Guide · November 9, 2026
Kinds of cash home buyers: instant-offer companies, national brands, offer websites and local buyers
A cash offer can come from an app, a national brand's local office, a website that gathers offers, or a buyer in your city. Each is set up differently, so ask each one the same questions.
Key points
- Cash offers come from four kinds of buyers: instant-offer companies, national brands with local offices, offer websites, and local buyers.
- A buyer who signs a contract and sells it to someone else before closing is called a wholesaler. Read the contract for an assignment clause.
- A national brand's local office may be a franchise: a separate business using the brand's name, under federal franchise rules.
- A company that arranges a sale for others for a fee may need a real estate license in Florida and Arizona.
- Ask every buyer the same questions: who buys, any fee, who holds the deposit, whether the price can change, and which houses it buys.
- The right kind of buyer depends on your house's condition, your date and how much risk you accept.
Four kinds of cash buyers
When you search for a cash offer, you meet several kinds of buyers that look alike on the screen. They are set up differently, and the setup changes who you deal with, who buys the house, and what can change between the offer and the closing. This guide describes each kind in general terms and lists the questions to ask. It names no company. It gives no legal advice.
| Kind | How it is set up | Ask first |
|---|---|---|
| Instant-offer company | Makes offers through a website or app, based on data about the house | Is there a service fee, and can the price change after the inspection? |
| National brand, local office | A brand name used by local offices, which may be separate businesses | Who exactly is buying: the brand or the local business? |
| Offer website | Collects your house details and passes them to one or more buyers | Who makes the offer, and is the website paid by them or by you? |
| Local cash buyer | A company or person in your area that buys with its own money | Will it close itself, and can it show proof of funds? |
Instant-offer companies
An instant-offer company makes an offer through a website or an app, using data about your house and nearby sales. Before you rely on that number, ask whether an inspection follows, whether the price can change after it, and whether the seller pays a service fee.
Ask for the fee and every cost in writing, and ask how the price can change after the inspection. Ask which houses it buys: the age, the condition, the price range and the areas, and whether your house fits.
- What is the service fee, as a dollar amount?
- How can the price change after the inspection?
- Which houses, conditions and areas do you buy?
- Who holds my deposit, and who runs the closing?
National brands with local offices
A cash buyer brand can operate through local offices. A local office may be a franchise: a separate business that pays to use the brand's name and system. Under the federal rule at 16 CFR 436.1(h), a franchise is a business that operates under the franchisor's trademark, where the franchisor has significant control or gives significant help, and the franchisee makes a required payment.
This matters for you because the business that signs your contract may be the local owner. Ask who the buyer on the contract is, read that name, and check that business's own reviews and proof of funds.
Offer websites
An offer website collects details about your house and passes them to buyers or programs that may make offers. You may receive several offers, or calls from several companies. The website itself may not buy the house.
Ask who will make the offer, how many companies will receive your details, and who pays the website. In Florida, section 475.01 defines a broker as a person who, for another and for compensation, sells, buys or advertises real property, among other acts, and Arizona section 32-2122 makes it unlawful to act as a broker without a license. If a company is paid to arrange your sale, ask for its license.
Wholesalers and the assignment clause
Some buyers sign a contract with you and then sell that contract to another buyer before closing. This is called wholesaling, and it works through an assignment clause in the contract. The words to look for include "and/or assigns" after the buyer's name.
If the contract can be assigned, the person who closes may be someone you have never met, and the sale depends on that person's money. Ask every buyer whether it will close itself, and put that in the contract.
Local cash buyers
A local cash buyer is a company or person in your area that buys houses with its own money, for example to repair and resell or to rent out. It may look at your house in person, talk with you by phone, and set the price from local sales and a repair estimate.
Ask for proof of funds, the comparable sales behind the price, who holds the deposit and whether it will close itself. Ask how long it has bought in your city, and check what it says against county records of its past purchases, which are public.
Which kind fits your house
Each kind of buyer fits a different house and seller. A house in good shape in a newer area may draw offers from several kinds. A house with major repairs, a code case, tenants, an open insurance claim or probate papers narrows the choice to buyers that take those on. Write down your house's main problems before you call anyone, so each buyer answers the same facts.
| Your situation | What to look for in a buyer |
|---|---|
| Newer house in good shape | Several offers to compare, and the fee for each |
| Major repairs needed | A buyer that buys as is and shows its repair estimate |
| Tenants in place | A buyer that buys with tenants and leases |
| Foreclosure date ahead | A buyer that can close before the date, with proof of funds |
| Inherited house with belongings | A buyer that lets you leave items behind and waits for the court papers |
Questions for every kind of buyer
Whatever kind of buyer you talk to, ask the same questions in writing and compare the answers side by side.
- Who is the buyer on the contract, by legal name?
- Will you close yourself, or assign the contract?
- Is there any fee to me, of any kind?
- Who pays the closing costs?
- Who holds the earnest deposit, and how much is it?
- Can the price change after the inspection?
- Can I pick the closing date and leave items behind?
- Will you send proof of funds and the comparable sales with the offer?
What stays the same with every buyer
Whatever kind of buyer you choose, the state's rules for the sale are the same. In Florida, the seller of a home gives a written flood disclosure at or before the contract under section 689.302, and the state's radon notice appears on a document signed at or before the contract under section 404.056(5). In Arizona, the deed is recorded with an affidavit of legal value under section 11-1133.
A licensed title company should run the closing, hold the deposit and pay your loan from the sale. You sign the deed only at closing.
Warning signs with any kind of buyer
The Federal Trade Commission warns about companies that ask for money upfront, tell owners to stop talking to their lender, and try to get owners to sign over the deed outside a closing. These signs apply to every kind of buyer, large or small. A real buyer charges you nothing to make an offer, puts the price in writing, and pays through a title company.
Where BIMINIO fits
BIMINIO is a local cash buyer in Tampa, Miami, Orlando, Lakeland, Phoenix and Glendale. We buy houses, duplexes to fourplexes and building lots as is, with tenants, damage, code cases or belongings inside. A real person calls you back within the hour, and the written offer arrives within 24 hours with the comparable sales we used and a bank letter as proof of funds.
A licensed title company holds the earnest deposit. We pay the closing costs, and the price in the written offer is the price at closing. You pick a closing date from 7 to 35 days out. A cash offer is below full market value, so compare ours with every other kind of offer you receive.
Want a number for your house? BIMINIO buys in Florida and Arizona, as is. A written offer comes within 24 hours.