We Buy Ugly Houses Reviews 2025

We Buy Ugly Houses (also known as Homevestors of America) is one of the largest franchise cash home buyers.

We Buy Ugly Houses licensees purchase homes from sellers facing financial challenges, tight timelines, or properties requiring extensive repairs. The company promises quick closings, often completing deals in as little as three weeks.

The popularity of cash transactions—nearly a third of all home sales are paid for in cash—underscores the appeal of avoiding the traditional home sale process.[1] For homeowners needing a fast, hassle-free sale, cash buyers like We Buy Ugly Houses provide a straightforward alternative.

That said, working with We Buy Ugly Houses has its downsides. Offers are generally well below market value, and some franchises have faced criticism for their unethical business practices.[2]

If you want the convenience of a cash offer, but need to be sure you're getting a fair price, we recommend starting with an offers marketplace like Clever Offers. With Clever, you get competing offers from trusted cash buyers — all with a proven track record and high rate of customer satisfaction. Compare offer options worth up to 100% of your home value and sell in as little as 7 days — with no added fees or obligation to move forward.  Submit a quick form to find your best offers.

Who We Buy Ugly Houses works best for

We Buy Ugly Houses is a cash home buyer ideal for homeowners who need to quickly offload a property that would be hard to sell on the open market. This includes homeowners with:

• Homes in poor condition or in need of major renovations
• Homes in less desirable neighborhoods[3]
• Other hard to sell homes (probate sales, problem tenants, flood zone, etc.)

While most buyers would steer clear of these homes, a Clever study round that that nearly two-thirds (65%) of real estate investors are willing to purchase homes with significant challenges, including foundation issues, flood risks, or even squatters.

Companies like We Buy Ugly Houses also help homeowners in financial trouble. For instance, if you're behind on your payments, We Buy Ugly Houses says it will purchase your home to help you avoid foreclosure.

While selling with We Buy Ugly Houses saves sellers time and can help you out of a bad spot, it's probably not the right choice if:

• Your home is in somewhat decent condition
• Your home is in a desirable area, even if it needs work
• You're not under any particular time constraint to sell

Offers from companies like We Buy Ugly Houses rarely come close to what you would net from an open market sale — even if you choose to sell your house as is.

For example, an analysis of home sale data from Maker Real Estate found that probate properties (which are usually older and sold in as is condition) netted sellers and average of $49,000–104,000 more when sold through the MLS vs. selling off-market to an investor or wholesaler — even after account for realtor fees, which average 5–6% of the home sale price.

If your home is in relatively good condition, or you don't NEED to sell in under a month, you're almost always better off listing with an established real estate agent — especially an agent who offers a lower commission rate.

We Buy Ugly Houses customer reviews and complaints

Source	Average Rating	Review Count
BBB	1.3	34
Google	4.7	2,802
Weighted Average:	4.7	2,836

We Buy Ugly Houses customer reviews are generally positive. The company as a whole maintains an average customer rating of 4.66/5 across 2836 online reviews.

However, if you plan on working with We Buy Ugly Houses, it's best to research your local branch to ensure they are reputable. You should also get offers from at least a few different cash home buyers to ensure the price and terms are fair.

While most customers have a positive experience, reviews for certain branches point toward deals falling through at the last minute and lowball offers from inflated repair estimates.

Here's how customer sentiment around We Buy Ugly Houses breaks down:

In-depth We Buy Ugly Houses review

Service quality: What is it like to sell to We Buy Ugly Houses?

We Buy Ugly Houses offers customers professional service most of the time. Many customer reviews highlight the franchise owner’s helpfulness and willingness to work with customers to make the process smooth (of reviews). Customers particularly appreciate the simple, hassle-free process, flexible closing dates, and ability to leave unwanted furniture and other items behind.

• "The whole process was simple and moved fast."
• "I highly recommend We Buy Ugly Houses if you need to sell a home without a lot of repairing."
• "John and Corrine were very patient and professional dealing with my situation."
• "They were extremely flexible with their closing date as the closing of our new home kept getting pushed back due to construction delays."
• "We had some furniture in the house that was unwanted. John and Sharon said they would handle this for us so we could get back to South Carolina."
• "There was no rush, they were very flexible with closing date."

Customers also appreciate their reps' transparency and communication throughout the process.

• "Walked me through the entire process and always kept me informed as to what was next."
• "They were informative, transparent, professional"
• "He has exceptional integrity and is a very honest property buyer."

However, your experience with the cash buyer will vary based on location. Each office is an independent business, and seller reviews reveal that some branches take better care of customers than others.

For instance, customers speak of wildly different experiences from the two Dallas locations. Charline O. praised the We Buy Ugly Houses’ Dallas franchise for a fair offer and easy process. At the same time, Greg reported lowball offers and theft of personal property from the Greenville Ave. branch.

Offer quality: How much does We Buy Ugly Houses pay?

Sellers who used We Buy Ugly Houses are generally happy with the offer they received on their homes. But if you’re considering using the investor network, it’s essential to understand that your offer won’t be close to fair market value.

Our survey of over 700 real estate investors, including companies like We Buy Ugly Houses, found that they typically aim to offer between 60% to 80% of a home's after-repair value (ARV), with a median offer of 67.5%. 

This means a $200,000 home needing $20,000 worth of repairs will only attract an average of $120,000 in offers from real estate investors. Investors often prioritize speed and simplicity over maximizing profit, with 77% of flippers admitting they limit offers to ensure they can manage unforeseen repair costs or delays.

Factors affecting offers

While We Buy Ugly Houses almost certainly won't pay market value, your actual offer amount can vary substantially depending on factors such as:

• Your home's condition and location
• The amount of time needed for repairs
• Local buyer or tenant demand
• The amount of risk involved (due to legal issues, problem tenants, financial distress, etc.)
• An in-person walk-through not being possible

Offers from We Buy Ugly Houses also vary based on the judgment of individual franchise owners.

For example, home seller Kevin H. of Orlando received an offer near the “net figure from an MLS listing” on his home, but Todd T. from Dallas recently said that We Buy Ugly Houses provided a lowball offer reflecting inaccurate repair costs.

However, significantly more We Buy Ugly Houses reviews mentioned fair offers (24%) than disappointing ones (3%).

Credibility: Is We Buy Ugly Houses legit?

We Buy Ugly Houses is a legitimate business based in Dallas, Texas, that operates under the umbrella of HomeVestors of America, Inc., and has an A+ rating on the BBB.[4]

While the parent company is in good standing with the Better Business Bureau — and the vast mmajority of customers feel that they are treated professionally and ethically — individual franchises don’t always adhere to a high standard. An investigation by ProPublica found that some We Buy Ugly Houses franchise owners took advantage of distressed homeowners by pressuring them to sell for less than their home was worth.

ProPublica also found problems with the franchise company's wholesaling strategy. According to the investigation, rather than flipping every house, franchise owners wholesale most of their properties, which can cause deals to fall through at the last minute if buyers back out.

The resulting scandal led to CEO David Hicks' resignation and calls by some US senators for more consumer protections against predatory real estate practices.[5]

Our team's analysis found several such mentions of perceived predatory practices, undisclosed wholesaling, and last-minute deal cancellations in customer reviews:

• "they take advantage of your situation and low-ball you on the price"
• "High pressure, lied about the condition of The property and what they planned to Do with it."
• "Predatory company trying to make a profit off of someones grief. Claiming they want to help when what they really want is to buy property off of stressed out and sad people so they can turn a profit."
• "B***** terminated the contract, stating that he could not secure funding."
• "Then at closing they say they can't buy your house, it's worse than they thought."
• "They say they buy houses as is and then sell them after buying them but In all reality they wait for someone to else to buy them"

However, We Buy Ugly Houses has recently introduced new measures to address these issues, including revised training materials, more audits, a platform for franchisees to anonymously report issues, and the addition of a three-day opt-out period for consumers.[6]

How does We Buy Ugly Houses work?

If you want to sell your home through We Buy Ugly Houses, here’s what to expect:

1. Start by booking a no-obligation home review by filling out an online form
2. After confirming your details with the cash buyer, your local branch will reach out to schedule a walkthrough 
3. Once the walkthrough is complete, you will receive a cash offer
4. You can either accept the cash offer and move through with closing or deny the offer and walk away
5. Close on your home in as few as three weeks

Before you accept the cash offer, ask your We Buy Ugly Houses representative if they plan on flipping or wholesaling your home. Wholesale deals can fall through at the last minute if the buyer backs out, and may be a red flag. 

You should also consult a real estate professional or attorney to review any contracts offered by We Buy Ugly Houses to ensure there are no unexpected requirements after making the deal.

We Buy Ugly Houses vs. alternatives

We Buy Ugly Houses may work for you if you own a distressed home and want a quick home-selling experience.

We Buy Ugly Houses is similar to other companies that buy homes for cash, such as local real estate investors and iBuyers. Like these companies, We Buy Ugly Houses rarely pays fair market value. However, its 3-week timeline to close is a bit longer than some cash buyers, such as We Buy Houses, which can close in as little as 72 hours.

Also, the recent investigations into We Buy Ugly Houses and its parent company indicate that your experience may not reflect the positive experiences reported by other customers.

We recommend contacting multiple cash buyers in your area or using a comparison platform like Clever Offers that lets you compare multiple cash-for-houses options with no strings attached.

Key questions to ask before working with We Buy Ugly Houses

Methodology

We evaluate each company that buys houses for cash based on four core criteria:

• Customer reviews
• Service quality
• Offer quality
• Credibility

Customer reviews

Our review analysis process includes gathering all verifiable customer reviews from 3rd party sites such as BBB, Google, Consumer Affairs, TrustPilot, and Yelp.

In addition to tallying total review counts and average customer ratings, we used AI to identify positive and negative themes related to our remaining core criteria:

• Offer quality: Whether customers are pleased or disappointed with the amount of money offered for their homes
• Service quality: Measures the ease and convenience of the process, as well as the level of support provided throughout
• Credibility: The degree to which customers report being treated professionally and ethically vs. reporting a lack of integrity on the part of the company or its representatives

To ensure an accurate depiction of the customer experience, we run every review through AI to check for mentions of each theme and tally the percentage of mentions across the entire review set.

Service quality

Customer experience. We rely on secret shopping and fact-checking interviews with company representatives to look for indicators that the company is professional, communicative, customer-focused, and ethical in its dealings with customers. 

We verify this information against customer reviews and interviews with past customers or professionals (realtors, former employees) who have had direct experience working with the brand. 

Offer quality

Price. While nearly all cash buyers pay less than market value for homes, we look at how competitive the company's offers are compared to similar companies.

Purchase criteria. We also examine the company's purchase criteria to see how flexible and accommodating they are in making offers. Companies that offer a fair price for homes that other buyers won't purchase can still receive a high rating for offer quality.

Credibility

Trust signals. We look at how long the company has been in business, the number of verified customer reviews it has, how willing the company was to answer questions about their business model when we contacted them, and how easy it is to find detailed information on their website — including the names and contact details of specific team members. 

We also look at customer reviews indicating whether the company acts with honesty and integrity in their business dealings.

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