What “we buy houses” companies really pay in Fresno, from the record.
We looked at every Fresno County house that was bought and resold within eighteen months over two years: 1,475 of them. The median investor paid about $260,000 and resold for about $380,000. That is the honest answer to what a direct buyer pays, and here is why the number is what it is.
or call or text (530) 635-8196
Casa Fresco buys for its own account. Nobody at Casa Fresco is your agent, and you may get more by listing; we say so when we think so. Sam Fox Brennan, California real estate broker, DRE #02178674.
The gap is mostly work and time. The $120,000 between purchase and resale covers the repairs that made the house financeable, the months of taxes, insurance and interest while the work was done, the cost of selling it the second time, and the investor’s profit. Six in ten of those houses were bought off-market, from owners who had held them about twenty years. The houses bought on the open market went under contract in about ten days, which tells you the rest were in rough shape.
Our offer is built the same way, in writing. What the house will sell for after the work, from closed sales on your street; less the work, which Eduardo prices trade by trade; less holding and resale costs; less a margin. What is left is the offer. We show the arithmetic rather than hide it, and the offer says who the buyer is and that one of us is a licensed broker acting as a principal.
When the gap is not worth it. If your house needs little, the open market will pay you most of that $120,000 instead of a buyer. We say so when it is true, and Sam can list it for you as a broker if you want that. A direct sale earns its discount only when the work, the tenant, the estate or the timing is something you would rather not carry.
Resale study: 13,650 Fresno County sales, 1,475 resold within 18 months, median purchase about $260,000 and median resale about $380,000, 61% bought without an MLS listing; from Casa Fresco’s review of public sale records and the Fresno MLS, September 2026. Market figures, not Casa Fresco’s own transactions.
What we are sent from here most
- What comes off the top The work, priced by a plumbing contractor. Holding costs. Resale costs. A margin.
- What does not A commission. Repairs you pay for first. Months of showings.
- What you can do with the number Take it to an agent, an appraiser or your family. Then decide.
- What we will say Whether listing would get you more. Sam is a broker; he can do that too.
Questions
- Is 70% of value a rule?
No. It is roughly what the median Fresno investor resale shows after the work, and every house is different. A house that needs a roof and a kitchen is priced differently from one that needs paint. The offer shows our arithmetic for your house.
- Why not just list and take the highest offer?
If the house is clean, you should. If it is not, the highest open-market offer often comes from the same investors, after months of showings. Selling direct skips the months, not the buyer.
Send the address and what is going on with the house. You get a written answer, whether we would buy it and what we would pay, usually within two business days.
or call or text (530) 635-8196