If you have decided to sell your house for cash, the chances are that you want to close the sale as soon as possible and get your hands on the money. However, it can be frustrating when sellers who wish to get quick cash for houses and are not ready to wait the 3, 6, or 12 or months or more it usually takes to sell properties at good prices to fetch handsome profits.
All the same, selling your home to cash home buyers is still a good option given it has several advantages. Some of those are that there is minimal risk of the sale process falling through due to funding issues, buyers changing their minds, or other reasons.
Options to get cash for houses
Homeowners can get cash for houses using one of the three options below:
Sell the house yourself without an agent
People can choose to get cash for houses by selling them without real estate agents. This may be a good approach if you want to avoid paying the realtors’ commission, are ready to do all the work, and can wait for up to 12 months to close the deal. As it is, houses for sale by the owner (FSBO) take longer on average to sell than those sold through real estate agents.
When looking to sell on your own, you need first to determine the value of your house, either by hiring a professional appraiser or realtor or using some online real estate tools. After that, you erect a "For Sale" sign on your front yard and take fantastic photos of all the rooms and the exterior. Next, you use the pictures on the catalogs and for posting online on various websites for marketing homes, such as Zillow, Trulia, and others. You may also get agents to list the property on various Multiple Listing Sites (MLS).
With this approach, you only incur the costs of fixing or renovating the home, fees for MLS and FSBO site listings, and the closing costs. You could also spend on a buyer's agent fee (around 3% of the selling price) to attract agents to bring their clients to see your home. The downsides of getting cash for houses through selling on your own is that the sale may take longer, it takes so much of your time, and you may incur so many costs on the paperwork for closing the sale process if you're not good at it.
Sell to real estate investors or wholesaler
Another option to get cash for houses is to sell to real estate investors or wholesalers. This is an excellent approach if you want to sell fast and save on repair and home staging costs. In addition, you can choose this option if you are willing to sell at a discount but sell faster, for example, when you need money quickly to relocate elsewhere after a divorce or to meet urgent needs such as medical expenses.
Using this method to get cash for houses is simple because you invite the cash home buying companies; they value your house and give their offers. When you accept the best offer, the investor works on the papers and pays you cash, even within seven days. The method has upsides such as a fast sale, cash payment, and no selling costs, but has a downside of not fetching the best price because the investors will not pay you the full market value for your home.
Sell through a real estate agent or broker
Homeowners can get cash for houses by hiring real estate agents or brokers to sell on their behalf. This method is for you if you are ready to wait for up to six months or more, do not want to do much work, and want to get the best price for your house. However, you pay the agent's fees, home repair costs, and sale closing expenses.
Conclusion
Those who want to get cash for houses can use several methods to sell their properties. For example, they can sell on their own in the market through various platforms, sell to home investors or wholesalers who pay cash, or hire real estate agents or brokers to sell for them.
