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The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

propublica.org

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Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#81

Post by Nursie »

refurb wrote: post #80
nekitamo wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Legislating away discount buyers would be like legislating away payday lenders. The only thing accomplished would be to leave a hole in the market which will be filled by shady loan sharks.

Not sure why you’re downvoted because it’s true. People desperate enough to use payday lenders have no other options. And the high interest rates reflect the risk. Take that option away and the need doesn’t magically disappear, they just go to black market lenders where there really is no backstop at all. Far better to regulate.

> People desperate enough to use payday lenders have no other options.

Not always true, some folks misuse them for a variety of reasons.

Take the option away in the UK and a friend’s boyfriend wouldn’t have been able to use an app to take out a bunch of short term loans in her name for Xbox games…

So I think sometimes these facilities are used frivolously. You’re right that a portion of users in real hardship would turn to “informal” lending if these lenders were to disappear. But it feels like we as a society should come up with a better solution there really.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#82

Post by devmor »

I feel like this is just a foreseeable consequence of any for-profit organization that operates on "getting people out of a tight spot".

If your motive is to make money, you are always going to have the incentive to take advantage of the imbalance of power created by said tight spot.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#83

Post by devmor »

nekitamo wrote: post #76
bhouston wrote: post #75

They are a discount buyer, so it is generally a bad deal to use them and you basically shouldn't unless you have no other option. It is similar to getting a pay day loan, or selling stuff to pawn shop or keeping a balance on your VISA. You are going to get a bad deal. I don't really know what to do about it. How can you ensure people are educated enough to know that a discount buyer is a buyer who will under pay for…

Legislating away discount buyers would be like legislating away payday lenders. The only thing accomplished would be to leave a hole in the market which will be filled by shady loan sharks.

This will be a fairly contentious opinion, but I believe if there exists a class of business that is recognizably harmful to that level, which we only keep around so as to prevent criminal alternatives, then such businesses should be replaced by government run services.

In fact, I personally believe this scenario is likely the most essential use for government run services.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#84

Post by chasil »

kennethrc wrote: post #68
chasil wrote: post #51

I bought a local house in 2004 that suffered a failed furnace in deep winter (with great damage) for $17k. I put another $10k into it for repairs, and rented it. I started getting postcards around 2012: "I/we want to buy your house." I have a pile of them. None of them offered more than $20k. I had pandemic tenant problems; they didn't pay during the last six months, and the damage was substantial. I repaired the dam…

You need to fix your keyboard, your current one is dropping "0"s (... kidding, but where is this?!)

The home in question is very near Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. I do a two mile walk through campus every day, schedule permitting.

I did not drop any zeros. Salary.com rated this as one of the least expensive places to live in the U.S. a few times.

I drive over the Mississippi twice a day, to and from work.

We have the second largest airport in Illinois, but lost our budget airline (Airtran), so I use O'Hare or Midway now.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#85

Post by chasil »

switchbak wrote: post #73
chasil wrote: post #51

I bought a local house in 2004 that suffered a failed furnace in deep winter (with great damage) for $17k. I put another $10k into it for repairs, and rented it. I started getting postcards around 2012: "I/we want to buy your house." I have a pile of them. None of them offered more than $20k. I had pandemic tenant problems; they didn't pay during the last six months, and the damage was substantial. I repaired the dam…

60k? Shoot, that wouldn't buy an outhouse out here in BC.

And I am thinking of retiring to Latin America to escape both winter and taxation.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#86

Post by ClumsyPilot »

nekitamo wrote: post #76
bhouston wrote: post #75

They are a discount buyer, so it is generally a bad deal to use them and you basically shouldn't unless you have no other option. It is similar to getting a pay day loan, or selling stuff to pawn shop or keeping a balance on your VISA. You are going to get a bad deal. I don't really know what to do about it. How can you ensure people are educated enough to know that a discount buyer is a buyer who will under pay for…

Legislating away discount buyers would be like legislating away payday lenders. The only thing accomplished would be to leave a hole in the market which will be filled by shady loan sharks.

"which will be filled by shady loan sharks"

You are replacing friendly-looking loan sharks with door-to-door salesmen with clearly illegal loansharks.

For the same reason you don't want cocaine sold near "fun toys for kids"

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#87

Post by danielmarkbruce »

bhouston wrote: post #75

They are a discount buyer, so it is generally a bad deal to use them and you basically shouldn't unless you have no other option. It is similar to getting a pay day loan, or selling stuff to pawn shop or keeping a balance on your VISA. You are going to get a bad deal. I don't really know what to do about it. How can you ensure people are educated enough to know that a discount buyer is a buyer who will under pay for…

In the cases mentioned specifically, the buyer has broken a law already (at least two are fraud) or the contract is invalid (lack of mental capacity).

This isn't really a story per se. People are doing illegal stuff or stuff that won't hold up in court if challenged. We have a system for it - it works ok, not fantastically. We don't need new regulation for cases like this, we just need better execution on the existing system. Better execution costs more money, and as a society we get to some balance of more taxes v more stuff slipping through.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#88

Post by ClumsyPilot »

Nursie wrote: post #77

When I was leaving the UK a couple of years back, I was tempted by some of the marketing blurb from some similar organisations there. We had a house to sell, and were hoping to get it wrapped up before leaving, so "we buy all houses, we can close the deal in a few weeks, great prices offered!" sounded interesting. But then you look up people's experiences and the shady practices start to show. They give slightly low-…

> at the last minute* they drop their offer significantly, in the region of 20-30%, and try to really screw you.

I feel like doing this consistently as a tactic shoyld amount to fraud and misrepresentation

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#89

Post by danielmarkbruce »

dmbche wrote: post #79

Exchanges of over some amount of money should be supervised by a third party just to check it's not a scam - how hard could it be? I can't believe there are no safeguards for people...I can't believe it wouldn't be worth it socially

Often two people want to do a transaction without anyone else knowing about it. The US is, to a large extent, built on the idea the idea of individual freedom etc etc.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#90

Post by chasil »

I bought a local house in 2004 that suffered a failed furnace in deep winter (with great damage) for $17k. I put another $10k into it for repairs, and rented it.

I started getting postcards around 2012: "I/we want to buy your house." I have a pile of them. None of them offered more than $20k.

The home in question is very near Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. I do a two mile walk through campus every day, schedule permitting.

The house was lost by previous owners who engaged two mortgages on the property to fund their gambling.

I had pandemic tenant problems; they didn't pay during the last six months, and the damage was substantial. I repaired the damage, then sold it on contract for $60k; I'm done with rental property.

I'm still getting calls and postcards.

p.s. I drove by a house, very similar to mine, but with substantial roof damage, that was for sale for many months for $15k. It dropped to $5k near the end of the summer. I walk by it, going downtown, and the current owners seem to have repaired the damage, and are on their porch from time to time.

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