Let’s face it, any time you put your house up for sale it’s very stressful. “Selling a home may, in fact, be harder on your emotions than major family issues or the passing of a relative.” was the statement made in a recent daily mail article.
Things go from tough to highly stressful when your finances require you to sell the house quickly. It’s quite easy to end up second-guessing yourself and later realizing you sold for much less than the homes true value.
The best way to quickly turn your house for a profit and with a strong resolve is to educate yourself on the marketplace and implement a few key strategies we will reveal in this article.
So let’s dissect some of the options you have in making a quick sale of your home.
To Use an Agent or Not
While its true that over 86% of real estate sellers use an agent to handle their listing, the reason is that listings done by an agent sell for a higher profit than all the other options.
Recently a “2016 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers” report recently in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) reveals that homes represented by agents sold for 98% of the price listed and then the average equity was $43,100. How quickly you are looking to sell your home doesn’t matter, these numbers hold up says the report.
If selling your home in just a few months is what you are looking for you may think that using an agent’s listing is out of the question but that’s simply not true.
“Homes that sold recently done deals in an average time of four weeks or less” states the exact same 2016 NAR report. What this means is with an agent, you can more likely find a buyer that has a mortgage lender prepared for a quick closing and be willing to negotiate for a short escrow period. This speeds up your home sale to a month or less.
When the seller has their own agent it means you have an advocate with your best interests at heart. Your agent can help you choose which offer to accept to make sure the transaction goes quickly and make sure you avoid time-wasting missteps during escrow.
“The bottom line is for focusing on a quick sale, cash sales are the best, but they are normally lower priced offers. Making more works when you have a buyer that gets a loan and then makes a purchase in the next 2 or 3 weeks” says real estate expert Ambreen Faruqi, the #1 agent in homes sold in the Queens, New York.
Listing with a well-respected agent is key to getting a quick sale and maximizing your take from the deal. Another report from NAR’s reveals that over 60% of sellers located their agent via a referral so start by asking your friends and family for recommendations.
Take the time to check your other agent’s statistics online and see how they look against other top agents in the area. You can use HomeLight’s own agent search for this process. You’re looking for an agent with a history of successfully selling homes like yours and others in the same area.
So for the quickest way to sell your home would it be wise to list with an agent? The truth is no.
Selling your house to an investor or at an auction would both be the fastest but you will forfeit nearly all of your equity to make this fast sale.
Is FSBO The Best Way to Sell My Home Fast?
One truth needs to be addressed and it’s this: Be prepared to offer your home for less than market value or accept a lower offer from an investor.
Looking at this fact For Sale By Owner (FSBO) seems like the logical choice. Mostly because you can avoid a real estate agent’s commission which averages five to six percent of the home’s equity.
Because we are currently in a buyers market a buyer should not be too challenging to find. Since the buyer usually already has an agent, is it important that you have one as well?
The fact of the matter is if you are looking to make this sale quickly, yes.
Let’s clarify what the agent for the buyer does. The buyer’s agent always steers the sale in the best interest of the buyer. Any specifics that are not a priority for the buyer, the agent will agent will focus on their client’s needs throughout and meaning your needs for a fast sale will be ignored.
Aside from being your representative, your agent will be using all the important keys to ensure a fast sale from start to finish.
In recent stats, from just homes sold in 2016, only 8% were FSBO sales. Out of those, only 54% wanted a fast sale. The majority of those fast sales came because they knew the buyer in some capacity.
If you decide this is the route for you, you MUST become knowledgeable on all the important documents needed by you and your seller to complete a successful sale. You will also need an attorney and title company to help you complete the transaction.
It’s nearly impossible to count on the sale to go quickly and smoothly without having a closing expert making sure all the intricacies of the transaction are done properly.
Is a Short Sale the Answer?
First things first, the truth about short sales is the reference made to “short” doesn’t mean time it means money. The definition of selling short is that your bank gave you the okay to sell your home for less than whats owed on it.
Normally short sales take a lot longer to happen actually than a normal one.
Ranking in the top nine percent of over 8,000 total agents from the PA area, master short sale agent Brad Wallace says, “It’s referred to as a short sale, however, the truth is those deals are about as far away from a short sale as you can get. In two years about 4 months was the quickest short sale I had, some of them even lasted well over two years.”
On top of that fact, a majority of sellers are not even able to short sell their current home. Truth is financially you must be in real hot water for this type offer to work. And after all of that, your lender does not have even have to agree to a short sale.
So as you can see a using a short sale is most likely not the way to go.
Investors Buy Anything!
By simply typing the phrase “how to quickly sell a house” into any search engine you will see literally hundreds even thousands of links trying to hook those looking for a quick sale into an investors net.
This investor sale offers several advantages if the selling of your home is more important than the money. 7 days is all it takes to close for some investors according to a report in Forbes. Most are also willing to offer flexible payout options—including lump sum cash and buy your home regardless of the condition or how much repair it may need.
If you decide to deal with an investor just know that you will not get the best price. You will likely sacrifice profit for speed.
Many “We buy any home” places often offer only dimes on the dollar.
In most cases, if your home is in good condition an investor will offer around 50 to 60% of the current market value according to a report in The Washington Post. The next step is usually to put a small amount of money into repairs and updates that will enable them to flip it and sell it for the current market value they would not pay you.
That being said, there are a handful of investors across the country who strive for a fair shake in their dealings with clients and are not out simply to squeeze you to your bottom dollar. To contact one such investor please visit https://www.sellmyhousequickkc.org/contact-us-1/
Operating this way your home will sell quickly, but the reality is you will see virtually no profit from the sale. If your house is a real disaster, however, this plan can be to your advantage as you can get rid of it fast without putting any money into repairs or additions that non-investors would likely request.
The Overlooked Option of Home Auctions
“I say I gotta buyer for this house going once, going twice, SOLD!”
One of the biggest myths many people believe is that auctions are for underwater owners and lending institutions that are unloading foreclosure sites. Regardless of nearly all circumstances, any homeowner can have an auction for their home, and for many, it’s a great choice if you want to sell fast.
The quick transaction is just one of the upsides of an auction sale:
Yes, while knowing the exact day that the sale of your home will happen because of the auction, it still may not be as fast as you require. According to a recent report in Forbes, homes that are auctioned will turn on average 40 to 65 days after the listing.
The risky part comes down to you your lack of any real influence over the final sale price. You will be the one that decides on the minimum price you want to accept as the seller, which normally is set at 10-15% below what the homes market value is (auction experts say this generates more buyer interest), however after that you have to sit and wait and take whatever final bid you get. You could get lucky and have competing buyers causing the price to go over the market value. Or you could end up being with no option other than taking that low-end offer set at the start.
The NAR advises that not every property is a good fit for auctions and that sellers should use a simple self-directed test for the market, as well as the home they want to sell and finances using the Two-Thirds Rule. This rule will reveal to you if the right way to go is an auction.
When it comes to the auction option the more equity your home is carrying the better. Experts say as much as 25% is needed for cash to be produced this way. Too much below that and you risk having your home sell for a cheaper price than required to pay off your mortgage.
Given this selection of sell fast options, it comes down to picking the one that is the best option for you. While turning a quick sale on your home is often scary you can successfully pull it off by with the right planning and help from an expert.
For important keys to making a fast sale specifically in Kansas City, Click Here
