It is always best to try and sell a property as fast as possible, regardless of what the motivation of doing so is. After all, the longer a house is on the market, the greater the chance that it will receive an offer that is below the asking price.
Recently the process of selling a house has been very quick compared to some years gone by. In fact, during the end of the summer in 2024, the average property sold roughly 17 days quicker than normal and almost 22 days quicker than the previous year (2020). This is according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Although properties are selling quickly right now, there exist some scenarios where this is simply not fast enough and a house needs to be sold in a matter of weeks or days. For instance, a divorce, financial hardship, or starting a new job are all things that can result in someone needing to sell their house fast in Durham, North Carolina.
Consider your options for selling
The first thing to do when selling your house in a rush is to decide what approach you want to take in order to appeal to potential buyers. The main considerations are requesting a cash offer, working with a real estate agent, selling it yourself, or selling to a cash home buyer, such as https://connecthomebuyers.com/durham.
- Requesting a cash offer – even if the first potential buyer makes an offer that you accept, the entire process of selling your house can be a long and drawn out one that can take several weeks. Then there is the risk of the buyer not being accepted for a loan, which would completely kibosh the entire process. However, in order to avoid this from happening, you can request a cash offer from a cash house buyer or from a real estate investment company. Going down this route means that the sale of your house can be completed in weeks or even days, you will not have to pay any fees or commissions, and there is no risk of a mortgage request falling through. The only downside to selling your house to a cash house buyer is that they will likely provide you with an offer that is below the fair market value for the property, as they intend to sell the property on at a profit. Bu, because they will buy your property in any condition, it negates the need to perform any costly renovations that need doing.
- Working with a real estate agent – the vast majority of property sales in the United States of America are completed with the help of a specialist real estate agent. In fact, in 2024, some 88 percent of all buyers in America bought their property via either a broker or a real estate agent. This is according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Hiring an experienced real estate agent can really help to sell a property quickly as they are well aware of all the various snags that have the potential to hold up the sale of any house.
- Selling it yourself – when you are already aware of someone that wants to purchase your house, such as a neighbour, friend, colleague, or family member, then the option of selling the property yourself is a feasible one. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), these types of sales accounted for just 8 percent of all property sales in the United States of America in 2024. Of this 8 percent, 77 percent of the property sales were completed in under a two week time period. Selling your property yourself negates the need to pay any commission to a real estate agent, which sometimes can be as much as 3 percent. This then can end up saving you thousands of dollars. However, by not selling your home with an experienced real estate agent, it is likely to be the case that you will not get the full market value for your property.
Perform easy repairs
When attempting to sell your house fast you do not want to get bogged down in large renovation or remodeling projects that are going to take a long time to complete. However, there are some fixes that are required as a bare minimum in order to ensure that your property passes all of the home inspections that it will go through. For this reason, make sure that all structural issues, water damage, plumbing issues, roof problems, insect infestations, and electrical problems are all fixed.
Beyond performing those repairs, it is important to ensure that your property is clean, bright, and light so that the interior is shown off to its true potential. By simply spending a couple of hundred dollars and putting in a bit of time and effort into your property, you can really make a significant impact.
Where there are scuffs and scratches on the wall and ceilings, be sure to go over these so that they are no longer visible. Refresh the interior by replacing any old or outdated light fixtures, carpets, switches, flooring, handles / knobs, and even some appliances, where the cost of doing so is not too great.
Improve the curb appeal
By improving how the exterior of your property looks, it can significantly increase the value of your house. In fact, some real estate agents claim that doing this can boost the prive by as much as 94 percent in some instances. Quick and easy things that can be done in order to improve the curb appeal of your property include ensuring the lawn is in good condition (this means cut and fertilized), shrubs, bushes, and trees are trimmed, grime is removed from the brickwork, and flowers are planted. All of these things can be done without much time or effort and without committing to too much financial outlay. The effects though can be an increased property value.
