We buy houses in Des Moines for cash
Any condition, no repairs, no agent commission, and you pick the closing date. Start with your address: the first thing we show you is what the county has your house on record for, before anyone talks about an offer.
- Sold as-is. We take the roof, the foundation and the basement
- No commission, no showings, no lender to fall through
- See the county's figure first, free, before you decide anything
Start with your address
Step one of an offer, and the only step that is automatic.
Free, and nothing to fill in to see it. This is the Polk County assessor's own published figure. Iowa law requires property to be assessed at market value, so it is a solid starting point, though it is not an appraisal and not a sale price.
Selling to a cash home buyer vs listing in Des Moines
We're not going to pretend a cash sale beats the open market on price. It usually doesn't. If you want to sell your house fast in Des Moines it wins on time, certainty and cost, and that's the whole of the case. Here's the honest comparison, so you can decide which column you're actually in.
Listing with an agent
- Time to close
- 60–90 days typical
- Agent commission
- ~5–6% of price
- Repairs before listing
- Usually required
- Showings
- Open-ended
- Buyer financing falls through
- A real risk
- Sale price
- Highest, if it sells
Typical ranges for the Des Moines market, not a quote. The right choice when the house shows well, you're not on a clock, and you can carry the mortgage while it sits. Most people should list.
Selling to us
- Time to close
- Usually 2–4 weeks
- Agent commission
- None
- Repairs before listing
- None, sold as-is
- Showings
- One walkthrough
- Buyer financing falls through
- No lender involved
- Sale price
- Below retail, that's the trade
The right choice when the repairs are bigger than your appetite, the timing matters more than the last few thousand, or you just want it done.
How it actually goes
You send the address
We pull the county record, recent nearby sales and the tax assessment before we bother you with questions. Most of the homework happens before we ever speak.
We agree on condition
A short call or a walkthrough, whichever you prefer. We're establishing what the house needs, not hunting for reasons to drop the number later.
You get it in writing
A written offer with the closing date you asked for. Take it to a lawyer, take it to an agent, take a week. There's no expiring-tonight nonsense here.
Who sells a house fast in Des Moines
Almost nobody sells this way because it's clever. People need to sell a house fast because of a situation, and these are the five we see most often around Des Moines.
You own a house in another state
Managing a property from four hundred miles away stops being worth it fairly quickly, especially an empty one.
You're relocating on a deadline
A job start date doesn't move because your house hasn't sold. Two mortgages is the thing to avoid.
You're done being a landlord
Tired rental, tired tenants, deferred maintenance you'd rather not price out. A cash sale can happen with tenants still in place.
The repairs got away from you
Foundation, roof, water damage. When the fix costs more than the gain, listing stops making sense.
You're downsizing
Fewer stairs, less yard, and no interest in staging a house you've lived in for thirty years.
Where we have county data
Polk County, which covers Des Moines and most of the metro around it. Dallas and Warren County are not in the lookup yet, so a Waukee or Norwalk address will come back empty for now.
- Des Moines
- West Des Moines
- Ankeny
- Urbandale
- Clive
- Johnston
- Altoona
- Waukee
- Pleasant Hill
- Windsor Heights
- Norwalk
- Grimes
- Bondurant
- Indianola
- and nearby
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Common questions about selling a house fast in Des Moines
Who pays closing costs on a house in Iowa?
On an ordinary Iowa sale the costs are split by custom: the seller usually pays the abstract continuation, the transfer tax and their own agent's commission, and the buyer usually pays their lender's fees and title work. When you sell to us there is no lender and no agent, so most of those line items simply do not occur. The costs on our side of the transaction are ours. What you still owe is your mortgage payoff, any liens against the property, and prorated property tax up to the closing date.
What is the first thing to do when you want to sell your house?
Find out what it is worth and what you owe on it, in that order. Everything after that is a decision you can only make once you know the gap between those two numbers. You can look up the Polk County assessed value for your address here without giving us anything. If the gap is healthy and the house shows well, list it. If it is not, or the house needs work you do not want to do, that is when a cash sale starts to make sense.
Do I need to make repairs before selling?
It depends who you sell to. A cash buyer prices the repairs into their number rather than asking you to make them, which is exactly why that number comes in below retail. On the open market the answer is usually the opposite: unrepaired houses either sit or attract offers that assume the worst. Note that the county's assessed value does not know the condition of your house, so a property needing a roof and one that does not can be assessed almost identically.
How fast can you actually close?
Two to four weeks is normal, and the limiting factor is almost never us. It is the title work: in Iowa the abstract has to be continued and examined before the property can change hands, and that takes as long as it takes. If you need longer because you have not found somewhere to go yet, that is fine, you pick the date.
Will I get less than market value?
Yes. That is the trade, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling you something. A cash offer is below what the open market would pay for the same house in good condition, because the buyer is taking on the repairs, the carrying costs and the risk that it does not sell. What you get back is speed, certainty and no commission. Most people should list.
Do you buy houses with tenants in them?
Yes, occupied is fine, and you do not need to evict anyone first. The lease comes with the house and we take it on. If you are a landlord who is finished being one, not having to empty the property before selling is usually the largest part of the appeal.
Thinking about selling? Start with the address.
We'll show you the county's figure first, free and with nothing to fill in. Ask for an offer on the same page, or take the number and go list with an agent. Both are fine.