How fast can an agent sell my house?
Are we buy houses companies legitimate?
Lets discuss the pro’s and con’s of selling your house quickly using an agent or a cash home buyer.
Selling a property can be a nerve-wracking undertaking. In reality, research discovered that selling a home might be more nerve-racking than bankruptcy or separation. Now, if you add that you need to sell quickly, maybe because of a new career, economic difficulty, or otherwise unexpected life upheaval?
Well, the Pressure is on.
But you need to pause. You must not make rash decisions. Decisions made in haste could have you kicking yourself over your careless selections down the line.
If you would like to sell your own home both quickly and with confidence, you will know all your alternatives in order to make an informed decision. Your decision must align with your present situations and desired goals.
Let’s take a look at options so that you can look back on the experience of selling your property fast without having regrets.
Today the things we will cover are:
Selling your house using a real estate agent.
Selling your home, yourself.
Finding a cash home buyer and having them buy your property.
Each of these options has Pro’s and Con’s. If getting you house sold fast is your primary goal, then for sure sell it for cash to any old cash home buyer. Want to avoid paying for commissions? Then sell it yourself. If you want to list it on the MLS and get the highest price, then use an agent.
INSIDER TIP: Remember highest price comes with the added cost of making substantial renovations. Fixing up your kitchen alone can cost over $10,000. These renovations that you must do to get the highest price might wipe out any extra profit. But we will go over all this later.
Can a real estate agent sell my house fast and for a good price?
What will I really take home if I use an agent to sell my property?
Did you know that 89% of property sellers use a real estate agent to sell their residence?
89% is a big number. A clear majority. However, that doesn’t mean it’s the best choice. Let’s dive in.
To get around all the details and process regarding selling a house including a great deal of back-and-forth between the seller and the buyer, most sellers elect to have a realtor list their home.
Does you Agent have a Great Real Estate Marketing and Real Estate Search Engine Optimization plan?
Why listing your property to sell with a realtor?
Sell your house with a realtor and you can get a high price. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) homes recently sold with the assistance of an agent went for more than residences sold by the homeowner.
Now we took a look at this data and would recommend you do to. Some of the variation can be accounted for the type of homes that are sold when sold by the owner. They typically fall into a specific class. This specific class of property sells for less. Therefore, the data is skewed a lot.
Other research revealed that houses sold with agents sold for 99% of your listing value. The data for FSBO was not readily available so it is hard to say whether this is better or not.
So… just what does a real estate agent do that will help you promote and sell the home quick?
Be aware that the speed your home sells is dependent upon a number of variables. These variables include:
- The number of houses for sale currently
- How well the economy is doing
- What current mortgage rates are doing – lower the rate typically means higher sales prices.
How does the number of houses currently for sale affect how long it will take to sell my house?
Simply put, if your house is the only house on the market and there are 1000 potential home buyers there is a great chance you will sell your house very quickly.
Conversely if there are 1000 houses for sale and only one buyer, then guess what. It might take a long time to get your home sold, right?
Make sense?
Now what about the economy will change how fast my house will sell?
If the economy is doing well then typically your house will sell faster and for a higher price. If the economy is not doing so great, then your house will take longer to sell and quite possibly will sell for less.
Can mortgage interest rates really affect how quickly I can sell my house?
The short answer is yes. The slightly longer explanation…
If mortgage rates are low, then this typically means that more people can afford to buy a house. The more potential homebuyers and homeowners there are mean your house will sell faster. Another example of supply and demand.
So, let’s get back to selling your house with an agent…
A good agent will learn your requirements and then customize their services to get the job done.
the job of the agent is usually to help the seller through required home preparations and improvements, set the list price, create residence staging’s, implement an advertising and selling plan and hopefully blitz (remember we want to get this house sold fast, right?)to enhance the listing, present the house and show the house, discuss, communicate and negotiate with the buyer and buyers-agent. Furthermore, the agent should talk the seller through the documents and paperwork and finally bring the house to sale. Sounds easy, right?
If you want serious buyers coming to you, well the agent can’t guarantee that. You will quickly start to realize that when selling your house, you will meet a lot of tire kickers.
What do I mean by this? People will want to see your home but have no real intent to buy it. They take up your precious time. They are a little annoying really. Hopefully, your agent can weed these people out or at least do all the leg work. This happens if you have a great agent. If you don’t have a great agent, you might end up doing a ton of work for them.
Again, if you have a great agent in your corner, you should get a fair price when you sell and there should be minimal amount of paperwork for you to do.
However, before you list the property you may have to embark on some renovation projects. This will certainly be the case if you hope to get premium MLS price.
Home remodeling and renovations are nowt for the faint of heart. This article will not talk too much about the process. However, what I will say is most often when a homeowner does a renovation for every $1000.00, they spend they will increase the value of their house by $600-$800 dollars.
Yip you read that right. Spend $1000 and your house only goes up $800.
Spend $5000 and you will only be able to sell it for $4000 more. What this means is unless its something really small and easy – be very careful about taking on a renovation before selling. Unless you are a general contractor with your own crew you are going to spend more than you get back. Plus, you will have lost a lot of time etc.
Now how fast can an agent sell my house?
As we have discussed the speed at which your home sells vary a lot. The general rule of thumb however shows the following:
- Renovations can take 2-8 weeks.
- Listing the house and getting a contract 2-8 weeks (2 if you are really lucky)
- Inspections, title etc. 4-8 weeks)
- Closing 1 week.
This adds up to 9 weeks on the very lowest end and 25 on the high end. Now we also did not mention if the inspector finds something the buyer expects you to fix. At this point you fall back into the remodeling and renovations phase. UGH!
So…if you are in a hurry to sell let me ask this. Do you consider 6 months quick? If I said it will take 6 months to sell your house would you say that’s fast or slow?
How do I choose a real estate agent to sell my house?
Some important things you must take into account when picking an agent are:
- Do they have local knowledge?
- Local knowledge means they will understand what your house is worth.
- What is their review status on Google?
- Do the reviews indicate the agent can get your house sold quickly, for a good price and conveniently? Is the agent good at communication?
- How fast can the agent sell the house?
- If you ask them what do they tell you? If they say 1 week, they are probably not telling the truth. History and research show it takes a lot longer.
This list is not exhaustive but just there to give you a starter. We have a much more detailed piece about how to choose any kind of professional. I will find the link for you and put it here. Need an agent? Want to find the best remodel contractor near me? That’s what we discuss.
We spoke to 3 agents throughout 3 hyper competitive real estate markets. We spoke to Jim T in Denver, Colorado. We spoke to Neil J in Indianapolis, Indiana and finally we talked to Carolyn M in the fast heating up real estate market of Omaha, Nebraska. We wanted to get a general feel about how fast a house can sell and what agents can do to help.
Jim T: When you’re trying to find an agent to help you sell your house be sure to verify everything they say. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. By this I mean if they say you can sell your home for $50,000 more than what other people are selling then there’s probably something going on there. We see this happening in Denver quite a lot where agents just try to get a property under contract. Obviously if you’re trying to sell your house fast but list it $50,000 more than it is worth it will just sit. The problem is it will then become a stagnant listing and potential homebuyers will start asking questions. When selling a house, I try to understand what the seller’s goals are. It’s a fine balance between selling fast, selling for a good price and selling conveniently.
Neil J: I like to think that what I bring to the table is a list of buyers that are ready to buy now. Every market is different but in Indianapolis it’s very beneficial to have buyers ready to go. Of course, we still need the house to be in the appropriate condition, new carpet, paint, things like that , so the buyers are interested to buy. From first listing to the final close depends a lot on factors that can’t be controlled. I don’t know how organized the buyer and the buyers bank s for example. I always hope they can get the loan funded in less than 30 days but lately that’s no been the case.
Carolyn M: Selling with a real estate agent isn’t for everyone. In fact, more and more I am seeing homeowners choose a different route like selling to a cash home buyer. Regardless of how you end up selling your house my advice is spend a little extra time at the start understanding the entire process. Make sure you also write down your goals. If time is of the essence, then a cash home buyer is possibly the best route. If you want to do a renovation, then maybe using an agent. Either way I know that if you choose me to sell your house in Omaha, I will work tirelessly for you. The Omaha market is unique for sure. We have all sorts of little pockets of cute areas that I can sell homes in quite easily.
How to Sell My House for Cash and Quickly.
If you want to sell your house fast and for cash…
then I would suggest the first thing to do is find a reputable real estate investment company or real estate professional nearby. The goal would be to talk to someone to work out the value of your house. Understanding what your house is worth is key when selling your property, regardless of which way you choose to sell it.
Imagine if you listed your house and sold it for $225,000 only to find out your neighbor sold theirs for $400,000! That wouldn’t be so good.
Now of course they may have done some amazing upgrades. Maybe they have a beautiful pool in the back yard. Maybe they have done a fabulous remodel on their kitchen.
Did you know you can very easily spend $20,000 remodeling a kitchen!
Sell your house fast to Watson Buys in Denver, Colorado.
So, as you can see knowing the value of your house is key and any good real estate pro can help you determine that. For example, Watson Buys, a real estate company in Denver, CO prides themselves on providing all of the available options to Denver homeowners selling their house. Part of their process is walking the seller through a comparative market analysis. Watson Buys finds nearby homes that are similar. Similar in condition, rooms, baths etc. They see what they sold for and form this can determine and predict the current value of another home.
Their process and transparency is why home-owners vote Watson Buys the best cash home buyer in Denver, Colorado.
What is a Cash Home Buyer?
A cash home buyer is a person or company that simply put is looking to buy a house for cash. Typically, their plan will be to buy a house, add value to it, by renovating it or remodeling it, and then to rent it out or resell it. The latter is a process many people are familiar with – seen HGTV fix and Flip or any of those shows?
Other names that have become synonymous with purchasing houses for cash are:
We Buy Ugly Houses
We Buy Houses
Sell My House Fast for Cash
Sell my House for Cash and As-Is.
All of these are variations on companies or real estate investors or wholesalers that look to get a deal on a house.
Now not all cash home buying real estate investors are equal, however. So, you must be sure to do your research to find the best one near you. My suggestion is never ever hand over any money. Always make sure they plan to use a title company and that the company has some good reviews.
How do I Find the Top Best Company that Buys Indianapolis Houses for Cash?
If you are trying to find a legitimate cash home buyer then here are some things you can do:
- Talk to the company and ask about their process
- Does their process make sense?
- Does it sound to good to be true?
- Do they have references or reviews?
- Are they local?
- Do they know your specific neighborhood?
- Do they buy as-is for real or will they nickel and dime you during the inspection process?
If I Sell My House for Cash How do I know if I got a Fair Price?
The best way to know if you are getting a fair cash offer is to know what your house is worth. Simple, right?
If you understand what your house is worth right now, then when someone offers to buy it you will not if it is a fair price.
When you do get an offer don’t be afraid to ask questions. Also don’t be afraid to verify it by doing some of your own research.
Are the “We Buy Ugly Houses” Companies Legitimate?
I can’t speak for all companies however I can speak for Watson Buys. They buy houses fast for cash in Denver, Indianapolis, Omaha and other awesome American Cities. If you speak to the team at Watson Buys you will come to realize very quickly that you can trust them. Watson Buys prides themselves on being trustworthy, transparent and honest.
How Quickly Can a Sell My House Fast Company Actually Buy My House?
We asked Shaun, at Watson Buys, just how fast they can buy your home. “The fastest we have ever closed on a house was actually less than a day. It happened in 2 parts though. Normally what takes the longest is the title work. We have to be sure that the person who is selling the house is the owner. In this example though, the lady had inherited a house. She contacted us and we negotiated a price. However, after signing the contract she had second thoughts. As we like every deal to be a win-win we didn’t enforce the contract in this case. So, we left it at that. Well a year later she came back to us. She had tried to rent out the place and it hadn’t worked out for her. In fact, in her words it was a disaster. So, she wanted us to give her a cash offer again. Which we did. She accepted and since the title work had been done a year earlier, it was a quick update, and the title company gave us insurance in less than a few hours. So, the whole process took about 6 hours! Now that is fast! Typically, we can close on a house in less than a week. The biggest hurdles are finding a time the owner can let us verify the condition of the house and title. After that we use our own funds so there is no delay there. We know how to work out what a house is worth so we can get that done too.
Inherited house? We have a ton of experience in fact Watson Buys specializes in buying inherited property.
Why do they Buy Houses As-Is?
Real estate investors often like to buy houses as-is so that they control the renovation and remodel. This way they can add value to the house after the fact.
So…is there a cash buyer contemplating purchasing your premises.
If so, hopefully now you have a few answers to help you decide if that is the best route for you.
