How Can I Sell My House Fast?

How can I sell my house fast? It is a common question that, for one reason or another, few homeowners actually know the answer to. Through no fault of their own, the concept of a speedy transaction eludes them. It is worth noting, however, that selling a house fast isn’t all that difficult. In fact, I am convinced anyone selling a home can cut off some time from the process — if they implement a few proven tricks, that is.

HOW TO SELL YOUR HOUSE FASTER THAN YOU THOUGHT POSSIBLE

Have you ever wondered how to sell your house faster? Don’t worry, you are not alone. For any number of reasons, countless homeowners ask themselves the same question over and over again: How can I sell my house fast?

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to speed up the home selling process. And while the following tricks don’t represent every step in selling a house, they are some of the best strategies for speeding up the process:

1. Mind The Details: The devil really is, as they say, in the details. If you have any intentions of selling your home in a timely manner, you must pay special considerations to each and every detail; namely, the aesthetics of the home itself. If for nothing else, the home you intend to sell needs to put its best foot forward. To do so, be certain to clean it up. Start by addressing the big ticket items: the yard, the kitchen and the bathrooms. Make sure they are all “up to par” with the expectation of local buyers. These areas need to impress, so do your best to make them stand out; they need to capture the attention of potential buyers — in a good way, nonetheless. In doing so, make sure everything is in order and, perhaps even more importantly, clean.
2. Remain Neutral: Selling real estate is nothing, if not for a numbers game. The more people you are able to capture the attention of, the better. That said, it’s in your best interest to relate to the largest amount of people as possible, and not a niche population. More specifically, sellers should target a neutral pallet; one that doesn’t make any over the top statements. Paint color, decorations, arrangement and everything else in the home should remain neutral. That means no bright accent walls or statement decorations that lean heavily in one direction. The idea is to appeal to as many people as possible, so keep things simple and refrain from going overboard.
3. Stage: While staging a home takes time and money, studies suggest proper staging strategies are capable of selling homes faster and for more money. Staging can be broken down to a science, and is in no way best left to the ill-prepared. Instead, I recommend hiring a professional, especially if you want the home to be sold fast.
4. Price It Perfectly: Nothing will have more of an impact on the time it takes to sell a home more so than its price point. Case in point: a poorly priced home can sit on the market for far too long, causing the listing to become stagnant and stale. A good price point, on the other hand, will facilitate a faster transaction. In fact, I recommend pricing the home slightly under nearby comparables, as to entice a bidding war. Doing so could sell the house faster and for more money.
5. Get It Inspected: It isn’t exactly common to get a home inspected before you have an interested buyer, but doing so could help persuade buyers. An inspection that reveals a clean slate could go a long way in attracting buyers, and could serve as a huge selling point. That said, make the inspection report available to potential buyers, and you may find that it adds to their interest.
6. Spread The Word: Selling a home is all about gaining exposure. Do everything you can to increase the amount of people that see your home on a daily basis. That means utilizing every means at your disposal. Initiate an internet campaign, host an open house, tell people in your own network, go door knocking, send out direct mail — anything to drum up interest in your home is a good thing. The more people that know about it, the better.
7. Work With The Right Agent: I remain convinced that real estate agents are worth their weight in gold. Not only are they fully capable of speeding up a sale, but they can remove a lot of the headaches that typically coincide with a real estate deal. If you want to sell your house fast, few things will make more of a difference than an agent that knows the area.

Thanks to tricks like these, it’s no longer a question of if I can sell my house fast, but rather how fast can I sell it.

HOW DO YOU BUY AND SELL A HOUSE AT THE SAME TIME?

Few things are more stressful than buying and selling a house at the same time. The idea that two of the largest transactions you will ever make are going to be within a small period of time can be terrifying — to say the least. Of course, if you sell first you run the risk of being homeless till you buy another home. If you buy first, you run the risk of paying two mortgages at once — not an ideal situation for anyone.

If you want the process to move forward as seamlessly as possible, I highly recommend making an offer on a home; one that has a sale and settlement contingency. Once you have made the offer, with the contingency in place, proceed to place your current home up for sale. If done correctly, the offer you currently have on the table will be contingent on the means that your current home actually sells.

Of course, it’s worth noting that a sale and settlement contingency is not ideal in a competitive market. It will certainly be hard to get a seller to agree to such a contingency when they have multiple offers on their home.

CAN I SELL MY HOUSE FAST FOR CASH?

Can I sell my house fast for cash? The answer is unequivocally yes. Selling a home to a cash buyer is inherently faster and easier. If for nothing else, the aspect of a cash transaction will usually remove the middleman (the bank that typically slows down the process with complex underwriting and lengthy waiting periods). There is a caveat, however: most cash buyers will typically request a bit of a discount — the inevitable cost of a speedy transaction.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO SELL A HOUSE?

There’s no doubt about it: the best time to sell a house is, and always will be, when you are ready. That said, it’s almost impossible to pinpoint the best time of the year to sell a home, as there are far too many factors in play. Of course, you will often hear that spring and summer are home selling seasons, and for good reason; that’s when most buyers are ready to hit the market. However, the summer and spring selling seasons are far from a universal truth. While you could argue you will have more of an advantage selling in the summer thanks to the amount of buyers on the market, everyone’s situation will be different. There are simply too many factors in play. For example, all the buyers in the world won’t make a difference if you aren’t ready to move or the home isn’t ready to show. There are countless reasons why a home may not sell well in the summer, and they are each contingent on the homeowners own readiness. That said, the best time to sell a home is when you are ready. Only once you have prepared accordingly should you proceed to sell. Do not — I repeat, do not — sell simply because the weather is warming up.

By Than Merrill