We Just Buy Houses is a Glenside-based real estate firm owned and operated by local construction professionals Mark Irwin, Ken Buchholz, and Kevin Burke.
Their specialty: helping distressed homeowners sell their properties as efficiently as possible, for cash, and on their terms.
“We live in this area and want to see the Glenside area vibrant, all while bringing charm back to homes that need some TLC,” Mark, who lives in Elkins Park, said. “We aren’t your average flipper. We have a great team around us that starts with our project manager, Alex O’Neill.”
Kevin, who partners with the firm’s rental wing, has been a Glenside guy all his life. He grew up on Harrison Avenue where his parents still live, owns Burke Brothers Landscape, Design & Build, and is a partner at Penn Turf Inc. on Mt. Carmel Avenue.
“After growing up in Glenside, I feel that it’s important to give back to the community,” he said. “This includes finding great tenants for our properties and working with existing businesses to create exciting new opportunities.”
Their office on 7 Wesley Avenue opened about a year ago, and the partners have been setting their sights on purchasing and refurbishing single-family, commercial, and multi-unit properties in Bucks and Montgomery Counties ever since.
“We purchase these properties as they are for cash. No commissions, no fees. We can close in as quickly as two weeks,” Mark said. “We purchase them as investments or as rentals, and then we add it to our portfolio.”
After settlement, the partners get to work.
“The person doesn’t have to fix anything. Whatever’s wrong with the property is what we’ll deal with. We’ll either fix them up and sell, or we fix them up and keep them as a rental,” Mark said.
The firm can handle just about any project that comes their way, from leaky roofs to improper grading and drainage to separating floorboards.
“We both worked for Mark’s dad growing up, so that’s how we got into this,” Ken, a Bucks County resident, said. “We were doing construction throughout those years, and then decided to buy and flip some houses ourselves. It’s been fun. There’s definitely a lot to it, but it’s cool to see a house go from absolute train wreck to looking brand new.”
As anyone in the real estate business knows, time and timing are cardinal assets. The firm is able to compete a full renovation in about six months, which includes three months of rehab before the property heads to the market.
The firm’s current rentals in Glenside and Cheltenham include 25 S. Easton Road, 7 Wesley Avenue, 150 S. Easton Road, and 300 W. Cheltenham Avenue.
Past projects have included 215 S. Chancellor Street in Newtown, 273 Bickley Road, 319 Roberts Avenue, and 407 Paxson Avenue in Glenside, as well as 739 Cricket Avenue and 638 Pine Tree Road in Abington.
For more on We Just Buy Houses, you can visit their website. For a free guide on the pros and cons of selling your house to a local professional, you can click here. If you want to learn more about the firm’s construction division, Buck Construction, you can visit their Instagram page.
Check out Mark as he explains the four-step process of selling a home:
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