Best Companies That Buy Houses for Cash

📍 Find the top cash investors near you

When looking to sell your house for quick cash, your best options are often local. Select your state below to find the best cash investors in your area, or keep browsing to learn about larger players — including iBuyers and bridge loan providers — operating nationwide.

Types of companies that buy houses for cash

Not every cash seller is looking for the same outcome. Some buyers are looking for speed and convenience, others are trying to offload a problem property, and others are trying to balance a fast-approaching close date on a new home with the need to get a decent price for their current. Different types of cash buyers offer solutions to fit these various scenarios.

Cash investors

Commonly known as 'house flippers,' cash investors purchase homes to convert for either resale or rental. They tend to look for properties with room for improvement, so they can get them at a bargain and turn a profit on the rehab.

Cash investors can typically close in just 1–3 weeks and take the house in its current condition. They can also work with you to settle liens, transfer ownership of a problematic rental, or take over payments to help you avoid foreclosure. 

However, deals need to make sense on paper, so most investors will want a steep discount to ensure a healthy profit — often 25–35% below the target resale value, minus renovation costs.

Are they right for you?

"If someone wants to close quickly and needs some creative solutions to get a house sold, that is when it makes the most sense to work with an investor," says Charles H. Chandler III, CEO and Co-Founder of My Tennessee Home Solution. "Another common time to call an investor is when the property is inherited. It is a much quicker sale and investors typically let you leave everything behind in the house." 

"But if someone just wants to skip out on agent fees, I would not recommend calling an investor because offers will be lower than just what the agent fees are," Chandler says. 

“The only situation where an off-market investor makes sense is when a seller absolutely refuses to go to the market for personal reasons," agrees Clever Offers manager Drake Shadwell. "Otherwise, listing the property will usually net you more."

Top nationwide cash investors

iBuyers

iBuyers are large institutional buyers that purchase homes in relatively good condition to "flip" with minimal improvements. Rather than fixer-uppers, they target low-maintenance homes in high-demand areas that sellers simply want to avoid putting on the market. 

While they tend to pay slightly more than traditional house flippers (think 5–15% below market value), they also charge service fees of 5% or more and make considerable deductions for repairs. 

Our research on iBuyers like Opendoor and Offerpad suggests they pay an average of 5–15% less for homes than their market value at resale. iBuyers also charge service fees of 5% or more and make considerable deductions for repairs.

Are they right for you?

Shadwell explains it this way: “iBuyer customers are what we call distressed sellers without distressed properties. The houses are in good shape, but they themselves are on a time crunch — maybe they’re relocating or dealing with financial stress — and they need quick access to equity.”

Just be aware that the true costs aren't necessarily reflected in the initial offer price, explains Dave Goodman, a realtor with Windmere Homes and Estates: "The highest I have seen an offer come in is about 88–90% of market value. Then, they're looking for a 5% selling fee, and they usually hit the seller up for about 2% in repairs, so it ends up being 7% —  even if there's not really 2% worth of repairs." 

"Sometimes people will do it. They want a guaranteed sale," Goodman says. "But I try to convince people to steer clear of it. I tell them, 'If I can't beat the offer, cancel with me and you can sell it to the iBuyer.' And I've beaten the iBuyer every time."

Top nationwide iBuyers

Bridge loans

Bridge loan or "buy before you sell" programs like Knock and Homeward help homeowners unlock their equity to purchase a new home before selling their current one. They also provide a guaranteed backup offer allowing buyer/sellers to make offers without a home sale contingency — although the backup offer amount is typically less than market value.

Bridge loans can be used for a variety of expenses, including down payment and moving costs, agent-recommended home improvements, program fees, and ongoing home ownership costs during the listing period. Sellers usually have 4–6 months to sell their old home and pay back the loan.  

Bridge loans typically cost 2–3% of the home sale price, on top of realtor fees, loan origination, and closing costs. "If your old home doesn’t sell right away, you might also face carrying costs — utilities, upkeep and, in some cases, bridge loan interest," says Jacob Naig, a real estate agent and owner of We Buy Houses In Des Moines. "There are also sometimes service markups on things like home prep or staging."

Are they right for you?

"I’ve seen the emotional and financial complexity of trying to sell a home while simultaneously securing your next one," says Naig. "The big challenge is timing. If you sell before buying, you may be scrambling for temporary housing. If you buy first, you are doubling your financial exposure." 

Naig explains that sellers in this position have traditionally had to list first and hope the closing date aligns with their next purchase — or write home sale contingencies into offers, making them less appealing.

Buy before you sell programs remove a lot of those headaches. "They enable home owners to unlock equity, buy a new home upfront as a non-contingent buyer and sell their old home after they have moved out — eliminating the madness of showings, delays, and overlap logistics." says Naig. "While that convenience comes at a cost, what you’re buying is peace of mind and leverage to secure your next home."

Top nationwide bridge loans

How much will a cash buyer pay for your house?

One of the biggest misconceptions sellers have is that cash investors will pay close to full market value — or even above, like some iBuyers briefly did during the pandemic housing boom.

Shadwell says expectations need to be reset: “A common version of that misconception is, ‘Hey, I’ll cut the investor a deal of 6% — what I’d give an agent — and that should work for an off-market sale.’ But that’s not enough margin.”

In order to secure a healthy profit margin, investors often use an industry benchmark known as the 70% rule to calculate their purchase price. The rule states that offers should be no more than 70% of a home's after repair value (ARV) — the estimated market value after a rehab — minus repair costs. 

(After repair value x .70) - Repair costs = Purchase price

Applying the 70% rule, a home potentially worth $300,000 after a $50,000 rehab, would fetch a maximum offer of $160,000 from a house flipper. "This ensures enough margin to cover holding costs, financing, and a profit margin," explains Efrian Lopez, an acquisition specialist with House Love Treatment Buyers, LLC.

Many investors will also cap their renovation costs at 20% of the purchase price, so they might require a steeper discount if the home needs a major rehab. Conversely, investors may offer a higher ARV percentage if the home is in an up-and-coming or high-demand area.

"Strong appreciation potential and high demand make higher percentages feasible," says Lopez. "Lower property values and slower appreciation require more conservative offers to maintain profitability."

iBuyers tend to pay closer to market value, but also charge service fees and make deductions for repairs that aren't reflected in the initial offer amount. Buy before you sell programs provide backup offers similar to what an iBuyer might pay, but the vast majority of customers are able to find a buyer willing to pay their asking price before having to resort to a backup offer.

Selling scenario: $400,000 house needing $20,000 in improvements

Is a cash offer worth it?

Many sellers turn to cash offers in stressful or urgent situations:

• Avoiding foreclosure
• Selling an inherited property
• Going through a divorce or relocation
• Facing costly repairs
• Managing problem tenants
• Handling an out-of-state sale

When faced with these scenarios, selling to an investor or other cash buyer is really a matter of trading equity for a combination of convenience and speed. 

Traditional sales take months, while cash buyers can close in just weeks. Many cash home buying companies will also purchase your home as is — no repairs, junk removal, or deep cleaning required. 

Just keep in mind that cash investors need to purchase homes at a steep discount in order to earn a profit when they resell them at market value later on.

Housing market data sourced from public property information. Additional house flipping data sourced from ATTOM.[1]

How can you tell if a cash buyer is legit?

Most cash home buying companies are legitimate businesses, but the industry does attract opportunists.

Shadwell says one of the biggest risks is deals that fall apart after a contract is signed: “It doesn’t really hurt anyone if an investor throws out a lowball offer — the seller can just say no. But when they go under contract and then fall out, that ties up the home and burns valuable time for the seller. That’s where we keep sharp eyes.”

Cancelled contracts or last-minute attempts to renegotiate a lower price are often as a result of signing a contract that allows an investor to wholesale your property without your knowledge. 

In real estate, wholesaling involves putting your house under contract and then flipping that contract to another buyer for more than what's been offered to you — allowing the wholesaler to pocket the difference. While wholesaling can work for both parties if investors are upfront about their intentions, less ethical investors may take advantage of contract loopholes that let them walk away penalty-free if they can’t close the deal.

In addition to these red flags, trust your instincts. If something feels off, walk away. 

For added peace of mind, have a real estate attorney or experienced agent review your purchase contract before signing. Or, consider using a service like Clever Offers, which works only with screened and vetted buyers. This saves you the work of researching each buyer yourself while still giving you multiple offers to compare.

Shadwell explains that Clever's vetting process includes reviewing each buyer’s transaction history, testing them with a trial period, closely monitoring performance, and removing partners who fail to deliver. 

“We’re relentlessly focused on getting people who are transparent with us so that we can be transparent with customers,” says Shadwell. 

How to get a fair cash offer

When pressed for time, a lot of sellers go with the first offer that seems reasonable, but then wonder if they could have gotten more. Your best defense against accepting a low offer is to see your options laid out.

• Get offers from a few of the 'we buy houses' companies in your area, including any iBuyers that serve your market.
• Get a reputable realtor's opinion of how much your home is worth in its current state and set a deadline (e.g., 30 days) for them to beat the net dollar amount from your best offer — after subtracting their fees, closing costs, etc.
• If you haven't secured a better offer at the end of the initial listing period, you can cancel the agreement and fall back on a cash offer you already have in hand.

Getting even one or two competing offers could net you significantly more from your home sale — and with platforms like Clever Offers, comparing options doesn't have to take a lot of time. 

👉 Compare legitimate offers from a nationwide network of vetted cash buyers — it's fast, secure, and free.

FAQs

Why trust us

Data and sources

We identified 10 cash home buyer companies that operate across multiple states or nationwide. We started with public business directories and review platforms, then narrowed the list to operators actively marketing offers to homeowners outside a single local market.

We then collected data from third-party sources for each company — customer ratings, review volume, business credentials, and how long they've been operating. We reviewed company websites for additional information and key credibility signals. And we reached out to companies directly to verify operating status and key business details (this process is ongoing).

We use a mix of public and proprietary sources:

• Review and directory platforms: Company profiles on BBB, Google Business Profiles, Yelp, Trustpilot, and other major platforms — ratings, review counts, and business credentials.
• Public records: U.S. Census Bureau housing data, county property records, and state business registries.
• Clever Market Pulse: Local home prices, days on market, inventory levels, and sale-to-list ratios — pulled from Realtor.com, Redfin, Zillow, and Census data, updated monthly.
• Investor activity data: Public transaction records tracking cash buyer patterns — flip rates, distressed sales, and bank-owned property volume — aggregated across the markets each company serves.

How we score companies

Every company gets an overall score out of 100, built from the same four categories we use on state and local pages — customer satisfaction, credibility, recent activity, and track record. Each category's influence on the overall score is weighted in accordance with its relative importance and the depth and reliability of the underlying data. We're continually improving our source data and ranking methodologies.

• Customer satisfaction: Based on verified reviews — average ratings, total volume, and how recent they are. We adjust for thin review histories so small sample sizes don't inflate scores.
• Credibility: How much we can verify about the company from independent sources — BBB standing, registered business status, website transparency, and whether they've been vetted by Clever.
• Recent activity: What the last six months look like — new reviews, consistent quality, and signs the company is actively buying homes right now.
• Track record: How long the company has been operating and how steady they've been.

Because nationwide operators don't compete in a single local pool, we benchmark them differently depending on the type of offer they make:

• Cash investors are ranked against the full national pool of credible cash buyer companies — roughly 738 operators across the country that meet our minimum credibility threshold. A label like "Top 5% nationally" means the company outscores 95% of credible cash investors we've evaluated, anywhere in the U.S.
• iBuyers and bridge lenders are a much smaller cohort — with just a handful of each operating nationwide. Percentile rankings would be noisy at that size, so instead we describe each one by their customer rating tier ("Highly rated," "Well rated") and call out category leaders within each product type ("Best reviewed iBuyer," "Most established bridge lender").

The number of markets each company actively serves appears alongside their label as additional context — e.g., "Top 5% nationally (53 markets)."

What the scores mean

A higher score means stronger evidence, not necessarily a better company. A lower-ranked company could be great to work with — we just don't have as much verifiable data to go on, so we don't feel confident in recommending them. National scores reflect performance across all markets a company serves; a company that's strong overall may still rank differently in any given local market. You can see what's behind each company's score in the profiles on this page. We update rankings regularly as new reviews come in and conditions change.

If your company is featured on this page, you can claim your profile here.