How to Sell Your House in 5 Days
The real estate frenzy of the last year has got a lot of people considering selling their houses and taking advantage of the current market.
You can get a new mortgage for a historically low interest rate, and many buyers are getting into bidding wars and paying more than list price. But what do you want to do if you don’t want to go through the whole ordeal of listing and selling a house?
What would you say if we told you it was possible to sell your house in under a week? Read on to learn how to sell your house in 5 days and walk away with money in hand!
Average Time to Sell a House
Before we dive into how you can sell your house fast, let’s talk about how long it takes to sell a house traditionally:
The first stage of the home-selling process is to prepare your house for sale. Either way, this will likely be part of your sale process and can take anywhere from one to three months.
Once your house is listed, you can expect it to stay on the market for an average of forty-three days (according to this attached article).
Furthermore, if you choose to not work with a cash buyer, you’ll need to wait another month or two for inspections, negotiations, mortgage approval, etc. Overall, you’re looking at anywhere from three to six months to sell your house the traditional way.
List at the Right Time
One of the first things you can do to help sell a house fast is to list it at the right time. Like any market, the real estate industry has busy and slow seasons when buyers are more or less likely to make offers. Listing during a peak season can reduce your number of days on the market and get you an offer sooner.
People start shopping for houses around the late spring and early summer so they can move while their kids are out of school. Listing your house in April, May, or June can help you find a buyer faster.
If you decide to sell your house in November, use the intervening time to prep your house for sale (more on that later).
Price Your House Right
Another major tool you can use to speed up your home-selling process is pricing your house right. Of course, everyone wants to price their house higher to get as much money out of the sale as possible. While this is important, you don’t want to price it so high that it scares away potential buyers.
Look at other houses in your area that have sold recently, especially those about the same size as your house. How much did those houses sell for, and how much time did they spend on the market? If you want to sell a house in five days, you will want to price your house below these comps to attract eager buyers.
Stage Your House
You might be surprised to learn how much of a difference staging your house can make. When potential buyers walk in, they don’t want to see a list of to-dos they must tackle as soon as they move in; you’ll want to make your house feel as welcoming and turnkey as possible for potential buyers.
Start by painting brightly colored rooms a more neutral hue and doing any minor repairs your house may need. Curb appeal is extra important when it comes to reeling in potential buyers; fix torn screens and drooping gutters, replace outlets and lights that don’t work, and mow your lawn. Remove any clutter and personal items from view, and consider having your house professionally cleaned for that extra wow factor.
Be Prepared to Negotiate
If you plan to sell a house fast, you must be willing to negotiate with buyers. We know you may already have dropped your asking price below the similar homes for sale in the area to help it move fast, but most buyers will come in with an offer that is under the asking price to get the best deal possible for themselves.
Decide on the absolute lowest you can go with your house’s sale and which is more important: selling fast or making more money.
If you want to sell fast, accept the first reasonable offer. Otherwise, be prepared to return with your baseline sale price so you can wrap up negotiations quickly.
Sell As-Is to a Cash Buyer
If you want to sell your house in five days, you don’t have time to deal with the full inspection process. In a traditional house-selling situation, once you get an accepted offer, you’ll have to allow the buyer time to have the house inspected. There will also be additional rounds of negotiations over who will be responsible for fixing any problems that show up on the inspection report.
One great way to avoid all this rigmarole is to sell your house as-is.
Buyers who are applying for a mortgage will be required to get an inspection in order to get their mortgage approved.
Alternatively, if you work with a cash buyer, as soon as you both agree on a sale price, you can set a closing date and get your money fast, no inspections needed!
Conclusion
Under normal circumstances, selling a house can take thirty to ninety days. But there are some situations where you do not have that kind of time to deal with the selling process.
If you list at the right time and for the right price, or work with a cash buyer, you can sell your house and have money in hand in less than a week!
If you’d like to learn how to sell your house in 5 days, check out the rest of our site at Selling.House. We can help you sell your house for cash fast, and we beat the other guys’ offers. Contact us today and sell your house as-is with no fees in as little as twenty-four hours!
