What actually happens, step by step

Step 1: You tell us about the house

Fill in the form, or just call. All we need to start is the address and a number to reach you on. Twenty seconds, and you are not committing to anything by doing it.

When we talk, I want to hear the situation as much as the specs. A house that is empty because someone passed away is a different conversation than a rental with a tenant who stopped paying, and the right answer is different too.

Step 2: I walk the house, once

Not a team, not a photographer, not a parade of strangers through your living room. Me. I walk every house myself, usually within a day or two of the call.

You do not need to clean, repair, mow, stage or throw anything away. I have seen houses in every condition there is and I am not there to judge how you have been living. Leave the stuff you do not want to take with you and we will deal with it after closing.

The walkthrough takes about thirty minutes. I am looking at the roof, the systems, the foundation, the layout and what the neighborhood supports, and I am building the repair list right there.

Step 3: The offer, with the math attached

Within 24 hours you get a number, and along with it the itemized reasoning: what I think it is worth fixed up, which sold houses I based that on, what the repairs cost line by line, and what our margin is. The full formula lives here.

Then you take as long as you want. There is no exploding offer, no "this is only good until Friday," and no pressure. If you want to run it past a family member or an attorney, that is a good instinct and you should.

Step 4: You pick the closing date

Seven days if the title is clean and you are in a hurry. Seventy if you need to find your next place first, get through the school year or wait on probate. Your timeline, not ours.

Closing happens at a local closing attorney's office. They handle the title search, the paperwork and the money, and they answer to the transaction, not to me. You get your funds by wire or check the same day.

What we need from you

• The address and a phone number to start.
• Thirty minutes for one walkthrough.
• Whoever is on the deed available to sign at closing. If that is three siblings in three states, say so early and we will work around it.
• Receipts for any recent big-ticket work, because those raise your offer.

What you do not need

• Repairs of any kind, including things that would fail an inspection.
• Cleaning, clearing out, or a single trip to the dump.
• An agent, a listing, photographs or open houses.
• Money. There are no fees, and you do not pay closing costs.

Situations that take a little longer, and why

Probate. If the estate has not been through the process, the court's calendar sets the pace, not us. We can usually get the contract in place and wait.

Title problems. Old liens, a deceased co-owner still on the deed, a missing heir, an unreleased mortgage from twenty years ago. These are common and most of them are fixable. Finding one early is much better than finding it in week five.

Tenants in place. We buy occupied. We need to know the lease terms and whether they are current, and it will not sink the deal either way.

Behind on payments. If a foreclosure date is set, tell us the date in the first conversation. It changes what is possible and there is usually more room than people are told.

One thing worth saying out loud

We buy houses to hold or to resell, and sometimes the right buyer is not us. When a house does not fit what we do, it usually fits somebody in our network of Richmond investors, and we will point you at them rather than pretend. What we will not do is make you an offer we have no intention of honoring and then chip away at it later.

Ready when you are. Start with the address.