Hi everyone, Rick Here!

Have you ever wondered how those striking yellow and black signboards got started or how they managed to get into every corner of the Western World and beyond?

Well, it can be traced to the “Savings and Loans” black swan event that happened in the southern states of the US in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

It was a time when, out of need, a new way to transact real estate was required. Given that black writing on a yellow background was the most noticeable color combination to the unaided eye, this guerrilla marketing technique was created to attract the swarm of sellers trying to escape the rapidly collapsing property market . The colorful , but very effective “We Buy Houses” signs were so effective we have used them everywhere.

Starting out in Dallas, assumable real estate loan writing was abolished in 1989, and new investment real estate loans were temporarily prohibited. So due to a shortage of institutional financing, unique marketing strategies were developed in order to resell in a market that had 30% vacancy in some regions.

It was a crazy time in history with price discounts measuring 90% in some cases, 80% in many, and we would have to use in-store credit to buy musical instruments then street-sell at 50% to create purchase funds, crazy I know but I was there and that’s what I did.

There is a perception that we are watching history repeat but this time with many who have never experienced such dramatic market movements. So, think of me as a voice from the earlier crises that can be heard learning from the past, indicating how to find a way through the impending financial storm.

I created and developed ways to make money buying and selling houses and condos at a time the word “real estate” was frowned upon. Processes, methods and strategies that cut through the noise to strategies that worked and are still used by many “We Buy Houses” participants today. 

Has the We Buy Houses name sparked debate and drawn the ire of authorities and some sectors of the establishment?

Absolutely, and proud of it as things don’t change, people change things.

Today, I spend my time developing business connections and network with other investors and business people that creates new opportunities and mutually beneficial profit centers. We Buy Houses continues to aggressively invest in the many We Buy Houses regions across the world, addressing the demands of current homebuyers and sellers who are being affected by a new real estate wave into recession or depression. The mission remains to, “Change the way people buy and sell real estate around the world”, one country at a time, as it was declared more than 30 years ago.