What Is the Best Way to Sell a House Fast

Selling your habitation fast is e'er a skilful idea, no matter the motivation. Derek Gutting, a top real estate agent who's sold 86% more single family unit homes than average in Indianapolis, Indiana, explains that "the longer the dwelling house is on the market place, the college the probability of getting a lower offer."

Although the country largely remains a hot seller'due south market, recent metrics point to a slight slowdown toward the finish of 2021, meaning that sellers should make certain their home shows well and be conscientious well-nigh pricing if they want to motion rapidly.

Add in a scenario such equally a new job, divorce, inheritance, or financial trouble, and y'all need to find the absolute fastest style to sell a house with some semblance of certainty that it won't all fall through. We spoke to some of the best agents around the country to assistance you unlock the keys to a quick sale with this easy-to-follow guide.

Weigh your selling options

Skip straight to getting a cash offering
Hire a summit agent who sells homes fast
Go FSBO

Set up, prepare, sell

Be smart about the list price
Make clean, declutter, and depersonalize
Make quick repairs (only don't over-renovate)
Improve your curb entreatment
Stage the home to stoke buyer imaginations
Take professional existent estate photos
Write a listing description that sells
Market place your dwelling house on social media
Host an open house (digital or in-person)
Adapt buyer showing requests
Exist decisive in your offer option

Weigh your selling options

To unload your house in a hurry, first decide how you desire to appeal to buyers. Your main options are to request a greenbacks offer, work with a tiptop amanuensis who sells homes fast, or to sell the home yourself, an pick known as For Sale By Owner, or FSBO. Here's a look at each.

1. Request a cash offer

Let's say you lot prep your house to perfection, attract an offering in just a few days, and enter the closing phase of the auction. Information technology's a dream seller scenario, but nonetheless, you'll likely nevertheless be weeks or even months out from wrapping this deal as you lot wait in limbo. Steps similar the inspection and lender-ordered appraisal add time, not to mention your buyer's loan will need to be processed, which takes 51 days on average in today's market.

Despite best laid plans, selling your dwelling the traditional way just isn't always fast enough. Thankfully, you're not stuck. As an alternative, yous can go out and request a greenbacks offer from a real estate investor or firm-buying company to speed things along. Benefits to this route include:

No risk that your buyer'southward mortgage will fall through
Save money on agent commissions fees and repairs
Close in a matter of weeks or even days

Due to the lack of lender involvement, a greenbacks buyer is able to operate more nimbly and on a shorter timeline, providing convenience and certainty to sellers. You'll have to weigh the advantages confronting the possibility of a reduced offer, since investors aren't probable to enhance their bid out of emotion and will intend to make a turn a profit by flipping or renting out the home.

However, when you eliminate dwelling prep costs — such as fixing a rotted deck or installing a new front door — and y'all business relationship for agent agent fees of 5%-6%, you lot may stop upward with a like corporeality of money from a cash buyer as you exercise with a traditional listing procedure. Co-ordinate to a recent study we conducted at HomeLight, information technology costs $31,000 on boilerplate to sell a house in 2021.

Sell your house through HomeLight

When you request a cash offering from HomeLight's Elementary Sale platform, you'll never have to become through the listing process.

Just reply a short questionnaire to get started. We'll ask you a few basic questions about the condition of your domicile, how much work it needs, and your selling timeline. You can skip repairs and open up houses and receive an all-cash offer in as little as 48 hours. While you ever have to counterbalance the possibility of accepting an offer lower, the money yous save on firm prep, repairs, and agent commissions.

Baohan Wu, a seller who used Simple Sale to sell his high-rise apartment, establish the process quick and painless. "[HomeLight] gave me a very fair home inspection, took zero money out, and then just basically asked me when I wanted to close. That was it. Like shooting fish in a barrel as one, two, 3. The closing from showtime to finish was 3 and a one-half weeks, which is keen for me. It exceeded my expectations."

2. Hire a top agent who sells homes fast

In 2020, 88% of buyers purchased their home through a existent estate amanuensis or broker, according to NAR, so working with an amanuensis is always a valid route. If you're not interested in pursuing a cash offering, skilled existent estate agents such as Rebecca Stuppard are used to moving swiftly to negotiate repairs related to a home inspection, title issues, and other snags that crop up along the way. "A market that'southward this fast, you don't desire a firm sitting for even a week," she says.

She recently got a property under contract the twenty-four hours later she listed it. These sellers then closed on the buy of their new home an hour later. To connect with an agent in your market with a history of selling homes faster than their peers, you can reach out to HomeLight for introductions to some quality candidates in your area.

iii. Become FSBO

If you have a relative, friend, or neighbour who wants to buy your house, selling it yourself could be feasible. FSBO sales accounted for 8% of total home sales in 2020, merely 77% of these sold in less than ii weeks, ofttimes considering the heir-apparent was someone the seller knows, according to data from NAR.

The FSBO option saves you on a listing amanuensis's commission (about 3% of the sale cost, based on the national average). On the downside, you're left to handle the pricing, marketing, prep work, staging, cost negotiation, and contracts yourself.

You're also likely to sell your home for at least v.5% less than if yous used an experienced amanuensis, according to a example study from real estate analytics provider Blackness Knight. Echoing these findings, NAR statistics show that FSBO homes in 2022 sold for a median price of $217,900, compared to $295,000 for agent-assisted sales. So you can e'er keep FSBO on the table every bit an option, but know what you're getting into.

A decluttered kitchen that helped sell a house the fastest way. — Source: (Skitterphoto / Pexels)

Ready, set, sell

Whichever route you elect, taking the below steps can assistance you lot sell your home even faster.

Be smart almost the listing cost

The all-time mode to sell your house involves alluring buyers with the right price, starting with a comparative market assay that evaluates your home against other recently sold or active properties similar in factors such as square footage, location, and historic period.

Stuppard also visits competitors' homes and reviews their listings, including photos, and so discusses leveraging the list cost of active but not-yet-sold properties to help her clients' property stand out. "It's better to list at a fair price and go a number of offers than list at the tip-top and get maybe one offer," she advises.

Remember, a typical lender requires an appraisal to confirm the value of your home, and so don't allow hot market weather condition or unrealistic expectations cause yous to set the cost unreasonably high. If your business firm would normally exist worth $350,000, it won't "magically" and credibly become worth $500,000 a few months later because of higher need, co-ordinate to appraisers in the business.

Clean, declutter, and depersonalize

It's the triple threat that buyers can't resist: a business firm that'due south clean, clutter-gratis, and neutral like a blank canvas. Here'southward what we mean.

(Almost) everything must go

Good day stacks of magazines, junk scattered across countertops, and clunky items eating up your floor space — information technology's time to declutter with a vengeance! This deed alone can add together over $ii,500 to your domicile's value at resale and no double will assist it sell faster, too.

Buyers love spaciousness, so become through each room and take a minimalist approach, expert stagers recommend. We're talking no coasters, hair ties, or trinkets on nightstands — but a lamp volition practice.

File cabinets may seem "office"-y, but would the space show ameliorate if y'all put them in the closet? If y'all're not sure what'due south sticking out, take photos of rooms on your phone to help recognize what'south cluttering upward each area IRL.

It's non game mean solar day

Sports fanatics, Beanie Baby collectors, or themed-room enthusiasts: detest to break information technology this way, but selling a domicile is not the time to let your personality smooth. While you're generally decluttering, stash anything that'south so very "you." Put those hymeneals photos and the "Become Big Reddish!" poster in the maroon-themed football den in a safe spot, at the gear up to carry on to your next pad.

These items may seem easy to look past, but honestly, they distract buyers, making them think more well-nigh y'all and less about themselves in the space, says Trisha Roe of Designing Impressions, a licensed professional person stager in Sturgis, South Dakota. If you don't want to hire a separate unit of measurement, store your items neatly in a basement, garage, or shed. "Keep everything high and tight, like a military haircut," Roe says.

Break out the mop (and duster… and vacuum)

Even when selling fast, take the time to clean like you mean it. You can't expect to become a quick offer if buyers encounter gym sock odors and a sink full of dingy dishes when they go far. But get across bones tidying upwards to make sure the floors aren't scuffed up and the glass in your bay window sparkles in the afternoon sunshine. Always vacuum before a showing and keep Clorox wipes on hand to freshen up your bathrooms in a jiff.

If yous don't have the fourth dimension or the inclination to get your hands dirty, rent a cleaning service. A deep cleaning starts at almost $100 for a dwelling smaller than 1,000 square feet to $300 for a home larger than 3,000 square feet, but our research shows that cleanliness adds an average $1,700 in what a buyer is willing to pay, making one or even multiple cleanings well worth the price.

Brand quick repairs (just don't over-renovate)

When aiming to sell your house fast, the last thing you need is to get in over your head with a remodeling project. Inquire your agent about necessary fixes to clear a abode inspection, such as:

Water damage
Structural issues
An old or damaged roof
Plumbing issues
A damaged electrical organization
Insect or pest infestation
HVAC organisation problems

Some states require inspectors to check for certain items. Nebraska law, for instance, mandates that a home should have working smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors at the time of sale, says Matt Steinhausen, an contained home inspector since 1999 in Lincoln, Nebraska, who holds an A+ rating from the Meliorate Business Bureau.

A buyer's lender likewise might have particular requirements, depending on whether the heir-apparent uses a conventional or government loan. VA, FHA, or USDA loans vary in their requirements, simply in full general, these involve:

No lead-based pigment
Secure handrails on stairs or steps
Upgraded outlets
Bedroom windows with outside access in case of emergency
No unpermitted renovations
No encroachments on neighboring property

Across that, emphasize that the home is light, bright, and clean. Even a few hundred dollars and a flake of elbow grease can make a huge bear upon. Fourth dimension-permitting, hither are some fixes that top agents recommend:

A bedroom with new carpet that helped the house sell in the fastest way. — Source: (NeONBRAND / Unsplash)

Refresh or place the carpets:
If your carpets aren't outdated, dirty, torn, or stained, a professional cleaning can make them expect new. Hire a rug cleaner from Home Depot for about $37 per day, or rent a pro for about $25 to $75 per room. Replacing two,000 square feet of carpet runs about $xiv,220 to $24,440, which includes the carpeting, installation, and backing. Try a neutral shade of carpet such equally Home Decorators Collection Trendy Threads Two in Chic at almost $2.84 per foursquare foot, which includes a 15-year limited warranty.

Buff and polish hardwood floors:
Refinishing forest floors costs between about $1,000 to $4,000 (about $800 to $1,300 for a 16×16-foot room), regardless of the woods. You as well tin refresh hardwood flooring that shows wear and tear through buffing (about $200 to $250 for a 15×fifteen-foot room). Have a floor professional apply polish to brand the floors gleam later on, or take on that project yourself for about $150 for supplies.

Touch upwards or repaint the walls:
If your walls accept a scrap here or there (and you tin match the colour), you likely can tackle that project yourself. Redo a room that looks dark or outdated for nearly $3.50 per foursquare human foot, or roughly $200 to $1,000 per room. Choose a neutral shade such equally Amusing Gray by Sherwin-Williams (which agents in a HomeLight survey ranked as the #1 paint color), Kilim Biscuit by Sherwin-Williams, or Penthouse by Clare.

Install a dimmer switch or a new thermostat:
A dimmer switch helps set the mood in a family unit room, dining room, or even a bedroom, plus it extends the life of your light bulbs and helps y'all save on electricity, says Lowe'southward. Prices start at about $20 per switch, plus supplies such equally a wire stripper and a wall plate (if needed). The home store offers a step-past-pace guide for installing one yourself. As for a thermostat, energy-conscious buyers similar the flexibility of a programmable thermostat, which costs less than $l and looks modern and sleek. This best-selling Honeywell thermostat is only $24.98 and installs easily.

Redo the caulk around the sinks and the tub:
Habitation Depot has a pace-past-step guide for removing and replacing caulk that's dingy, moldy, or dirty. This projection can cost less than $fifty for supplies such as caulk, a pigment scraper, and a utility pocketknife.

Bleach away mold in bathroom grout:
Experts recommend scrubbing with a mix of h2o and bleach, or cleaners such as CLR or Bar Keepers Friend, which also can tackle difficult h2o stains, mineral deposits, soap scum, and refresh stainless steel fixtures.

Spring for new cabinet handles, hinges, and door knobs:
These provide a fresh and new feeling for a low toll. Prices vary depending on materials, but expect to pay about $35 to $50 for a set of 10 knobs at Home Depot.

Update appliances (if y'all can afford it):
Traditional stainless steel is the most in-demand finish among today's homebuyers, 75% of top agents say. Updating to all-new stainless steel appliances (including the refrigerator, stove, range hood, dishwasher, and microwave) costs an boilerplate of $4,229, with an average estimated ROI of $v,982, or 41.5%. Prices vary depending on features, such equally energy efficiency. GE's 30 in. five.three cu. ft. Slide-In Electrical Range with Self-Cleaning Oven in Stainless Steel, for instance, costs nigh $1,500.

Your agent also can propose you on which repairs are worthwhile based on your cost signal. Stuppard recently sold a business firm where a fence enclosed only role of the one thousand. Although at first she thought the seller might have to pay to enclose the whole yard, the dwelling house's interior was in such proficient shape that it easily showed better than the contest, so she told the seller to leave the fence equally is. "It'due south very situational to the business firm, the things yous desire to invest in and the things that you don't," she shares.

A freshly designed front yard that helped a house sell in the fastest way. — Source: (Digital Marketing Agency NTWRK / Unsplash)

Amend your curb appeal

Adjourn entreatment boosts the value of your habitation, 94% of top HomeLight agents say. You lot don't have to go wild outdoors, either. Regular lawn care — mowing, applying fertilizer, and controlling weeds — recovers an estimated 267% of the cost of budget at the time of sale. That's considering your abode's exterior builds apprehension and attraction, a footling like prepping for a appointment, agents say. A tidy outside also implies that y'all've taken expert care of your dwelling house overall.

Although you could hire a landscaper to go the whole yard in line, you besides could tackle a few specific projects, such every bit:

Trim trees and shrubs:
A professional tree trimmer bases their fee on the tree'southward superlative and size, says TreeRemoval.com, an online network of tree trimming services. (You don't desire to tackle this job on your own, every bit you might hurt the tree or yourself.)

Trees upwardly to 30 feet loftier, such as dogwood copse and Russian olive trees, tin can cost from $75 to $450 to trim. Trimming a crabapple or similar tree well-nigh 30 to 60 feet tall costs about $150 to $875. Exceptionally alpine trees, such as pino or red oak, cost near $200 to $1,000. Every bit for trimming shrubs and hedges, their price as well depends on height, only estimate most $10 to $20 for every five feet.

Plant colorful flowers:
For about $100 or less, you tin intrigue buyers with potted flowers or plants that add together color and make the front end of your business firm popular. Try grouping a specific blazon or colour in clusters of 3, 5, or 7 to move the eye naturally along the landscape.

Remove grime:
Power wash the outside, including the driveway and deck or patio, for about $290 if you hire a pro. If y'all're in a DIY mood, yous can rent a washer with a pressure level range of 2000 psi at Home Depot for $38 per solar day. Use a wide nozzle of 15 or xviii degrees. (These are usually either green or yellow.)

If yous're pressed for time, just install fresh mulch, which 84% of top HomeLight agents say packs a huge wow factor.

Stage the home to stoke heir-apparent imaginations

Staging strategically arranges furniture and other decorative items to prove off a abode's features. Virtually 83% of top HomeLight agents say that a staged home sells faster than an unstaged 1. What's more, nearly 67% of summit agents say that staging increases the auction price, especially when sellers focus on the living room, master bedroom, and kitchen. Staging experts share these suggestions:

Remove furniture. Skin down the living room to a sofa and emphasis tabular array or the bedroom to the bed and two nightstands, to brand rooms feel larger.
Whittle down the closets, besides, to create "breathing room" for wearable, towels, and linens.
Store books, DVDs, toys, throw pillows, and blankets not in regular use.
Keep tabletops simple. For example, leave only a lamp on a nightstand.
Pack away little-used utensils, dishes, glasses, and seasonal cookware. Set the toaster and occasional appliances inside the cabinets.
Uncover the windows to allow in natural light.
Add fresh produce to a basket or organizer in the kitchen for a welcoming splash of color, but recollect less is more.
Fix out an aromatic bar of lavender soap in the bath for subtle fragrance and color and top off with fluffy white bath towels.
Add together a welcoming accent to your rooms with light-green plants such as ferns or colorful flowers in vases.

Stuppard places sticky notes on items in her clients' homes indicating what to pack and what to display for photos and showings. She gives clients such cues e'er since one packed up, well, everything. "I thought, Whoa!" she recalls. "I learned at that point to mention things that look skillful in that spot. … Sometimes I've fifty-fifty asked, 'Could you add some floating shelves right here?'"

Take professional real manor photos

More ever, house hunters scroll through home listings on a smartphone or tablet when they're set to buy. NAR statistics prove that 97% of buyers used the internet in 2022 to search for a home, with 43% looking at backdrop online as their starting time footstep.

Professional photos that are clear and sharp could cyberspace you thousands of dollars more than in your home sale. Buyers rank professional photography every bit the single highest website feature of a real estate listing, co-ordinate to NAR'south 2022 Generational Trends Study. Prices vary based on your location, and many agents will include professional photography equally part of their listings services. Merely a existent estate photography bundle sold separately usually starts at nigh $150.

Write a list clarification that sells

Telling a story in your list generates offers, says Keith Degnan, a top agent in the Toledo, Ohio, area: "Your listing needs to be descriptive, warm, and inviting."

Skip the basics and bolts such as the square footage, which the MLS (or Multiple Listing Service) loads in its data fields, and mention brand-name appliances and specific finishes. Pigment a motion picture of your home by describing a patio ripe for a summer cookout or entertaining.

As well highlight any perks, such every bit nearby transportation, shopping, commerce, or attractions. Stuppard mentions schools and the distance to Fort Gordon, dwelling house of the U.S. Regular army Cyber Center of Excellence, among other operations.

She'll also point out storage and recent upgrades. If the seller has an older roof or HVAC, mentioning a abode warranty is another incentive that adds peace of mind.

Apps on social media like Facebook and Instagram can help a house sell the fastest way. — Source: (Jeremy Bezanger / Unsplash)

Market your home on social media

In addition to the MLS and major home search sites, yous'll want to list your home on social media. Facebook had almost 221.6 million users in the United States in 2020, most of them (about 19 million) in California. Instagram had about 115 million users that year, with 127 million projected by 2023.

Stuppard markets on both platforms using a Canva flyer that features a few points near the business firm and four to five photos. She'll likewise listing a "squeeze page" on Facebook, which gives visitors more information if they provide an email address.

Gutting, the top real manor agent in Indianapolis, puts listings on his grouping's Facebook page, which has over 1,400 followers, and encourages his clients to exercise the aforementioned. One client who shared a property listing netted almost 400 hits on that mail service within 48 hours.

For a higher cost betoken, such as $300K to over $350K, where competition and need may be less, Stuppard also uses reverse prospecting, contacting buyers' agents direct if they've saved search criteria that match a listing.

Host an open firm (digital or in-person)

With a traditional open firm, buyers tin can take measurements, peek inside closets and cabinets, and scope out a home'south features. Virtual open houses enable your amanuensis to bear witness the dwelling alive on a hosting platform, such every bit Zoom or Facebook, for potential buyers to scout. They can inquire questions while the amanuensis points out features, turns light fixtures on and off, checks the faucets' water pressure, and and so on.

Agents also have digital tools such as virtual tours. Stuppard includes a 360-caste virtual tour with any listing over $250,000. Buyers enjoy scrolling through the business firm at their ain pace, she says.

Accommodate buyer showing requests

Some buyers want to driblet past and see the property on their own schedule. To sell your business firm fast, expect to be prove-ready nighttime and day for a few days. Let your agent know the best fashion to reach yous, and then they tin call or text yous to whip the house into shape in a flash. And then have an activeness program, such as:

Designate a suitcase, car trunk, or cupboard storage bin as a spot to quickly stash annihilation that needs to be out of sight, from toys to tissue boxes.
Make the bed, preferably with a solid, neutral comforter or bedspread.
Have out the trash.
Flip on the lights.
Each mean solar day, spread out a towel over the bathroom vanity to catch makeup powder, or utilise a bristles bib to collect shaving mess. Requite the bath fixtures a swipe with rubbing booze and microfiber towels.
Gather up whatever pets, and skedaddle.

Be decisive in your offering selection

The kickoff offer on your house usually comes from a serious buyer excited about beating the competition. If yous think this is on the low side, y'all tin can respond with a counteroffer to bump that number into your goal range.

Acme agents say that a heir-apparent with a start offer tends to be a proficient negotiator because they're concerned nearly losing out to someone else. Other concessions, such as paying a percentage of the buyer'south closing costs, can sweeten the deal.

A real estate agent shaking a homeseller's hand for utilizing the fastest way to sell a house. — Source: (rawpixel.com / Pixabay)

You've got what you need: Now go sell that house!

The best way to sell your house is the one that works with your timeline and your needs. If you programme to put out that "For Sale" sign, amp upwards your home'south curb entreatment, presentation, and marketplace information technology like crazy. Those in a bigger hurry may adopt to request a greenbacks offer through a platform such as Simple Auction and reduce the overall number of steps and days needed to officially close. The choice is ever yours but either way, don't hesitate to let usa know how HomeLight can be of assistance!

Header Image Source: (Alex Tan / Decease To The Stock Photograph)