Straight answers

Fair Home Cash Are cash-buyer companies legit?

How to verify any cash buyer in the state’s own records, the five red flags that end a conversation, and the two professionals who protect you at an Illinois closing.

The short answer

Some are, and some are not. Legitimate cash buyers exist in every market, and this industry also has more than its share of operators who are two burner phones and a logo. The difference shows up fast when you check: a real company appears in the state's business records, puts its offer and its math in writing, runs every dollar through a licensed title company, and never asks you for money.

Key takeaways

Some cash-buyer companies are legit and some are not; checking shows which.
In Illinois, look the company up first at ilsos.gov.
Walk away from same-day pressure, hidden offer math, or requests for money.
A legitimate closing runs through your attorney and a licensed title company.
Fair Home Cash publishes its paper trail so you can verify it.

The two-minute check

Every state keeps the receipts: go look

Skepticism is the correct posture toward any company that claims to buy houses, so do not start with reviews or a polished website; start with the state. Every state maintains a public business database, and in Illinois it is the Secretary of State at ilsos.gov: open Business Services, use the Corporation/LLC Search, and type the company's name. The lookup is free and takes about two minutes. A company formed in another state is also listed in that state's records (Fair Home Cash is WealthExtract LLC, a Nevada LLC). A company you cannot find in any state's records has answered your question already.

The red flags

Five behaviors that end the conversation

Walk away from anyone who pressures you to sign the day they visit, refuses to put the offer and its math in writing, asks you to sign a deed outside of a formal closing, wants money from you for any reason, or cannot be found in the state's business records. Any one of the five is disqualifying on its own: no legitimate buyer needs you to sign today, hides its math, or charges a seller anything. Our guide to avoiding we-buy-houses scams covers each one, and the schemes behind them, in detail.

Protection that does not depend on trust

In Illinois, two professionals stand between you and a bad deal

You never have to take a cash buyer's honesty on faith, because a legitimate Illinois closing is built around two parties who do not work for the buyer. Your own attorney, standard practice at Illinois residential closings, reads every page before anything binds you. And a licensed title company holds the money in escrow, runs the title search, and pays off liens out of the proceeds; you never wire funds to anyone at any stage. A deal structured any other way (cash outside of escrow, a notary in a parking lot, a deed signed at a kitchen table) is a deal to walk away from, no matter whose name is on the flyer.

Run the checks on us

We publish our own paper trail on purpose

We would rather be verified than believed. Is Fair Home Cash legit? walks you through checking us against the Nevada Secretary of State's own records (WealthExtract LLC's legal name, status, and registered agent) plus our address, phone, and how we get paid, all checkable without our cooperation. Our Seller's Bill of Rights puts the standards above in writing, and how buyers calculate offers shows the math a legitimate offer should always come with. Hold every buyer you talk to against that standard, including us.