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How to Sell Your House Fast for Cash at the Best Price

Janene Wilkey

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Summary: In this article, learn the three most popular ways to sell your house fast for cash and at the best price. Topics also include, the pros and cons of each option and what to do next.

Introduction

So, you need to sell your house fast? Don’t worry! We understand how frustrating it can be to sell a home or investment property in today’s market, especially if you can’t wait 3, 6, 12, or more months to sell for a price that feels fair.

In this article we’ll discuss three of the most popular selling options for homeowners today, and we’ll explain the pros and cons of each! Continue reading to learn more.


Quick Facts: The 3 Options for Selling Your House Quickly for Cash

Option 1: Hire a Local Real Estate Agent or Broker
Hiring a local real estate agent or broker might be a good option for you if you want to get the best price for your home, you don’t want to do a lot of work, and you can wait 6 months or more to sell. Click here to learn more.

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Option 2: Sell Your House Yourself (For Sale By Owner)
Selling your house yourself may be a good option for you if you want to avoid paying commission fees, you don’t mind doing all the work yourself, and you can wait up to 12 months to sell. Click here to learn more.

Option 3: Sell Your House To A Real Estate Investor or Wholesaler
Selling your house to a real estate investor may be a good option if you need to sell your house as quickly as possible (30 days or less), you don’t want to do any repairs or maintenance, and you don’t mind selling at a discount in return for speed and convenience. Click here to learn more.


Option 1: Hire a Local Real Estate Agent or Broker

Option 1: Hire a Local Real Estate Agent or Broker

Hiring a local real estate agent or broker might be a good option for you if you want to get the best price for your home, you don’t want to do a lot of work, and you can wait 6 months or more to sell.

The Process

1. Find and contact a real estate agent who can help you determine the selling value of your house.
2. Sign a listing agreement with the agent where you agree that they will exclusively represent and sell your property.

3. Your agent lists your property on the Multiple Listing Services (MLS), markets it, and hosts open houses and showings for potential buyers.
4. When your property sells: agent takes care of the paperwork and negotiations with the    buyer. When the sale is finalized, your agent and the buyer’s agent will both collect commission fees.

Costs

  • Seller agent fees are usually 3% of the total purchase price of your house and another 3% to the agent who represented the buyer. As an example, if your house sells for $200,000, you would expect to pay approximately $12,000 total in agent fees.
  • Potential closing costs that you might share with the buyer.
  • Any costs in making changes or upgrades to your house.

How fast can I sell?

Varies, but you should be willing to wait 3-12 months to sell (the average is 6 months)

Can I get paid in cash?

  • Yes, it is possible to find cash buyers when working with an agent. In fact, changes in the housing market have created more cash purchases in recent years.
  • Ask your agent to research recent sales on MLS to find buyers who purchased other properties in cash. They may be landlords or investors who could potentially be persuaded to look at your house as well.

Pros

  • Real estate agents usually know the market well and can help get the best price for your house.
  • Agents also take care of the marketing, showing the property, and putting together closing documents.

Cons

  • Agent commissions and closing fees cut into the profit of the sale.
  • Real estate agents often use traditional marketing methods to find buyers, which can take between 3-12 months.
  • The primary way agents find buyers is by focusing on those who plan to live in the home. It’s more common for these types of buyers to have financial fallouts which can cause closing delays.

Who should use this option?

  • If you can wait 6-12 months to sell.
  • You are okay with paying agent fees, and you can trust that your agent has your best interests in mind.

Option 2: Sell Your House Yourself

Option 2: Sell Your House Yourself (For Sale By Owner)

Selling your house yourself may be a good option for you if you want to avoid paying agent fees, you don’t mind doing all the work yourself, and you can wait up to 12 months to sell.

The Process

1. You decide the value of your home and/or pay for an appraisal to find out the true value.
2. You take pictures of the house and create a listing on a “For Sale By Owner” website or a website like Zillow or Trulia.
3. You can also put a FSBO sign up in your yard to attract potential buyers passing by. 4. You handle offers, showings, and you put together all the paperwork for the sale.

Costs

  • The only real costs are whatever fees there are to list on a FSBO and MLS sites, any cost to fix your house up, and closing costs.
  • You may also decide to pay a buyer’s agent fee (usually about 3%) to entice agents to bring their buyers to see your house.

How fast can I sell?

  • This really depends on your ability to market the property, but to be safe you should plan for 6-12 months to sell.
  • Usually FSBO houses stay on the market longer than with an agent. This isn’t always the case, but since agents sell homes every day they often know tricks that’ll help sell your home faster.

Can I get paid in cash?

  • Yes, but this is likely more difficult since you may not have access to the same resources as an agent or broker.
  • One idea for finding cash buyers is to creatively place ‘for sale’ signs around your neighborhood or city.
  • Another idea is to search the public records on houses purchased to find who is purchasing with cash, and then contact them to see if they might be interested in your property.

Pros

You can save a big chunk of money by not paying agent fees. And, you also get to have full control over the sales process.

Cons

If you’re not comfortable and/or experienced in the process of selling a house, the paperwork involved, how to determine the value of your house, etc…you could end up in over your head. It also may take longer sell, which can end up costing you more than working with an agent.

Who should use this option?

  • If you don’t need to sell quickly.
  • You have a certain comfort level with negotiations and working with real estate financial documents.

Option 3: Sell Your House To A Real Estate Investor or Wholesale

Option 3: Sell Your House to a Real Estate Investor or Wholesaler

Selling your house to an investor or wholesaler may be a good option if you need to sell your house as quickly as possible (30 days or less), you don’t want to do any repairs or maintenance, and you don’t mind selling at a discount in return for speed and ease.

The Process

1. You contact an investor. Most cities have real estate investors who buy houses.
2. An investor will evaluate your house, come up with a value for it, and make an offer that fits their buying criteria. You evaluate the offer and decide if it works for you.
3. If it’s a fit on both sides, the investor will work with a title company to prepare all of the necessary documents to close on the sale. You’ll get paid in cash quickly!

Costs

While you won’t have to pay any commission fees or closing costs using this strategy, you will not make as much money for you home because investors can’t pay full retail value for your house.

How fast can I sell?

Many real estate investors can give you an instant offer and close the sale within as little as 7 days after you accept.

Can I get paid in cash?

Yes, real estate investors almost always pay in cash.

Pros

  • You can sell fast and get paid in cash in 7-30 days.
  • You won’t have to pay any fees or commissions, and usually the investor will pay all closing costs.
  • Most investors can buy your house “as-is” and won’t require you to repair anything, clean anything up, or even remove everything from the house. (Afterwards, they may fix them up and sell or rent them out.)

Cons

  • Investors cannot pay the full value of your home.

Who should use this option?

  • People willing to sell at a lower price.
  • People who need to sell quickly (days or weeks rather than months).
  • People who don’t want to hassle with repairs or cleaning up the house.

Bonus: How to get the best price using this strategy.

  • As mentioned above, real estate investors cannot pay you full price for your home. This is because they need to make some profit when they resell your property so they’ll need to account for the time and money needed to make repairs.
  • That said, there are a good amount of dishonest wholesalers out there who may try to take advantage. This is why it’s imperative that you do a little homework before accepting an offer.
  • Take a look at recently sold homes in your area to get an idea of how much you could ask for yours. Make sure you have this number in mind when the investor comes to your property. This can give you a little more negotiating power!
  • Beware of scammers who may try to trick you into selling for less than market value in exchange for speed and convenience. How fast do you really need to sell your home? If you can wait a few months selling to a real estate investor may not be your best option.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of the various strategies available for how to sell your house fast for cash, get the best price, along with the pros and cons of each.

To recap:

  • If you want to get the best price for your home, you don’t want to do a lot of work, and you can wait 6 months or more to sell, hiring a local real estate agent or broker might be a good option for you.
  • If you want to avoid paying commission fees, you don’t mind doing all the work yourself, and you can wait up to 12 months to sell, selling your house yourself may be a good option for you.
  • If you need to sell your house as quickly as possible (30 days or less), you don’t want to do any repairs or maintenance, and you don’t mind selling at a discount in return for speed and convenience, you should consider selling your house to a real estate investor.

Sources:
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/look-people-pay-cash-houses-94679.html
https://cdn.oncarrot.com/reports/SellingtoARealEstateInvestor.pdf

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