Introduction
This Appalachian Irishman has gone
from being annoyed to becoming aggravated by Pro
Source Home Buyers.
The barrage of radio commercials by Pat, who wants to buy your house,
is annoying. His marketing mailings, however, which include
disclaimed (fake) checks for low-ball monetary amounts for our house
and property, are aggravating.
This 110th entry in the “life
(such as it is)” topic section is a public service announcement
(PSA) and warning to readers in Tennessee who live near Knoxville and
Chattanooga and to perusers from South Carolina who live around
Greenville and Columbia. Venditor
caveat! Let the seller beware!
The second definition in the
Merriam-Webster
Dictionary for prey
on/upon is “to hurt, cheat, or steal from (someone).”
Further, it defines gullible
as “easily duped or cheated.”
Despite their claims, upbeat commercials, endorsements, testimonials, and customer reviews, Pro Source Home Buyers makes money by trying to cheat an uninformed and gullible property owner into selling his or her home and land. The price offered is under the property's fair market value. Even worse,
their cash offer can be lower than the appraised value of the
property.
This article, a PSA and warning, offers
proof. Again, let the seller beware!
Beware of Pro Source
Home Buyers!
This
section begins with general information. Importantly, it offers proof
from my experience to beware of Pro Source Home Buyers.
General
Information
Pro
Source Home Buyers is just one of a multitude of cash buyer
businesses out there. Unlike state-licensed real estate agents, who
have a fiduciary responsibility to you and are bound by a code of
ethics, cash buyers are not necessarily licensed and are not governed
by an independent code of ethics.
Cash
buyer businesses that offer quick purchases of properties for cash
are also called house flippers. Their business model is to quickly
buy properties in any condition at a low price. Houses may or may not
be improved, before house flippers sell the property at a higher
price.
Sellers
who want to sell a property fast without using a real estate agent
save time but lose money when selling to a cash buyer. If a seller
doesn't mind losing a significant amount of money to save time, he or
she may use a house flipper.
For
further reading, one of several informative source articles is
“Looking
to Sell Your Home for Cash? Read This First.” ProPublica, by Byard
Duncan and Anjeanette Damon, 5/17/2023.
My
Experience with Pro Source Home Buyers
My
experience began by being annoyed with the onslaught of radio
commercials from Pro Source Home Buyers. They start out, “Hi.
I'm Pat, from Pro Source Home Buyers, and I buy houses for cash.”
Quickly, I change stations or turn off the radio. I hope advertising
managers with local radio stations read this article.
The
first marketing mailing from this cash buyer arrived on Monday,
February 10. The mailing included a disclaimed (fake)
check as an offer to buy our property. Coincidentally, that Monday
was the same day that my father-in-law was discharged home from his
second hospitalization. The article
from 2/13/2025 is about his two hospitalizations.
Knowing
both the current market value and the appraised value of our house
and land, I quickly calculated that Pat's low-ball offer was 23.95
percent lower than the current market value of our property.
His offer was 7.7 percent higher than the appraised value, which is
lower than the current market value.
A
couple of days later, I decided to speak with this cash buyer and ask
him to remove my name and address from his mailing list. I had two
phone numbers from the mailing and the website. My call to each
number indicated that both lines were not in service. Later that day,
I decided to email the company. My email included the following: “As
an educated home and property owner, I know that the postal mail
offer is lowballing us.... This email, therefore, requests and
requires that you remove my contact and property information from
your databases and that you stop the marketing mailings. You are only
wasting the price of postage and filling up the paper recycling bin.”
I did not receive a reply to that email.
The
second marketing letter from Pro Source Home Buyers showed up on
Thursday, June 5, the day before D-Day. This time, Pat's fake
check offered $38,145 less
than the amount he offered in February! I was
amazed! Again, I quickly calculated that Pat's even lower-ball
offer was 34.85 percent less than our property's current market
value. Further, his laughable offer was 7.7 percent less than the
lower appraised value of our property!
This
bottom-feeding house-flipping business is preying on gullible
property owners. It is offering cash that is roughly 25 to 35 percent
less than fair market value. Shockingly, their cash offer could be
less than the lower appraised value.
Conclusion
You may want to sell a property, especially if it needs improvements,
fast, knowing that you will receive much less than the current market
value or even less than the appraised value. If so, Pro Source Home
Buyers is one of many cash buyer options. Similar businesses post
fliers on telephone poles and at intersections, which may not be
legal.
As an
educated home and property owner, I will not be fleeced by Pro Source
Home Buyers or by any bottom-feeding cash
buyer business. I know the appraised value of our home and property,
and I am aware of its higher current market value.
A
property owner in Tennessee can find his or her property's appraised
value by searching online at Tennessee
Comptroller of the Treasury: Tennessee Property Assessment Data:
Property Search. Property data for 86 of the state's 95 counties
are available, with external links to the other nine counties.
Remember that the appraised value is for property tax purposes. An
appraised value is often much lower than the current market value.
Online,
the current market value of a property can be found on various
websites. Recently, I have used Bankrate:
Real Estate: How much is my house worth? and Chase:
Home Value Estimator. Searching multiple sites results in values
that are similar but not the same. I determine the current market
value of our property by averaging the values that I find online.
Beware
of Pro Source Home Buyers and their deceptive marketing. This is
private property. Stay off!
Venditor
caveat! Let the seller beware!
