Every year, millions of houses change hands. The last few years, in particular, have proven strong years for real estate sellers. Even in a strong seller’s market, though, there is no guarantee that your home will sell as quickly as you want. The average time between listing and closing still hovers around three months.
While you can’t avoid some delay, escrow normally runs 30 days, there are things that you can do when selling a home that will speed up the process. If you’re looking for a quick deal, keep reading for our top three tips on selling a home fast.
1. Find a Good Real Estate Agent
For anyone looking to sell their home sooner than later, finding a good real estate agent should be your first move. A real estate agent has experience with the entire process.
They can provide homeowner advice about what things you should fix up around the place for maximum curb appeal. They may even give you some tips on staging the home to best effect. They’ll typically handle writing the listing copy and may get pro pictures taken.
Beyond that, they’ll deal with showings of the home. They’ll also have some insight into picking a listing price that will help sell your home faster.
2. Clean Your Home
There is a difference between a clean house and a ready-for-showing house. In a clean house, you can leave a little clutter here and there. If you don’t get every last smudge off the appliances, it’s not a crisis.
When people looking to buy a home will come through your house, all of those things work against you. Give serious thought to hiring professional cleaners for a thorough, deep clean at the beginning of your sale process. You might even want them for weekly touch-up work.
3. Look for Cash Offers
Like we mentioned above, money sitting in escrow typically adds about a month to the process. If you’re looking for the fastest way to sell my house, a cash offer can speed up the process a lot.
With a cash offer, the person buying a home isn’t waiting on approval from a mortgage lender. They can cut you a check right now.
The tradeoff you make for that swift sale is that cash offers often come in well under the asking price. Of course, if you’re headed to another state for a job or something similarly pressing, speed can trump potential profit.
Selling Your Home…Fast!
Selling your home fast is a slightly different prospect from simply selling your home sometime soon. For a fast sale, you’ll want help from a real estate agent. They know how best to market your home and can advise you on a listing price that will prompt a quick sale.
Get serious about cleaning your house. The more pristine it looks, the better your chances of selling fast. You can also look for cash offer buyers to shave some time off the process.
Looking for more real estate tips? Check out the posts in the Real Estate & Household section.
