If you need to sell your house fast in Austin, whether you’ve inherited a house, you’re relocating for work, need to cash out your home’s equity quickly, or are looking to put a divorce behind you, the two best strategies are: 1) seek out a cash offer, or 2) work with a top real estate agent. In this guide, we will review the pros and cons of each approach to help you decide which makes the most sense for your home sale. HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform connects you to the largest network of cash buyers in the U.S. We use the information you provide about your home plus local neighborhood data to get you an all-cash offer within a week, allowing you to close in as little as 10 days. Simple Sale saves time in other ways since clients can skip repairs, home prep, and showings while still receiving a strong offer from our network. There are also no agent fees, and you can decide when you want to close.
HomeLight was founded in 2012 and is BBB accredited with an A+ rating. The company has 4.6 stars on Google based on more than 500 user reviews. There are other ways to get a cash offer for your home. Here are a few options to consider: These cash buyers are looking for a certain type of home, so they may not be looking for a house like the one you are selling. iBuyers tend to focus on the Southern band of the U.S. and look for homes in good condition within a specific price range. House flippers look for homes they can purchase for a deal, so their cash offer will likely be less than that of an iBuyer, but they can help get a troublesome property off your hands. Here are some examples of local cash home buyers in the Austin market right now: As with anything, there are pros and cons to selling your home quickly for cash. Not only do top agents help their clients make speedier sales, but the top 5% of agents also sell homes for up to 10% more than the average agent, according to HomeLight data. If you want to sell quickly, but you have a little more time to do it, working with an agent can provide an option to make more on the sale. More money in your pocket gives you the freedom to pay down debt, invest your extra cash, or use it for something else you may need. Despite an 18% decrease in home prices since May 2022, the Austin real estate market is still a favorable environment for sellers. But, due to higher interest rates and uncertainty in the economy, the state of the market has been changing quickly. “I think the best way to describe it is volatile — lots of ups, lots of downs,” says Ross Speed, a top agent in Austin. “So you have to be really dialed into the market because it can change rapidly.” Fortunately, the job market is booming in Austin. The music-centric, small-town city has exploded into a tech hub. Austin was named one of the top tech cities in the world on Savill’s Top Tech Cities of 2023. Apple continues to build up its 3,000-square-foot campus in Austin, and Google has put part of a $9.5 billion investment toward a green campus in Austin. Jaymes Willoughby, another top Austin agent who has nearly 40 years of experience, says the job growth has helped Austin to evolve from a cowtown capital city to the Silicon Valley of the Southwest. “It has changed the dynamics here,” he says “Not only do we have the University [of Texas] and other universities nearby, but the high-tech job market has drawn in an educated populace.” Willoughby says these kinds of house hunters are very analytical. “When they make a decision, they pursue it [as] if it’s like a business within their personal lives.” This knowledge directly impacts his advice to sellers looking to prepare their homes for the market. All this means that homes can still sell quickly in Austin — just not as quickly as they were a few years ago. The median number of days an Austin home stays on the market is 52, as of March 2023, compared to 15 days in March of 2022. Here’s a snapshot of current housing market indicators in Austin: Knowing the current real estate market in Austin gives you the information you can use to get your home ready to sell quickly. An experienced Austin real estate agent can provide an expert perspective on that information to give your property a boost in the selling process. When selling any home, there are a few key strategies that will always help speed up the selling process. Things like making key repairs, updating strategic parts of the home, pricing the property competitively for the market, staging the home, and marketing the sale well can all impact how quickly the home will sell (and increase the final sale price). An agent can give you advice on how to employ these strategies specifically for your property, and they can provide hyperlocal advice for your market. Use these key tips to boost the timeline for your home sale: With a volatile market, pricing correctly is key to generating interest in a property and bringing in competitive offers. “The days of trying to overprice in the beginning to see what we get and then adjusting in a month are gone. That will significantly hamper your ability to get the maximum sales price for that particular property. You want to be priced correctly from the beginning,” advises Speed. An experienced top agent will perform a comparative market analysis (CMA) to help you set the best price to sell a house fast in your market. If you’re curious about your home’s current value, try HomeLight’s Home Value Estimator. While it shouldn’t dictate your final pricing strategy, an online home value estimate can give you a ballpark price range. You can get a preliminary estimate in less than two minutes. Oftentimes, sellers are eager to get their house on the market and will forgo essential renovations. This is one of the biggest mistakes a seller can make. Tausha Carlson, a top-selling Austin agent who has been involved in 6674 single-family home transactions, says that “new listings get the most exposure, so make sure your house is in optimal shape when you put it on the market.” “In any market, we’ve experienced within the last twelve months, special homes are still selling,” says Speed. It’s important that you make your home “special” before you list it. Add fresh paint where needed, update outdated trends in the home, and do a deep clean to make sure the home is in top condition. He also recommends hiring a professional photography and videography team. According to a survey by the National Association of Realtors, 97% of homebuyers use the Internet in their search for a home. That means buyers will likely first view the property via the photos and videos you post in a listing. High-quality pictures and videos give buyers the best view and perspective on a property when viewed online. “Austin buyers are asking for a great outdoor space,” according to Carlson, meaning extending your living space outdoors can be extremely appealing. More people are transforming their outdoor area to include a full furniture set, smoker, and television to watch the Longhorns on a Saturday afternoon. Kristee Leonard, a top Austin agent who works with over 68% more single-family homes than average agents in the market, found that “walkability is important for many buyers” and is a surprising trend local to the Austin community. This makes it important for sellers to highlight parks, coffee shops, and local restaurants in their neighborhoods. “People are buying huge lots and building a second unit for rent,” Carlson says. “Buyers want unrestricted land and more flexibility when buying a home.” Because Austin is a top tourist city, buyers are more interested in homes that have the space to add on and create Airbnb lodging or additional rental units. If you are selling a home with large square footage, leverage this. Willoughby says the best time to sell in Austin for speed is to list your home at the beginning of April. “From April to mid-May, that’s another really good time block because you’re after spring break but before school lets out.” If you identify as a “summer seller,” he says, listing your home in the spring can ensure closing on the timeline you prefer. Willoughby also points to a contingent of Austin homebuyers who he calls “Resolutioners” — shoppers who have made a New Year’s goal of buying a home. These buyers typically start their search at the first of the year. The resolutioner trend can be seen in an uptick in traffic at Austin real estate offices just after the holidays. “A lot of sellers aren’t thinking, ‘I’m going to put my home on the market in January,’ but a lot of buyers are thinking, ‘Now is a good time to buy,’” Willoughby adds. HomeLight’s Best Time to Sell Calculator uses housing market data for your area to show you the best and worst months to sell your home. As you can see, a top real estate agent in Austin can help you navigate the many nuances that you might not otherwise discover until you’re swamped in the process. Their organization efficiencies and marketing expertise can help you sell your Austin house fast. If you need an even faster sale, HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform provides cash offers for homes in almost any condition in Austin. If you don’t have the time or the means to prepare your home or move through the traditional listing process, you can skip the repairs and showings and close in as few as 10 days. Complete a short questionnaire and receive a no-obligation cash offer within a week.Option 1: Sell your Austin house fast for cash
Who else will buy your Austin house for cash?
Cash buyers in Austin
Pros and cons of selling your Austin house for cash
Pros:
Cons
Option 2: Work with a top agent to sell fast in Austin
How fast are homes selling in Austin?
Average days on the market
5212-
Median list price
$598,000
Year-over-year median price change
down 8.2%
Total listings
7,167
Total sales
2,106
Austin population growth
+1.72%
7 strategies to sell a house fast in Austin
1. Set your price competitively
2. Do the brunt work upfront
3. Make the home stand apart
4. Showcase your outdoor area
5. Advertise your neighborhood’s walkability
6. Promote additional space for lodging
7. Take advantage of market timing
Ready to sell your Austin home?
