Everyone knows that selling and buying a house can be stressful. In one survey, 45 percent of the respondents stated that moving home was the most stressful thing they had encountered in their life, putting it above divorce or a relationship break up.
That stress can be exacerbated when it is difficult to sell a home and time drags on. Fortunately, there are many good tips to speed up your house sale, with some needing a little investment and work, and others being free and simple.
Whether you are selling your home to buy another, or if you just want the money in the bank, you will no doubt want to know the quickest and simplest method possible. Keep reading to find out some tips to reduce stress during a house sale, and how to reduce the time it takes to reach completion.
What are the reasons for selling a home fast?
To understand the best methods of selling a home, you also need to consider the reasons why someone would need a quick sale. The normal method for selling a house is to use a real estate agent or a realtor, and this has been a tried and trusted method for decades. However, it may not be the best method for someone in a hurry.
When a life-changing moment occurs then it will lead to dramatic changes in a person’s circumstances. This may also lead to a need for cash quickly, and the biggest hard-asset most people will have is their home.
Divorce, serious illness, tax or legal problems, a desire to move away, and unemployment, could all lead to someone needing to sell their home quickly. Covid has affected everyone to some degree and many have suffered financial hardship. Many people are wondering what will happen to property prices after the pandemic, and this might push someone into looking for a quick sale in case there is a crash.
It isn’t always bad news that makes someone want to sell a house though. A job promotion in another part of the country, or a new work position overseas may necessitate a quick house sale. Someone may get married and choose to live in their new spouse’s home, or they may inherit a house they do not wish to keep.
How to sell an unwanted home with less stress
No matter what the reasons are for selling your house, you will want to avoid any unnecessary stress while doing so. Here are some basic things to take on board when you are looking to sell:
- Pay for your own inspection
- Check out the facade
- Set the right price
- Set your hours for house viewings and stick to them
- Stage your home
- Declutter and tidy the home
These are some simple things you can do that will help reduce the time to sell your home and also lessen the stress that selling can bring.
Pay for your own inspection
Paying for an inspection ahead of time will mean that you can discover any problems and fix them. This removes the stress of a buyer finding out some problems you didn’t know existed.
Check out the facade and fix problems
The first thing a viewer will see is your garden and the outside of the property. Many will drive straight on if there are problems there. Fixing these can mean you make a good first impression and increase your chances of a quicker sale.
Set the right price
If you set your price too high you will drag out the sale and your home may stay on the market for ages. Many people are wondering when is the housing market going to crash. Be realistic about your pricing to help sell the property quicker.
Set your viewing hours
People arriving for viewings can be stressful. Make a timetable for when you are free and available for viewings and only allow people to visit during those times.
Declutter your home and tidy
One of the most important things you can do to speed up the search for a buyer is to declutter and clean your home.
You may consider your space as homely and comfortable, but a potential buyer might just see a mess. Not only that but having lots of furniture and unnecessary clutter can make your home look smaller. A viewer might even think you are hiding problems behind boxes and other junk too.
Go through the home and remove anything that isn’t needed and put it in the attic, basement, or garage neatly. Sell or donate things that you don’t want to keep and your move will be easier afterward. By decluttering, your home will look bigger and seem to have more space.
Keep on top of tidying and you won’t need to have stressful moments before a sudden viewing appointment. You could also bring someone in to stage your home. These professionals will help to sell your home by presenting it in the most appealing fashion available to them.
Best methods to sell your house fast
Above are some tips to help sell a home and reduce some of the stress, but what is the best selling solution?
Typically a house seller would visit a realtor and ask them to market the house. This means that all the responsibility for advertising and selling would be on them but for this, you will need to pay a fee. Normally a realtor would take a commission of 4 to 6 percent of the final sale price.
This might not sound too much until you do the maths. 6 percent of $150,000 is $9,000, and some might think this a lot just for taking a few photos and showing some people around your home. Of course, a good realtor will do much more than this and can be a real boon in a house sale, but they are not necessarily the fastest route you can take.
A realtor could take weeks, months, or even longer, to sell a home. If a buyer has problems with financing, or if there is a chain, or an inspection finds a problem with the property, house sales can go wrong or even fail.
A quicker, foolproof way to sell a house fast is through a property investor or cash house buyer.
Selling your house for cash
The best option for a fast stress-free house sale may be through a cash-for-houses buyer. These companies look for property to invest in and often deal with sellers who want to make a quick sale.
The benefit of using one of these buyers is that there is no marketing, inspections, house staging, or renovations to worry about. Visiting www.montebuyshouses.com for instance will lead to a few questions about the home and the location, and then result in a quotation being given. Once a cash offer is accepted the sale can be wrapped up in days rather than weeks which would be hard to do through a realtor.
As with anything though, there is a downside, and that is the amount you would make. As these companies are investors they will need to make a profit on the property and they may also need to carry out repairs. The offer you will receive will be less than the market price but it will be paid in cash and quickly.
Summary
Although selling a home can be stressful, fixing some problems ahead of inspections and decluttering may lead to a quicker sale. Using professionals to stage the home can take the stress off of your shoulders and may also speed up your house sale.
If you cannot wait for a realtor to sell your home on the housing market, then look for an investment company instead and make a cash sale. Although you will lose out on some of the value, this is the quickest and least stressful option if you simply must sell fast.
