When you see those handwritten yard signs promising “We Buy Houses — Cash — Any Condition,” you probably assume the company behind them will actually purchase your property. A new study released in January 2026 reveals that assumption is wrong about 88% of the time.
Research conducted by Signature Properties, a Philadelphia-based home-buying company, analyzed more than 150 “we buy houses” operations across the United States and found a striking reality: only about 12% of these companies actually intend to purchase your home directly. The vast majority — roughly 88% — are either pure wholesalers or hybrid operators who plan to assign or resell their contract to another buyer before ever closing in their own name.
This isn’t necessarily illegal or even unethical. But it’s something that many sellers never learn until deep into the sale process, if they learn it at all. The disconnect between what these companies advertise and what they actually do has become significant enough that state regulators are starting to pay attention…