Most are real. Some are not. Oregon gives you better tools to check than most states — a registry, a license lookup, and a law written for exactly this. The ten-minute check, step by step.
Most “we buy houses” companies in Oregon are real businesses. Some are not, and the ones that are not tend to find the people with the least room to absorb a bad deal — a foreclosure date, an inherited house they cannot get to, a house with a problem nobody will finance. Oregon gives you better tools to check a cash buyer than most states, because since July 2025 it has had a law written for exactly this. Here is how to use them, in about ten minutes.
This is what to check before you sign anything with a cash home buyer in Oregon — including us.
The business model is legitimate: a buyer pays cash, takes the house as-is, and closes fast, in exchange for a price below what a listing might bring after repairs and two months on the market. That is a fair trade for a lot of sellers and a bad one for others, and a legitimate buyer will tell you which one you are. The scam version keeps the same script and changes the mechanics — no escrow, a contract you cannot read, a price that drops the week before closing, or a person who never intended to buy anything and is just tying up your house until someone else pays them for it.
The good news is that the difference shows up in paperwork you can check, not in how nice the person sounds on the phone.
Oregon has three kinds of cash buyers, and the checks are different for each. Ask one question and you will know: “Are you buying this house yourself, or assigning the contract to someone else?”
If the answer is “we might assign it” and there is no disclosure and no registration number, stop. That is not a gray area in Oregon anymore.
1. Search the company, the owner and the phone number. Reviews on Google and the BBB, the company website, the name of an actual person. A buyer with no address, no owner’s name and a phone number that goes to a call center is a lead-generation site selling your information to whoever pays, not a buyer.
2. Check the Oregon Secretary of State business registry. Every real company in Oregon is there, with an active status, a registered agent and a date it was formed. “Inactive,” “administratively dissolved” or no record at all ends the conversation.
3. Check the registration or license at the Oregon Real Estate Agency’s eLicense lookup. Choose the license type — Wholesaler, Broker, Principal Broker — and search the person’s last name. Not the company’s name; the registration belongs to the individual. If they told you they assign contracts and they are not in there, walk.
4. Ask for proof of funds. A bank statement or a bank letter, dated in the last thirty days, in the name of the buyer or the entity on the contract, for at least the purchase price. A wholesaler should be able to show you the end buyer’s funds before closing, and should be up front that the money is not theirs.
5. Close through a licensed Oregon escrow and title company, and put the earnest money there. Never with the buyer. Never with the buyer’s “attorney.” The title company is the neutral third party that holds the deposit, runs the title search, pays off your lender and disburses your money. Ask which one, and call them to confirm the file is open.
6. Read the contract like it was written by someone who wants your house for nothing. The closing date, the inspection period, who pays which closing costs, whether the price can change and on what basis, whether the contract can be assigned, and what happens to the earnest money if the buyer walks. If it is assignable, the HB 4058 disclosure has to be attached and you have the right to cancel — our disclosure is here if you want to see what a compliant one looks like.
A name, an address and a person who answers. An active entity at the Secretary of State. If they assign contracts, a registration you can find at eLicense and a disclosure they hand you without being asked. Proof of funds on request. Earnest money in escrow at a title company you can call. A written offer with a closing date you chose, and a straight answer when you ask whether listing would net you more — because sometimes it will, and a real buyer would rather lose one deal than lie to get it.
It is always below what an updated house would bring on the open market after two months, because you are being paid for speed and certainty and for not fixing anything. Whether it is low depends on the house. On a clean, updated house the gap is wide and you should probably list. On a house with a roof problem, a 1950s panel, a tenant, or a foreclosure date, the gap closes fast once you subtract what the listing would actually cost you. Here is the math with real Lane County numbers. And a cash buyer is one of three ways to sell, not the only alternative to an agent — our guide to selling a house fast in Oregon walks all three, including selling it yourself.
If your house shows well, you are not on a clock, and a financed buyer’s inspection does not scare you, list it with an agent and take the higher number. A cash sale is the right tool for time and condition problems. It is the wrong tool for a house that has neither.
If all five come back clean, you are dealing with a real buyer and the only question left is whether the number works for you.
Castle Buys Houses is Gerren Castle, buying houses across Oregon from a storefront at 508 E Whiteaker Ave in Cottage Grove. I am a registered Oregon residential property wholesaler, #201264508, and on some houses I close myself and on others I assign the contract to a buyer I work with — you get the written disclosure before you sign either way, and the price and the date do not change. Run every check above on me. Then, if you want a number, call and ask for Gerren — (541) 250-3067. See where we buy houses in Oregon.
General information about Oregon law and real estate practice, not legal advice. Whether a particular buyer is complying with HB 4058 is a legal question; if you think you have been dealt with unlawfully, the Oregon Real Estate Agency accepts complaints through the same eLicense system linked above.
