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Frequently Asked Questions
Selling a house:
Buying a home:
Selling a House
Who normally uses Earmark services? top
While it varies a bit from area to area, in general it’s a property owner that due to circumstances outside of their control must gain independence from their property obligation, including payments and maintenance. Here are a few examples:
- Pending Foreclosure that would damage an owner’s credit rating
- A out-of-town property owner who is tired of the ‘Landlord trap’
- A Divorce situation requiring liquidation
- A Job loss or Death in the family
- An Inherited house as part of an estate
- Job transfer
- Double-Payments
- An Owner who has no results selling through Realtors
Are you Realtors? top
No. We are Investors. We do not receive commissions or fees.
We make our profit over the long term by purchasing properties at a fair price and leasing it to people who want to eventually own it.
My property is listed with a Realtor. Is there a reason why we should talk? top
If you are signed up with a Realtor, you are obligated to fulfill your contract with them to see if they can sell your house. That’s between you and your Realtor.
However, there are a few ‘Property for sale’ scenarios that we can help both you and the Realtor.
For instance, there’s a real estate term called ‘Stale Listing’. That means that you’ve listed your house with a Realtor, for whatever reason you have not been able to sell it and the listing expiration date is on the Horizon.
So your Realtor is facing the situation of losing the listing without the sale. In their World, that’s a bunch of work done with no commission. Not good.
In your world, that’s re-listing and expecting different results, listing with another Realtor and expecting different results, or trying to get in the ‘Landlord business’ and finding a renter that will pay you the monthly payment ‘on-time’ and not destroy the place.
We have several investing tools that we can partner with the Seller and the Realtor so the Seller gets what they need and the Realtor gets paid. Over time, we make our money.
So everyone wins.
Actually, we market to Realtors to let them know just that.
What is the cost of your service? top
Earmark Investments service is absolutely free.
We buy houses without any fees to the seller. You'll never pay anything and there's absolutely no obligation to accept our offer if we give you one.
How do you make your money? top
We make our profit over time. We understand the local market and depending on an owner’s needs for a ‘cash offer’ or a ‘flexible terms’ offer we structure our proposals to meet the needs of the seller while providing us with a viable property to sell sometime in the future.
We are not ‘Speculators’. We are investors. So we can’t help everyone. We can only help those sellers that our models create a win-win fit, and if they don’t, we will tell you.
How does the process work? top
First, to schedule an initial consultation just fill out the FAST SALE OFFER form and we will call you to discuss some options you have that you may not be aware of through traditional real estate sales. Everyone has their own unique circumstances and it’s important to address those first.
Next, if we think we can meet your needs and you invite us to your house, we’ll sit down and lay all the options on the table for you.
Then you tell us if our ‘solution option’ (1) makes sense in your circumstance and (2) fits your needs or (3) it does not.
If it does, we’ll go to work for you to make the ‘solution option’ a reality.
And if it does not, we will suggest some other avenues for you to pursue and wish you good luck on the property.
Do you pay market price? top
We are Investors. And because we are Investors, we need to build in a profit so a property purchase makes business sense to us. So depending on the tools we use to purchase the property, whether that be a Cash offering or a Terms offering, the price offered will be less than market retail, with Cash being less than Terms.
How do you determine the price you will offer for my house? top
We will take a variety of factors into consideration when formulating an offer on your house, including:
- The current fair market value on the property
- Any repairs needed and the cost of those repairs
- The time required to complete those repairs
- The after repair value of the house compared to like-type houses in the same area
- Real estate commissions if we sell or lease the house
- Your current mortgage payments in line with average rental rates
Buying a Home
Who uses your services? top
We help families and individuals that are motivated to own a home move into ideal homes without the hassle and expense of traditional financing, credit checks and large down payments.
With traditional home buying, people with a low credit score are penalized with higher payments and non-friendly terms. And if you have bad credit, normally your only option is to ‘Rent’.
And when you have to rent, your money goes to a Landlord, not to you as your future nest egg.
We work with people that want to be ‘Home owners’ get into a nice home with low down payments and flexible payment terms. And down the road, we give them the option to buy the property at a discounted price, enabling them to have some nice equity in the home.
My credit is not so good. How do I get approved for traditional financing is I choose to purchase the home down the road? top
When we place you in one of our homes, we will put you in touch with a local mortgage broker who will act as your ‘credit coach’ and tell you the steps you need to take to be able to qualify for traditional financing.
Plus, your ‘Tenant-Owner’ payments to us will normally help you qualify as a ‘credit builder’ when the timing is right.
How much money down will it take to move into a nice home? top
We require a prospective ‘Tenant-Owner’ to secure the home with 3%-5% option payment.
This is much less than traditional lenders charge to acquire a ‘fixed payment’ and 100% of it comes off the purchase price of the home if you decide to buy it down the road.
Will I have to put more money down when I decide to purchase the Home through traditional financing? top
That depends on a few factors, including market appreciation and the ‘Rent-to-Own’ program you choose to be on.
For instance, the average house appreciation over the last 35 years or so in the U.S. is about 6.7%. We use a conservative 5% to set the future retail price of the home and then we discount that amount down to make it a good deal for you and to realize some profit for us.
So if the market appreciates at all, you should have built up additional equity in the home when it comes time to purchase it.
By the way, the nice part is if the market goes down for some reason, you are not obligated to buy it.
We are obligated to sell it to you at a set price… but you are not obligated to buy it. It’s your decision only.
We also offer flexible ‘Rent-to-Own’ programs some of which offer a percentage of your monthly payments to count toward the purchase price of the home. So it acts as an ongoing ‘Bank Account’ reducing the price of the home and building equity in the property.
How long must I stay on the ‘Rent-to-Own’ program before I can ‘Buy’ the property? top
That’s up to you. You have the ‘option’ to purchase the property at any time up to the ‘option due date’ opportunity.
For instance, if you move into your home under a 24-month ‘Rent-to-Own’ program, you can exercise your right to purchase the home any time within the 24 months. And if you’re working with a ‘Credit Coach’, they will help you determine the criteria you need and how long it may take you to acquire it.
Three months prior to the option exercise date, you either tell us if you are going to purchase the home of if you are not. And if you’re not, you can move out with no obligation or we will work with you to extend the ‘Rent-to-Own’ option so you can stay in the home.
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