We Rescue Houses

Almost daily the mail contains an appeal from someone wanting to buy my house. Cash offer, quick sale and no closing costs! I used to call the number on the card to tell them to leave my neighborhood alone. It is not for sale.

As the out-of-state hedge funds started circling like vultures, the direct mail became more frequent and I was overwhelmed by it. My calls were ineffective and the tsunami of investors just kept growing – and they upped their game with some new tools – text messages, phone calls and even national tv advertising – all directed towards buying my house. Quick sale! Cash offer! It sounds so good. So easy. What could possibly go wrong?

My neighborhood was built in the 1950s. The ranch-style houses and a few mid-century moderns make up the landscape. A couple of churches and an elementary school from the era are embedded in this small community. It is like living in a time capsule. Most of the houses are modest by today’s standards.

This has painted a bullseye on my community by the “We Buy Houses” movement. Most of the original owners – of the Greatest Generation lore – are gone. Their children or grandchildren have moved to bigger cities or suburbs. While there may be some sentiment about the old house, a “quick sale, cash offer!” is an attractive alternative to the expensive and time-consuming effort to update an old a house and put it on the market. 

When “We Buy Houses” strikes, a house dies and the stability of a neighborhood is capsized. Whether its ripping out original wood cabinets for cheap pre-fabricated versions or laying laminate over wood floors or spraying paint over surfaces like hinges and doorknobs, it is a renovation nightmare of cheap, sub-par materials to a house that was built to last. The style and era of the home is of no concern. If the materials are on sale at the surplus store, that is what the house is going to get. Investors have a formula for making money. If the house needs more help than the formula allows, it is going to get the short end of the deal. 

Neighborhoods should not be fodder that line the pockets of investors. The houses in my community and in many communities across America have stories to tell. It is not acceptable to turn over the history and architectural integrity of a home to a shark trying to turn a quick profit. It takes care and money to maintain these older homes and make them livable for another 70+ years. 

A couple of times I have confronted local investors and asked them if they would be willing to sell their properties in my neighborhood so I could renovate them properly. Remarkably, I received the same answer from my inquiries: “Not interested. This is ‘working well’ for me right now.” Neighborhoods are where you are supposed to live – not where you are supposed to make your living!

My husband Bill reminds me frequently, “you don’t have the resources to fight corporate investors.” He is right. I am not a Wall Street company with deep pockets. I am a homeowner. A neighbor. A community advocate. Defeat is eminent.

But, I refuse to go down without a fight. I want to rescue every house. And then, I want to help others do the same in their communities. 

So Goliath, watch out. I am coming after you with my tiny slingshot of cash and a lot of debt, but an abundance of ire and righteousness for saving my neighborhood.