The home-selling process can be long and complex. There’s a lot to do, from cleaning, decluttering, and staging your home to finding the right listing agent, then a long series of open houses and private showings. And even when you get an offer, it can take weeks to get to the closing.
If that’s time you just don’t have, don’t panic. Today’s real estate market offers a few ways you can shorten the time from listing to closing. In some cases, you might even be able to skip listing and go straight to the closing.
Go For a Cash Sale
Do people actually buy homes for cash? Of course! But more often, a cash offer comes from a professionally-interested business. Often, the likeliest cash purchaser these days is an iBuyer, which is an internet-based purchaser who relies on valuation software to send instant offers to sellers.
Cash sales typically mean a faster process from listing to closing. Particularly when an iBuyer is making the offer, you’ll enjoy a simpler and more drama-free experience. Moreover, there’s a lot less risk with an iBuyer. They don’t need financing, and your closing isn’t contingent on another sale as you’ll typically experience with a financed purchase and an individual buyer who’s already a homeowner.
On the other hand, cash sales aren’t all upside. There are higher transaction fees, and the total offer is typically up to 20% less than the offer you’d get from an individual purchaser in a traditional financed sale. For sellers willing to take that slight hit, though, a cash sale is a great way to close quickly.
Sell Your Home As-Is
For many homeowners interested in selling their property, the tallied cost of repairs and staging is off-putting, to say the least. Some homes require significant repairs before listing, while others need a lot of painting and staging work before home buyers will give it serious consideration. If you just don’t have the time or funds to tackle that potentially exhausting list of work before listing, consider the as-is sale.
Yes, that’s right: You can skip the repairs and sell your home exactly as it exists right now, pre-listing. You’ll need to make sure you’ve provided full disclosures to prospective buyers and label your listing “as is” to avoid confusing or misleading shoppers.
This kind of sale isn’t for every potential homebuyer. As-is listings can turn off some buyers who perhaps also don’t have the time or money to make necessary repairs. Moreover, an as-is sale will probably attract lower offers. That’s fair since the purchaser is bearing the cost of all those repairs and improvements you didn’t make.
However, an as-is sale can help you get to closing more quickly and in the right circumstances, might be the best option for you and your home.
Sell Your Home Yourself
You don’t have to hire an agent and pay that commission just to unload your home. Especially if you’ve already got a willing buyer, a FSBO sale might be the way to go. In 2020, FSBO sales accounted for less than 10% of all home sales but over three-fourths of those sales sold in two weeks. Now, that’s often because the seller knew the buyer—say, a relative, friend, or someone known by a neighbor who wanted to move to that neighborhood—but it’s not always the case.
On the downside, if you don’t have a ready buyer, plan on spending time and money getting your home cleaned, decluttered, possibly repainted, and staged before you get those professional “beauty shots” taken. You’ll also need to go through the process of entertaining offers and negotiating the contract before you close, just as you would with an agented sale, except now you’re responsible for those tasks on your own.
Cutting through the noise and going straight to the sale might be the fastest way to sell your home, but make sure you know what you’re doing and review all relevant terms first.
A Few Final Tips for a Fast Sale
To help your house sell quickly, follow these tips:
- Talk to an experienced real estate agent. Your realtor can help you decide your best path forward and how to simplify that journey for both your prospective purchaser and yourself. Unless you’re committed to the FSBO path, a realtor is a vital part of any quick-sale plan.
- Clean and declutter your home. Even though a fast sale usually means you don’t have to make huge improvements or repairs, you should take the time to spruce up and remove personal items, such as family photos, papers, and correspondence.
- Get professional-quality photos taken. Visuals always help sell your home, especially these days when so many home shoppers begin their process on the internet.
Provided by Wait! Read This Before You Sell Your House for Cash
