Selling Home Fast
I Need to Sell My House Fast, What Are My Options?
Homeowners may find themselves in situations where they need to sell their home fast for a number of reasons. You may have been bequeathed a home after the death of a family member and don’t want the prolonged hassle of maintenance and upkeep while you wait to sell through the traditional process.
You may have found a new job in another state and need to move right away but need the equity from your current home for a down payment on a house in your new city of employment. Or you might be facing financial challenges and need to access the equity in your home right away.
The options for selling your home fast fall into a couple of distinct categories. There are ways to increase the speed of a sale through the normal home selling process. This is typically the preferable approach because you may still be able to get full market value for your home.
If even an accelerated version of the normal home selling process is too slow, there are alternative cash sale options, but the consequence of using them is sacrificing significant market value.
Increasing the Speed of the Normal Home Selling Process
There are a number of reliable ways to increase the speed of the traditional home selling process. Examples include:
- Pricing your home competitively compared to other homes for sale in your area
- Leveraging aggressive marketing strategies to get your home seen by as many home shoppers as possible as quickly as possible
- Incentivizing the sale by offering to cover closing costs, HOA fees or repair costs
- Selling to a friend or family member who you know is in the market for buying a home
Other Fast Home Selling Options
Selling a home fast can be much harder if there are underlying problems with the home, such as if it’s in severe disrepair, has a damaged roof or the home has foundation problems.
Lenders will perform a property appraisal prior to approving a loan. This is to ascertain the market value of the property to ensure they’re not lending more than the home is worth. The mortgage company also wants to determine whether the home’s condition reflects the asking price.
Although the loan company has no desire to see borrowers default, that risk is always present to some degree. Because of that risk, the lender will want to determine whether, if the worst comes to pass, the property could be resold at a high enough price to recoup what they lent to the homebuyer.
Inspections, appraisals and loan approval are all hurdles for homeowners who find themselves in situations where they need to sell a home that’s in disrepair fast.
Selling a home in severe disrepair through the normal home selling process would necessitate paying for roof replacement, potentially expensive plumbing and wiring overhauls, foundation repair, mold remediation or the repair costs for whatever other problems exist before a lender would ever approve a buyer’s mortgage.
In those scenarios, you may consider:
- Selling to a real estate investor
- Selling to an iBuyer service or a cash-for-homes company
- Initiating a short sale if there’s a mortgage on the property and it’s an option
- Selling the property at an auction
Many of these options involve cash buyers, meaning there’s no mortgage company that needs to perform appraisals or inspections. However, using these methods of selling a home fast comes at a steep cost. Although the exact losses will vary significantly based on the area in which the home is located and the condition of the home, you should expect to get paid much less for the property.
The Cost of Accelerated Cash Home Sales
- iBuyers: In addition to the service fee, which often ranges from six to nine percent, iBuyers often pay about 10 to 15 percent below current market value
- Real Estate Investors and Cash for Home Companies: These companies typically pay 20 to 30 percent below market value
- Real Estate Auctions: Homes sold at real estate auctions often sell for 10 to 30 percent less than current market value
Sell Your Home Fast Without Sacrificing Your Equity
72SOLD offers the best of both worlds. Our proven process results in fast home sales without sacrificing the home seller’s equity. We have independent studies to back up our claims that our median sale prices are 7.8 higher than other homes sold in a local MLS, and we get offers within eight days of listing.
