When attempting to sell your house fast, you may have to look into alternatives to the traditional real estate market. Perhaps you’ve already tried that approach and have experienced its pitfalls. The reality is that it can take a home months or even years to sell on the traditional real estate market. For a number of reasons, you may need to move rather quickly and rid yourself of your homeownership. So, what are the alternatives?
The most prominent alternative that most homeowners seek is the cash for homes option. Different companies offer cash for homes rather than traditional mortgages, which can facilitate a quick sale. This is because a mortgage applicant can take around 30 days to receive approval. In many cases, an applicant won’t be approved at all and a sale can fall through, which isn’t a concern when you sell property for cash. However, there are certain things that you should keep in mind as you begin to take this approach in order to sell your house fast.
1. Don’t Work Sell to Individual Buyers
As previously mentioned, there are plenty of companies that offer cash for homes. This is really what you should zero in on if you’re seeking this particular option, rather than working with individuals. There are several pitfalls to working with individual buyers. For one thing, they’re often less organized and systematic than companies. This means that the sale can take much longer to close, which defeats the purpose of selling your house for cash in the first place.
Furthermore, many individuals that purport to buy houses with cash don’t necessarily have the solid cash flow that they claim to have. When buying from a company that has experience, you know that they have their funds in order. Individuals often are sourcing their cash actively as they try to buy a home, or may be working with a couple of other individuals. Therefore, the sale will be more likely to fall through, leaving you alone to start over with new buyers.
2. Prepare for Less Money, Faster
When you’re attempting to sell your house fast, you need to be ready to make compromises. One of the reasons why the price of your house may be driven up on the traditional retail market is that there can be competitive bids driving the sale. If you’re considering selling your house for cash, however, chances are that this hasn’t been a reality for you, just as it isn’t a reality for many home sellers.
Cash buyers are often buying houses quickly, without expecting you to make any improvements or additions that would raise the value of the home. Therefore, their offers may be lower than the price you may set on the retail market. However, you will get that payment in full, much faster than you would if you were selling your home on the traditional market. That leads us to our next note…
3. Don’t Make Repairs
Don’t make repairs, at least not unless the company you’re working with advises you to do so. Most companies that buy houses for cash buy houses as-is, which means that they do not need any repairs or renovations to be made before the house is sold. This actually enhances the amount of money that you’re making on the home, as you’re not investing any new money in the house.
Additionally, this will speed up the sales process. If you want to sell your house fast, avoiding repairs can reduce the length of the process by weeks or even months.
4. Don’t Work with a Realtor
If you’re working with a company that sells homes for cash in order to sell a house fast, you don’t need to work with a realtor. You’ll be working with the company directly, and in fact, will only lose money if you work with a realtor.
As realtors normally take 3-6% of the sale price for commission, you should simply set aside the idea of working with a realtor and handle the sale yourself.
There are a lot of aspects to consider when trying to sell a home for cash. However, the process is usually fairly streamlined and straightforward. Keep these tips in mind and prepare to sell!