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Ronnie Foster’s Amazing Story

There is nothing better but to hear exactly what people have to say about doing business with you.  One of the most heartfelt testimonials we have ever received.

 

“Please forgive me for taking so long to get back to you, but here we go.

The story I am about to share with you is one of God, our faith in God. A story of how, if you will allow Him to, God will bring very special people into your lives in he worst of time, especially when you least expect it. Such is the story of Camila Litton and Gulf State Home Buyers.

Our home of 34 years burned on April 11, 2018. A few days later I was contacted by phone by this cheery little voice on the other end of the line introducing herself as Camila Litton. She wanted to know if we would consider selling what was once our home, no matter what the condition. At the time, I was not sure what we were going to do with the house and shared that with Camila. But she was more than welcome to make me an offer if she wanted to. So, we agreed on a meeting time. The morning Camila was to meet me at the house she was punctual and on time. Being in sales most of my working career, punctuality has always been a good measuring tool as to how sincere someone is about what they are doing. After arriving at the house, we visited for a few minutes as I shared my story as to what had happened to our home and how devastated we were by not only the loss of our home but the loss of so many precious memories. Camila expressed her very compassionate and sincere sympathy regarding our home and our loss. As she examined the house it was evident that she was more than a little overwhelmed by our personal loss not to mention the financial loss. After Camila completed her inspection of the condition of the house and how devastated we must be. She thanked me for my time, again expressing her sympathy for our loss, saying that she would keep me and my family in her prayers and that she would get back to me with formal offer in a day or so. Within 48 hours Camila emailed me an offer. I immediately called her, expressing my appreciation for her prayers and her generous offer and shared with Camila that we still had not decided what we were going to do but, either way, I would get back to her when we made a decision.

Several days went by and I received a call from Camila wanting to know how “we” were do? Never once asking if we had made any decisions as to what our intentions were with the house, but to reassure me that me and my family were in her prayers daily. This continued for over a month. Never once did she ask the obvious question, although somewhere in the conversation I would usually share with her where we were in the decision-making process and where we were with the insurance company. I don’t recall exactly when it was that we finally decided we just couldn’t bear the thought of going through the process of rebuilding the house we called our home for so many years and were going to sell it. But when we did, decide I contacted Camila, sharing with her our decision to sell and asking her if the offer was still good, it was so I told her to draw up the papers that we had decided to sell the house to Gulf State Home Buyers (GSHB) as soon as we settled with the insurance company. In the months prior to finally deciding what we were going to do I had several other offers on the house, none of which would I consider strictly because of the sincere concern Camila showed for me and my family. The best I recall this was sometime in late June or early July. However, it was the week before Christmas, 2018 before we finally settled with the insurance company over the contents portion of the claim. The battle we had with the insurance company over the contents in the house was a nightmare I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. However, in the five or so months that went by between verbally committing to sell to GSHB and actually being able to do so Camila rarely ever missed a week without calling, texting or emailing me to let me know she was still praying for us and to see how we were doing. Never once did Camila ever try to pressure me into closing on the house. Camila was extremely helpful, helpful to the point that when I mentioned I was having trouble recruiting help to remove the salvageable contents from the house, she volunteered to and did send a couple of her own construction crew over to spend the day helping me load and unload two trailer loads of contents in the storage facility we had donated to us. By the time we were finally able to close on the house our relationship grown to one of true friendship rather than a relationship of buyer-seller.

I/we look forward to maintaining our friendship with Camila through the coming years. A friendship that God created and will maintain if we will continue to pray for and care for each other. My family and I will continue to keep Camila, her family and Gulf State Home Buyers continually in our prayers.”

Blessings,

Ronnie Foster

Categories testimonial

Why the BBB Accreditation is Important?

 

The Better Business Bureau, or BBB, was established in 1912 in effort to create a marketplace where consumers can find “businesses, brands, and charities that they can trust.” Their “mission is to be the leader in advancing marketplace trust. [They] do this by: Setting Standards for marketplace trust; Encouraging and supporting best practices by engaging with and educating consumers and businesses; Celebrating marketplace role models; Calling out and addressing substandard marketplace behavior; [and] Creating a community of trustworthy businesses and charities.”

Businesses nationwide pursue a BBB accreditation. Not only does it establish their trust with their consumers, but also encourages honest business practices in their established field. In order for a business to qualify for a BBB accreditation they must meet the following standards: build trust, advertise honestly, tell the truth, be transparent, be responsive, safeguard privacy, and embody integrity.

As a consumer, you may be reading this and thinking, ‘I thought that all businesses would practice these standards.’ Unfortunately, that is not true. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) 2018 reports, frequency of small businesses fraud is at 28% and frequency of fraud in larger organizations is at 22–26%. This means that a quarter of businesses nationwide are anticipated to have some element of fraud, whether it is billing schemes, check tampering, financial statement fraud, or any of the other schemes reported annually. Because of these statistics and the relevancy of fraud, companies who are BBB accredited are those that should be most trusted in your community.

However, the BBB also rates each business depending on the “BBB’s opinion of how the business is likely to interact with its customers.” Businesses, once accredited, can receive a letter grading (A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, or F); these ratings are impacted by the businesses: complaint history with BBB, type of business, time in business, transparent business practices, failure to honor commitment to BBB, licensing and government actions known to BBB, and advertising issues known to BBB.

As you can see, the qualifications and assessments of each business that is recorded into the BBB database must meet a rigid set of standards, as well as maintain those standards through their business practices. Although this process may be lengthy and comprehensive for each business independently, the BBB provides an opportunistic platform for consumers to ensure that their contracted businesses are ethical and honest.

BBB Accreditation in Real Estate: To the Homeowners

If you are a client in the real estate business, it is even more important that you work solely with a BBB accredited company. It is no secret, but selling your home can be quite stressful. If you have ever entertained the idea of selling, you most likely received numerous offers from agents in your local area, proposing the best representation in your market. However, how are you as a homeowner supposed to know the details about each offered source of representation? Outside of friends and family members making recommendations, there is no adequate process to vet each agent or home buyer. This is why selecting a BBB accredited company can be most beneficial.

Gulf State Homebuyers, A BBB Accredited All-Cash Home Buying Company

We here at Gulf State Homebuyers are a BBB accredited company with an A+ rating. We have been accredited since February 19th, 2014.

What does this mean?

We have been through a rigorous review and have met and maintained all standards by the BBB.

How Does this Benefit You, The Homeowner?

Selling your home through an all-cash buyer can be a very speedy process. Take our sales for example – we can close a home within five days. This expedited sale can often make home owners nervous, as they often feel they do not have adequate time to complete their due diligence. However, since we are BBB accredited with an A+ rating, we remove the uncertainty in the transactions. Every client we work with can be guaranteed that we stick to our standards. And even more importantly, if there is a problem, we are by our client’s side immediately to help them resolve the issue.

Our standing is extremely important to use. Not only does it help us maintain a positive reputation in the industry, but in the community as well. We will go above and beyond to ensure the satisfaction of our customers.

To review our accreditation, visit the BBB site here. To view our services, visit our website.  To get a consultation, contact us today and we will set you up with one of our staff immediately. Remember, consultations are free – we will educate you on the market and our process, as well as provide you a FREE valuation of your home. 

Categories testimonial

See what Timothy and Barri had to say about selling their home!

We love to hear what our sellers have to say about selling their home to us.  Check out what Timothy and Barri Daniel had to say about selling their home fast!

“Lots of life happened in our home, both good and bad. However, we were glad to finally be able to let it go. This home was purchased when we were very young, as a project home, with hopes that we would be able to build it up to what we wanted. Unfortunately, we ended up being in way over our heads with this and needed out. We had previously spoken with other home buyers, but it always ended up being the wrong time for us or they were unable to give us anywhere close to what we had in mind like these guys did! Gulf State Homebuyers, not only caught us at the perfect time but, was able to come in & truly save us! They took care of everything that needed to be done and had no problem answering any questions we ever had. We went to their office to sign all the papers and it was all explained very thoroughly. Everything was super easy and fast like they said it would be! They were very nice & gave us a great offer! I recommend 110%!”

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We bought April and Kenny Bundy’s house in a week!

 

We love our sellers!  Check out what April and Kenny Bundy had to say about selling their home to us here at Gulf State Homebuyers.

“Our family was expanding and we needed a larger home so we spoke with Kelly with Gulf State Homebuyers.  Camila and Kelly came out to do an evaluation of our home and they made us a cash offer that same day. They were able to give us what we needed in order to move into a new home and welcome our new arrival! We weren’t quite yet ready to move since the baby wasn’t due yet and Gulf State didn’t have an issue with that at all. They said we could move at our own pace so they waited for us to give them the word. Once we were ready, things moved very fast and we closed within the week. The process was smooth, they were easy to work with and everything was very nice.”

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See what Kimberly Buik has to say about selling her inherited home!

We love our sellers and see what Kimberly Buik had to say about selling her inherited home to us!

“I inherited this home through a death in the family and my son happened to have heard an add on the radio for this company, so we called. Madison is who we spoke to and she made the time to come out that same weekend when we would be there, to do the home evaluation. That following Monday they called me with their offer, I accepted. Although I was Madison’s first contract, she did a very good job. She made sure to get me the answers to questions quickly, kept me up to date with everything that was going on, and never had a problem talking with me or explaining things to me. This company made me feel very comfortable with everything and I am grateful for the help they were able to provide me with this inherited home.”

Let us help you if you inherited home from a family member!

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