You can expect to get fair market value in 21 days if you sell you house at auction. Most homes sell at auction within 45 days.
Quick Cash companies usually close in a similar amount of time, but tend to offer less money. Selling through a realtor in a conventional relationship can take months, though you could get lucky. In most cases, the quickest sale strategy with highest return is to sell your house through an auction.
Let’s dig further :
When you decide you want to sell your home as is, you eliminate the cost it takes to upgrade your property. On the other hand, the longer your home remains on the market the more bills, maintenance costs, and taxes will mount up; you’re going to want the quickest route to selling your home and selling it for a decent price.
Let’s examine how fast properties sell with the four most popular methods of selling your house as is:
One of the advantages of a home auction is the fixed deadline for a sale. You often get to pick the close date. Deadlines help home buyers because they then have a timeline to get financing approved, perform research, read through the proposed contract and register to participate in the auction. When auction day comes around, they can be ready and confident in their bid.
A timeline also generates a sense of urgency. This triggers the fear of missing out on a great opportunity, which attracts more buyers to compete.
Home auctions sell your home as is, without delays from home inspections, endless showings and negotiations. Your home is simply appraised and then put up for bid. Even better, when the final offer is made, and that close date happens, you don’t have to accept the offer if you don’t like it. Best of all, the buyer pays all of the fees.
Home auctions can be very lucrative in rapidity and saving money. Your home will spend less time on the market, and you’ll avoid a stack of bills and maintenance costs.
Maybe you’d prefer an agent, they are after all the traditional and most common way to sell a home. So how fast (or slow) would it be with one?
According to a study by Realtor Magazine, the amount of time it takes to sell your home through a real estate agent can take as little as 50 days if things all line up. According to a Zillow, the average timeline can be longer between 61 and 66 days. How fast you sell your house depends “on local market conditions, demand, and seasonality”.
The settlement period begins when an offer is made and ends when a sales contract is finalized which includes the buyer’s and seller’s signatures. The purchase and sale contract includes other details of negotiations such as the buyer’s inspection and the amount of *earnest money the buyer puts down.
*Earnest money is a deposit that the home buyer makes to the home seller, this reflects their “good faith to buy a home”. This money gives the buyer time to perform a title search, home inspection, and home appraisal before they close a deal.
Unfortunately, there are several factors that can slow down a sale through a real estate agent. In fact, 32% of all transactions have some sort of hold up before a sale. These could include requested repairs, low demand in the market, a realtor who has different interests, the list goes on. A hefty portion of selling time with real estate agents can simply be dealing with financing problems due to a buyer’s bad credit.
Here are some broad steps a seller takes, closing a sale with a real estate agent:
Conditions of a sale include the potential home buyer providing proof of funds, a home inspection that assesses the state of the property, or on condition that the buyer sells their existing home before a sale can be made (this is more typical in a buyer’s market, where there are more home sellers than buyers).
Even when selling a home as is, it‘s common for home buyers to renegotiate their previous offer in light of repairs that will need to be made.
In addition to the earnest payment, the buyer has to deposit additional funds to complete the transaction.
An escrow account is a third party account that holds paperwork and funds during a transaction until everything is settled between a home seller and buyer.
Once everything is signed and in order which includes required repairs made by the seller, mortgage payments owed, and home inspections, “the funds and the documents are moved from the escrow account to the seller and buyer, thereby guaranteeing a secure transaction”
Before a transaction can be closed, the potential buyer performs a title search to confirm the legal ownership of the property and to uncover any liens or title defects on the property. This can add significant time before closing a deal on your home.
Before home buyers close a deal on a house, they typically ask the home seller if all the major repairs have been completed – this is also the case when selling your home as is.
Potential buyers want to check aren’t any new issues have come up between the last home inspection and signing the agreement to purchase your property.
Maybe you don’t want to jump through any hoops and just want a quick cash in hand offer. It’s tempting, though we recommend to keep in mind there’s often a catch with cash-quick companies. So how fast (or slow) would it be with one?
Because quick cash offer companies don’t involve a lender (typically a mortgage lender company that underwrites and offers home loans), the route to closing a sale can be a quick solution for sellers uninterested in optimizing as much money they walk away with.
Once you’ve signed a Purchase and Sales Agreement (known as going under contact) it can take a few weeks to sell your home – this gives title companies and escrow firms enough time to clear liens, prepare the insurance and the paperwork.
Mike Qiu, owner of Good As Sold Home Buyers, says the remainder of the transaction follows a similar process as a regular home sale. The home buyer puts together the contract, which should feature the purchase price, the amount of deposit, and the closing date. It is up to the seller whether they want to sign and accept the offer or hire an attorney to give the contract a closer look.
The majority of quick cash offer companies relinquish a home inspection, but often offer up to 50% less of the home’s market value. If they do ever insist on an inspection, there’s a change they may change the offer price if the health of your home is lower than initially assumed.
Although most quick cash sales go through without any hiccups, there are always extenuating circumstances where things slow down the sales process.
If your home is in a Home-Owner’s Association, the HOA may need a month or more to process a buyer’s application. Another factor in closing is the municipal lien search*. This can take anything from a few days to a month to do.
*quick cash companies may conduct municipal lien searches to uncover any code violations, or open or expired permits issues that are associated with residential real estate
Maybe you’re most comfortable handling the sale of your house yourself, or perhaps there are some extenuating circumstances. This could potentially save you money on a realtor’s commission and you get to oversee everything. This can be pretty rewarding monetarily, though, overseeing the entire process without professional experience can be a pretty big time suck. So how fast (or slow) would it be selling FSBO?
To put it simply, If you are planning to do all the work without an extensive network and the negotiation skills of a professional realtor, it’s very likely going to take you double the time it would with a realtor. The reality is, these professionals spend years getting all the paperwork and steps down pat, so it can be done quickly.
The two factors that will probably take the most time without the advantage of professional experience are negotiating a contract and figuring out how to set up an escrow account.
It is possible to find boiler plate contracts which include “the standard conditions and terms that meet the regulations in your state”. Unless you are a real estate attorney, using templates is the best option to structure a real estate transaction with timelines and disclosures.
Including contingencies in a contract enables the seller or potential buyer to exit out of an agreement legally. For example, if the home seller can’t offer disclosure by the specified deadlines, the potential buyer can back out without any legal repercussions.
Similarly, if buyers don’t demonstrate proof of funds by the time specified in the contract, the home seller can back out and claim the Good Faith Deposit left by the buyer.
Some states require the use of an escrow services company. They make sure that both parties keep to their legal obligations. For example, the home seller typically organizes title insurance for the buyer. This is to cover them in case there are flaws found in the title. The home seller also needs to provide disclosures including any serious flaws or problems with the property.
Real estate auctions enable you to sell your house in as little as 21 days, and usually within 45 days as long as your property is physically accessible and free of liens. They are a preferred way to get the most money when selling a house as is.
A quick cash company can take a few weeks, but there are plenty of obstacles that slow a sale down. Real Estate agents take 60 or more to close, while For Sale By Owner (FSBO), takes double that time.