Cash companies can be a solid solution to get a property sold quickly or to access cash for an expected life challenge. On the other hand, the “cash for your home” rehabbing business model has also led to what some housing advocates call predatory tactics. The level of integrity and customer service you experience can vary, even within an established house-buying company that strives to maintain consistent business standards. This is because many We Buy Houses for Cash companies are franchises and often use independent investors or local wholesaling outfits. Your experience greatly depends on the character of the person or group making the offer. If you are considering a cash offer, vet the company thoroughly. Check reviews, read testimonials, and research its presence and performance in the market. And, of course, read the buying agreement carefully before signing. Before committing to a We Buy Houses for Cash company, HomeLight suggests you consult with a top agent to get a better idea of what your home might be worth if sold on the open market. Then compare cash offers to what a top agent might be able to get for your home. HomeLight can connect you with a top-performing agent in your market. You can also use HomeLight’s free Home Value Estimator right now to get an initial ballpark estimate in less than two minutes. Within the Cash-For-Homes industry, you’ll also encounter a particular group of companies known as iBuyers, or instant buyers. iBuyer companies offer sellers many of the same conveniences of other house-buying operations, but they also leverage automated valuation models (AVMs), which use algorithmic technology to apply historic and current market data to their estimates. AVMs allow iBuyers to make a near-instant offer on your home and provide a user-friendly, mostly online home sale experience. iBuyers have only been around since the mid-2010s but are now widely available across California. iBuyers provide all-cash offers for homes and can close a sale in a matter of days to a few weeks. However, unlike typical We Buy Houses for Cash companies, iBuyers generally seek out homes that are in better condition and usually provide cash offers that are closer to market value, typically in the 90% range. iBuyer offers can sometimes be even higher, depending on the location and market conditions. When considering the iBuyer option, it’s important to note that major iBuyer companies like Opendoor and Offerpad typically charge sizable service fees that can range between 5% and 13%. Sellers who may be a good fit to work with an iBuyer in Santa Barbara include those who prefer to skip staging and showing their home, who live in an area with somewhat similar housing, and who have a home in relatively good shape. It might be surprising to see this agent option included in our story about Cash-For-Homes businesses. Most homeowners seeking information about house-buying companies want to sell a home quickly, not in 94 days. But it’s wise to consider all your options. If your home is in a housing market that’s seller-friendly, listing your property with a top real estate agent can result in a fast sale, especially if the house is strategically priced and superbly marketed. Depending on the property and local market conditions, using an agent could pay off. Selling on the market typically yields the highest selling price, even more so if you partner with a proven professional. HomeLight’s internal real estate transaction data shows that the top 5% of agents sell homes for up to 10% more than average agents. Another significant benefit of consulting with a trusted agent is the insight they can provide through a comparative market analysis (CMA). This is a market report that real estate agents provide to home sellers that acts as a tool to calculate the value of a home. The CMA evaluates a home’s size, features, location, age, and other details in relation to similar properties that have recently sold in the area. A CMA can help you determine an appropriate listing price, which can help estimate how quickly it might sell. In addition, an experienced agent who knows your market may even be able to connect you with buyers who are willing to provide you with a cash offer that’s closer to your home’s market value. Many agents will provide a CMA for free, with no obligation to list your home with them. It can be a valuable tool to weigh your options. If, in the end, you decide to sell to a house-buying company, you can proceed with more confidence, knowing you fully examined your options and made a sound financial decision. If you are interested in exploring the agent option, HomeLight can connect you with a top-performing real estate agent in your area today. By and large, most We Buy Houses for Cash companies are legitimate businesses. Their services and transaction fees may differ, but the business model has been around for decades. If you use an established group with a track record, you can be fairly confident that it’s legit. That said, as with any financial transaction, it’s a good idea to be on the alert for scams. Always research companies before you sign a contract. Check customer reviews, look at their online presence, verify professional licenses, get a referral if possible, and vet the company on the Better Business Bureau website. Watch for anything that just doesn’t seem right. As described in our pros and cons list above, most We Buy Houses for Cash companies apply the 70% rule, meaning they’ll offer you about 70% of your home’s after-repair value, minus their estimated repair costs. Here’s an example of what a simplified formula might look like: (Your home’s ARV x .70) – repair costs To see how this might work in a real-world scenario, let’s take a look at an example offer equation. Let’s say your Santa Barbara Spanish Revival home could sell for $1,075,000 after repairs, but it’s going to need $75,000 of work to get there. ($1,075,000 x .70) – $75,000 = $677,500 In this example, a Santa Barbara We Buy Houses company might offer you around $677,500 for your home. However, different types of house-buying companies will offer varying amounts for homes. As mentioned previously, iBuyers tend to pay more than We Buy Houses companies because iBuyers look for homes in better condition. An iBuyer might pay you 90% or more of market value while charging a fee for their services. When you accept an offer from a We Buy Houses for Cash company, you will likely be coming to grips with a two-edged sword. On the one side, it shouldn’t cost you any additional money because these companies make an offer and handle almost everything once the offer is accepted. On the other side, you’ll likely get less money overall for your home. Because We Buy Houses for Cash companies tend to focus on distressed homes, they typically have zero fees. Many will even cover your closing costs. In most cases, this means that the cash offer you receive is going to be the price you walk away with at the end of the deal. Of course, it’s always a good idea to flat-out ask the company if there are any hidden program fees that might impact your bottom line. Another helpful exercise is to compare how a We Buy Houses for Cash company might stack up against working with a real estate agent. Let’s take a glance at how different aspects of the sale might look and compare possible proceeds. Example net proceeds Below, we’ve put together one example of how net proceeds may differ between selling a home to a We Buy Houses for Cash company and an agent-assisted sale. Let’s say your Mediterranean-style home in Santa Barbara is currently worth about $1,000,000 and needs about $75,000 in repairs. Once the repairs are completed, the home might be worth around $1,075,000. As this example illustrates, financially, it’s usually in your best interest to partner with an experienced real estate agent. However, net proceeds are not the only consideration when selling a home. What’s best in your situation will depend on the condition of your property, what level of repairs are needed, and your selling objectives. It could be that selling on the open market will be a challenge in your area, or the agent timeline might not fit your immediate needs. House-buying companies can be a good alternative for Santa Barbara sellers in need of a quick home sale, but it’s important to consider both the benefits and drawbacks. When it comes to selling your home, it’s wise to avoid making any hasty decisions. Before making a commitment to a Cash-For-Homes company, gather multiple offers and take the time to weigh your options. Consider consulting with a top agent for expert insights on how soon, and for how much, your property might sell on the market. Whatever you decide, HomeLight would be happy to help with your real estate needs.Working with house-buying companies in Santa Barbara
Popular We Buy Houses for Cash companies in Santa Barbara
Express Homebuyers
Simple Sale (a HomeLight platform)
John Medina Buys Houses
WeBuyHouses.com
Sell My House Fast
Why sell your Santa Barbara house for cash?
Pros and cons of house-buying companies in Santa Barbara
Pros
Cons
Vet cash buyers and know your home’s worth
Other options to sell your home quickly
iBuyers
Listing with an agent
FAQs on Santa Barbara house-buying companies
Are We Buy Houses for Cash companies legit or scams?
How much will We Buy Houses for Cash companies in Santa Barbara pay?
How much does selling a home to a We Buy Houses for Cash company in Santa Barbara cost?
How do you sell a house for cash in Santa Barbara?
We Buy Houses for Cash in Santa Barbara vs. top Santa Barbara agent
Aspect of the sale
Sell to a We Buy Houses for Cash company in Santa Barbara
Sell with a top Realtor in Santa Barbara
Selling timeline
7 to 30 days
94 days average; 49 to attract an offer, 45 to close the loan
Home preparations
None
Deep clean, declutter, make necessary repairs, landscape, stage home
Showings
None
10 to 25 showings average
Inspections / repairs
None
May need to make additional repairs for the buyer or renegotiate the price
Appraisal
None
May need to lower your asking price if the appraisal comes in low
Title search
Cash-for-homes companies often handle title issues
Must clear title before you can sell home
Financing contingency
None
Mortgaged buyers use a financing contingency that could hold up the deal if the buyer’s loan doesn’t clear
Agent commission
None
5.8% average
Closing costs
None
1% to 3% of the home sale price on top of agent commission
Sell to a We Buy Houses for Cash company in Santa Barbara
Sell with a top Realtor in Santa Barbara
Estimated sale price
($1,075,000 x .70) – $75,000 = $677,500
$1,000,000
Market preparations
0
$10,000 (1% of sale price)
Agent commissions
0
$58,000 (5.8% of sale price)
Closing costs
0
$15,000 (1.5%)
Estimated take-home for seller
$677,500
$917,000
Key takeaways
