“How to Sell My Home Fast”: A simple answer to this most frequently asked question
“How to sell my home fast” – this is one of the most frequently asked questions in the real estate industry. Anyone, who has been in a situation where he or she needed to sell a house fast, will tell you how frustrating it can be. Your home stays on the market for weeks as you hope the perfect buyer will come along and make a great offer.
The average age of an inventory (number of days on the market for a home) in the United States is 65, according to a study. Homes are taking so long to sell when housing markets have supposedly rebounded and homes are selling faster (that’s what newspaper headlines claim these days).
It can be very frustrating when you are not able to sell your home fast even after following all the ‘guidelines’.
Do the following things sound familiar?
- You invested money and time in improving the curb appeal,
- You have spent thousands of dollars on upgrades and remodeling,
- You have removed personal memorabilia to depersonalize your home,
- You have priced your property competitively,
- You have hired a photographer to take high-quality images, in the best light,
- You have hired a real estate agent,
- And, you have waited for the right time to sell.
If you haven’t already noticed, all these ‘guidelines’ for selling your home fast are very time consuming and some of them need hefty investment of money on your part. For example, you may end up spending $10,000 on remodeling your kitchen, without any guarantees that you will recover the cost. Besides, repairs and maintenance can take a lot of time to complete. You will have to pay nearly 4% to 6% of the sales proceed to a real estate agent, who is supposed to help market the property and sell it quickly for top dollar.
What if you can’t wait for 65 days? You might be in a hurry to sell quickly because you are relocating due to a job change or going through a divorce. What if you didn’t have the money to spend on repairs, maintenance and home staging?
Well, there is definitely an easy way out. You can sell your home to an investor, rather than a regular buyer.
Advantages of selling to an investor:
- Investors offer certified funds, cash, pre-scheduled cash payments, or perhaps they may even take over the existing mortgage completely. With multiple options available, sellers may find a solution that suits their needs.
- Most regular buyers rely on conventional mortgages to finance home deals. It can take weeks to complete the formalities. However, investors generally buy homes with cash. When a deal is contingent on the approval of a mortgage, it can fall through if the loan application is turned down by the lender at the last moment. In a cash deal, you can be assured that the deal will go through.
- There is no need to invest money and time in expensive repairs. Most investors will buy your home as-is. You don’t need to be worried about the deal falling through because of the mandatory disclosures.
- Because investors buy homes for cash and ‘as-is’, you can close the deal in a matter of days. Most investors won’t include contingencies in the purchase agreement. Because the sale of the property is not reliant on approved financing, appraised values, home inspections, or the like; bypassing all of these steps expedites the process considerably.
- You can save lots of money by selling to an investor. While selling to a regular buyer, you pay for the property’s inspection and marketing. You also hire a real estate agent. But because there are no contingencies involved, you don’t need these experts on your side to get you through the transaction.
There is no denying the fact that an investor may ask for a discount on the selling price since they are covering the repairs instead of you, but this is a small price to pay to sell quickly and easily.