New Law Addresses Unsolicited Offers
Almost every seller we speak to says they get inquiries all the time about selling their home. Postcards, text messages, handwritten notes, sometimes written offers... They come in all the time! One client of ours counted eleven separate inquiries in one month.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don't get these because your house is terrific, although terrific it very well may be!
Let me tell you about the other side of this coin. I'll tell you of some clients we have who decided to try their hand at flipping houses as a side hussle. They signed up for a course, put in the hours, and came back with notebooks full of HOW-TO stuff. Featured prominently in these lessons was how to reach homeowners with unsolicited offers. They started writing these letters, texts, etc. They became the spammers we all know and (don't) love.
What Washington's New Law Actually Says
Starting January 1, 2026, Washington homeowners have meaningful protections when they receive an unsolicited offer to buy their property.
It's called the Solicited Real Property Act, and here's the short version: if someone approaches you about buying your home (rather than you seeking them out), they are now legally required to tell you that you have the right to an independent appraisal — at their cost, not yours. And if you request that appraisal, you have four business days after receiving it to walk away from any deal, penalty-free.
Don't want the appraisal? You still have ten business days after signing any agreement to cancel without penalty.
Violations expose the buyer to Washington's Consumer Protection Act — which means treble damages and attorney fees. The law has teeth. One important detail: these protections apply when neither party has a real estate agent. The moment you bring in a licensed broker, you're operating in a regulated environment with its own set of protections and disclosures. Which brings us to the actual takeaway.
The Takeaway
The letters probably aren't going away. And some of the people sending them are legitimate — investors who really will close quickly and make the process genuinely simple for sellers in the right situation. Note; "simple" and "best price" are rarely the same thing. An investor making an unsolicited cash offer needs to make a profit. That profit comes from somewhere, and it usually comes from the spread between what they pay you and what the home is actually worth.
If you've received an offer and you're curious whether it's reasonable, call us before you get too far along. We can pull comps, give you a sense of actual market value, and help you figure out whether the offer on the table is worth considering — or whether listing traditionally would put significantly more money in your pocket. Sometimes the fast, easy path really is the right one, especially in cases where maximizing the proceeds from the sale is not the priority. We'll give you a straight read on it.
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