3 Ways To Sell Your House Fast

“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” — Albert Einstein

Supply and demand. Those two words govern any market’s forces. When supply dries up, demand increases. This is also known as the Law of Scarcity. When there’s a rush to scoop up a limited number of some thing (any thing), demand (and therefore prices) shoot through the roof. But what happens when you’re on the supply side? Let’s just say you have a home that you need to sell fast. What then? What governs the amount of money you should be willing to accept for it?

Clearly, the answer to that question has a lot to do with current market conditions and the economic climate. Is it a seller’s market or a buyer’s market? How much supply and demand is there in the current marketplace? What about in your specific neighborhood? These are all valid questions. And they help to govern how you move forward. But let’s just say that market conditions are average. Not quite a seller’s market and not really a buyer’s market. How do you proceed?

Now, I can’t account for every situation. But if you’re trying to sell your house quickly, and you’re in a financial bind, there’s not much you can do aside from take the best offer you get. Of course, if you’re on the brink of financial collapse, and if you don’t sell your home in a specific period and close on it quickly enough, then market conditions don’t quite matter, do they? I mean, you might sell faster in a seller’s market. But will it be fast enough? And if it’s an average market?

Getting A Lay Of The Land

We all know that there are ways to sell your house quickly no matter where it’s located. The best thing about real estate is that it’s a very secure asset. That much is proven. But when you need to get out quickly, and you’re behind on your payments or some other life event has occurred like a divorce or a death in the family or the loss of a primary income, then what? Who do you call? Sure. There are bottom feeders in every market. The so-called we-buy-homes-fast-for-cash guys.

You know the ones I’m talking about right?

Sure, you could sell your soul to the devil.  However, let’s just say that you’re not about to face impending financial bust. How do you go about selling your primary residence quickly? What about an income property? What’s the best route? Of course, every situation is unique. Plus, if you live outside of the United States, I can’t quite help you. Every country has its own ins-and-outs when it comes to real estate laws, in what you can and cannot do in any allotted period.

However, if you’re in the U.S. and you want to extricate yourself from that now-burdensome home, there are ways to go about it so that you don’t lose your proverbial shirt. Look, there are plenty of options. And there are plenty of people who will solicit you when you get that home on the MLS and the description says, in one way or another, that you’re a “motivated seller” or that you’re “downsizing,” or some other trigger word that will indicate you’re desperate to sell your home fast.

How To Sell Your Home Without Losing Your Shirt

There are plenty of ways to sell your home quickly, no matter what the situation. There are also some very creative ways to extricate yourself from the obligation of a large mortgage, for example. There are assignments you can do and other creative ways to bring in investors to take on the payments and get you solvent so that your credit isn’t severely impacted. But that’s not quite the traditional approach. But keep in mind that there are literally dozens, if not hundreds of ways, to solve this problem

However, I’m just going to cover a few of the ways you can do this. Not the creative approaches. If you want to take a creative approach, that really boils down to your resourcefulness. Because, you’ll need to farm out and find investors or people you can trust, and/or people who trust you that have money. That’s not the easiest thing to do. And, you need to be careful navigating those waters.

1. List Your Home On Kribbz

One way to get out of your home fast, without having to deal with real estate agents that take a hefty commission, or even deal with an endless stream of showings and open houses, is to list your property on Kribbz. Kribbz is a real estate platform that let’s you sell your house in lightning speed through an auction model. Here’s how it works. You navigate to Kribbz, punch in your address, and then fill out a basic form with your contact details.

Next, you select an inspection date or you can choose to have it inspected now. Either way, an inspector drives to your house, does an entire inspection (that you don’t have to pay for, by the way), takes photos and a three-minute video, and loads it up into the system. Once it’s published, it pushes out to thousands of cash buyers in your area who start bidding on your property during a 24-hour auction period.

The best part? When the inspector inputs your home, they define the price you expect to get from it. So there is a barometer and it’s not just blind bidding. Keep in mind that the buyers are competing with one another to secure your home. At the end of the auction, you’re presented with the best offer, which often equates to the highest price. Now you have the option to accept that offer, reject it or even to send a counter-offer.

If you counter it, the buyer can also send a counter back, but they can also accept or reject your counter offer. However, you get the final say. Now, this entire process happens very quickly. And, you can conduct the entire purchase online, fully integrated with title and escrow companies, allowing you to track the process in real-time from anywhere with an internet connection. By far the best way to sell your house fast and work with trusted buyers.

2. Sell Your Home To OfferPad Or OpenDoor

If you want to take another approach to selling your home fast, you could contact direct buyers like OfferPad and OpenDoor who can make you a fast, cash offer for your property. Keep in mind that these companies are buying the properties directly, meaning that there’s no waiting for other buyers to come into the mix. However, you might not get the same price you’d get with a company like Kribbz where buyers are competing with one another. But it is a trusted alternative.

However, keep in mind that OfferPad and OpenDoor don’t serve every market in the United States. They serve some. But if you’re in one of the markets that they serve, it’s definitely a very quick way to sell your home. Granted, if you’re entirely under water with your mortgage, or if you have other liens on your home, you might find it harder to dig yourself out, even with a company like OfferPad or OpenDoor buying it directly. But it is worth a shot.

Some of the benefits to buying from a company like this is that you can often pick your own closing date since it’s being purchased directly and for cash. These companies have raised large amounts of capital in order to do this. However, they’re often more interested in homes that need less in the way of repairs. We’re talking paint and carpet as opposed to major repairs or renovations to make the home livable. Also, another benefit of selling to companies like this is that there’s usually no showings or open houses to deal with. Plus, they sometimes cover a local moving fee. Pretty good right? Not bad if you’re in a bind and you want to get out of the home quickly.

3. Use The Traditional Agent Approach

Okay, so you can’t really sell your home fast using an agent, most of the time. I’ll reiterate that. Most of the time. Now, there are agents who do have enough transaction flow where they could literally sell your home just as quick as it’s listed on the MLS, or even before it is. Now, that’s real power right there. Also, if you’re aggressive on your pricing and you instruct the agent to use the motivated seller keywords, it’ll likely go fast.

Now, keep in mind that when investors or buyers smell blood, they go in for the kill. They will chew you down on price. But if you’re desperate to sell, don’t try to go for top dollar. You can get top dollar, but the right buyer might take longer than you have. Now, this is much better than going the For Sale By Owner (FSBO) route. When you take the FSBO route, sure you might sell the home fast, but if you mess up on one of the contractual details, it could fall apart at the last minute.

Keep in mind that most states have disclosures and other legal requirements that need to be handled before any sale can go through. That’s why you’re better off using an agent or going with one of the sites listed like Kribbz or OpenDoor or any other for that matter. Now, the traditional agent approach is your best bet if you literally want someone to hold your hand and walk you through the entire purchase. But keep in mind that you’re going to give up close to 6% of the purchase price.

However, that can be negotiated on the front end and some agents will take a reduced commission. But if you’re desperate to sell your home fast then you might not be able to get the deal you’re looking for. Still, it’s worth a shot to wrangle, especially if you like haggling over those kinds of things. That’s not my style but I don’t knock those that do it.

How To Prepare Your Home For Sale

Okay, if you want to get top dollar for your home, whether you want to sell it quickly or not, there are some things you need to do. In fact, there are a few sticking points that most buyers look at. Now, I’m not saying you need to go do any major renovation. Not at all. In fact, if you’re looking to sell at a moment’s notice, you likely don’t want that hassle or expense to deal with. But there are some things you can do to ensure your property gets moving on the market.

1. Organize & Remove Clutter

First thing you should do is to remove all the clutter. If you have hoards of trash piled up, that’s always a bad sign for buyers. And, one of the cheapest and quickest things you can do to your home is to just organize your home and remove all the clutter. Get rid of junk and boxes and anything that’s just sitting around on countertops. Give the place a sense of zen and remove things from eyesight. It’s quick, easy and very effective.

2. Maintain Front & Back Landscaping

If you haven’t mowed the lawn or clipped the bushes in months, now is the time to do it. Nothing screams “desperate seller” more than a home with overgrown landscaping. In fact, that’s one of the tell-tale signs that buyers and investors use to scope out homes that might be nearing a short sale or foreclosure. It’s also an easy way to spot bank-owned properties, because most banks won’t necessarily maintain foreclosed homes. Clean it up and make it look respectable. But don’t go planting anything new.

3. Power Wash The Exterior

A great way to give a home a good shine from the outside is to rent a good old power washer and spray it down. We’re talking about sidings and brick and stucco. But also driveways, walkways, patios and pavers. Even the sidewalk in front of the home is fair game. It doesn’t cost much to do but it certainly shows that the owner cares about this home and allows potential buyers to see themselves living there far better.

4. Professional Photos & Video

One thing that pays to invest your money into is getting a high-quality set of photos, both inside and out, along with a video of the home to really show it off in its best light. Companies like Kribbz actually do this for you during the inspection. But if you’re doing things yourself, it pays to take matters into your own hands. Expect to spend anywhere from $300 to $800 on great photos and a professional video.

5. Steam Clean Carpets & Refinish Floors

If you’re looking to shell out just a bit extra, you could opt to steam clean the carpets and refinish flooring. If you have hardwood floors, this could go a long way. This really shows more of a “finished” touch to the home and you can do some of this yourself, especially the steam cleaning, if you don’t want to shell out too much extra cash. Now, if you’re looking to sell quick, you don’t necessarily need to refinish your floors, but a little bit here goes a very long way.