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Need to Sell Your House Fast? Explore Your Options
HomeLight
Real Estate
1 year ago
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Life isn’t always predictable. Sometimes you realize: “I need to sell my house fast” — and with little warning. You may be navigating a job loss, going through a divorce, or helping a loved one relocate quickly for a medical reason.

A home’s condition can also be a big factor in why you need to sell a house quickly. Houses require constant maintenance and can become an enormous burden. Listing and selling a fixer-upper can prove difficult unless you have enough cash for repairs.

Step one to selling fast: Talk to an expert!

Sell your home for a competitive price in as few as 10 days, with no additional fees, agent commission, or prep work. Start by telling us about your home and speak to one of our Home Consultants. This helps us get the best possible offer from our extensive network of investors nationwide.

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Others want much-needed convenience amid juggling work, parenting, and additional demands while selling a home. Maybe when it comes down to it, you’re not interested in repeated showings or haggling with buyers who expect HGTV move-in-ready homes.

In this handy, easy guide, we’ll share your best options when you need to sell a house fast.

Sell my house fast option 1: Get a cash offer

If you find yourself saying: “I want to sell my house urgently,” one of the fastest ways to close the sale and move on is to request a cash offer.

You could contact multiple companies or the first We Buy Houses website you come across, but there’s a much better way to sell your house for cash — and that is through HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform.

Simple Sale brings together one of the largest networks of cash buyers in the U.S., slashing your closing timeline and letting you choose your move-out date. Essentially, we compare sites like “We Buy Houses” to nearly every other option you could find and present you with the best offer.

Simply answer a few questions about your home, and you can receive a no-obligation all-cash offer within a week.

How fast?: Sell your house in as little as 10 days

Key benefits: • Speed • No repairs • All cash • Simplicity • No-obligation offer • Typically the best way to sell your house

How well does it work? While selling a home to a cash buyer will likely not bring in top dollar, it will give you top speed, convenience, and simplicity, which may be the solution set you need. Below you can hear about the experiences of sellers who used Simple Sale.

Homelight Simple Sale client Traci M: “HomeLight Simple Sale helped match me with a cash buyer within days. The process was extremely easy and efficient. I would definitely recommend Simple Sale to anyone trying to sell their home.”

Homelight Simple Sale client Kevin L: “From the initial phone consultation, to the closing of escrow, the entire process was so quick and simple. Everyone was extremely helpful, responsive, and professional.”

Compare sell my house fast companies

Curious to learn more about your sell-for-cash options? Review the below chart with basic information about some of the major cash buyers and investor networks in the U.S. to get a sense for what’s out there.

Company Name Contact About Closing costs
HomeVestors / We Buy Ugly Houses
 Webuyuglyhouses.com 866-200-6475 Largest professional house buying franchise in the U.S. None
Simple Sale (a HomeLight platform)
 Homelight.com/simple 844-488-8455 Extensive online investor network that will match you with the best cash offer for your home None
We Buy Houses
 WeBuyHouses.com 877-932-8946 Provides unified branding, marketing materials, and systems to professional investors nationwide None
Express Homebuyers
 ExpressHomebuyers.com 877-804-5252 Has purchased over 4,000 homes since beginning operations in 2003; available in many states None
HomeGo
 HomeGo.com 866-507-9030 Founded in 2018, provides cash offers to homeowners in 3 easy steps None
MarketPro Homebuyers
 MarketProHomeBuyers.com 301-994-7355 Founded in 2012, provides solutions to sellers in the Mid-Atlantic region None
Sundae
 Sundae.com 800-214-4426 Marketplace connecting sellers with distressed properties with local investors None
Opendoor
 Opendoor.com 888-352-7075 Pioneering iBuying platform, some limitations to types of homes purchased 5% maximum service fee
Offerpad
 Offerpad.com 844-388-4539 Launched in 2015, Offerpad is one of the largest iBuyers by transaction volume 6% service fee

Sell my house fast option 2: Hire a top agent known for speed

When you need to sell a house fast but also want a higher offer price, selling with a real estate agent is typically a better choice. However, homes are currently spending an average of 30-50 days on the market (DOM) — the time between when a house is listed and when it goes under contract with a buyer. But if you’re working with a financed buyer, you also must factor in the time the buyer needs to close their purchase loan, which is around 40-50 more days.

Other than selling for cash as outlined in option 1, another way to help speed up a traditional home sale is to partner with a top-performing real estate agent. HomeLight data shows that the top 5% of real estate agents across the U.S. sell homes faster and for as much as 10% more than average real estate agents.

Sell your house faster and for more

Thinking about selling soon? We’d be happy to introduce you to a few top local real estate agents. Our service is 100% free, with no catch. Agents don’t pay us to be listed, so you get the best match.

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How fast: Sell your house in 90-125 days (varies by market and local housing trends)

Key benefits: • More money for your home • Top agents sell homes faster than average agents • No cost unless your home sells • Experience in your area • Expert pricing and negotiating

How well does it work? Below you can read feedback from sellers who connected with a top-performing agent through HomeLight.

Thomas L. of Charlotte, North Carolina: “The service that HomeLight provided was a tremendous help. HomeLight was able to match our specific situation and needs with a selection of local Realtors and remove a lot of the legwork from the selection process.”

Cory of Ft. Loramie, Ohio: “Using HomeLight made it easy to find the top real estate agent in our area. The process from beginning to end was so quick and easy. Our agent got to work right away and was very confident in the listing process. Our home went under contract just 2-3 weeks and sold quickly!”

Pattie J. of New Jersey: “Purely professional from start to finish. I received an immediate response. In less than two months, our property sold for much more than we expected. HomeLight is the game changer of real estate.”

4 tips to sell your house faster

For a speedy transaction, here are some home selling tips from top agents:

  • Declutter room by room: Create the illusion of space by removing shoes, boxes, and stacks of items from your floors. Relocate bulky furniture and move any clutter that won’t fit into storage spaces. If it won’t fit in a closet, the basement, or the garage, send it to storage. Countertops should be clear of anything not intentionally placed. At the very least, your home needs to be tidy and organized when the showings start.
  • Deep clean everything: If you don’t have the time to mop the floors, vacuum, dust, and get your surfaces sparkling, then consider hiring a service to do the job.
  • Spruce up your curb appeal: In the current market, the look and feel of a home’s outdoor spaces are more important to buyers than ever. Backyard/outdoor space was one of the top reasons buyers cited for wanting to purchase a home in 2022, according to our Buyer and Seller Insights Survey for End of Year 2022. In addition to helping produce a speedier sale, our research shows that buyers will pay an average of 7% more for a house with great curb appeal.
  • Pick the right time to list: Timing can have an impact on how quickly a house sells, but this can vary depending on location. Some housing markets see intense seasonal changes based on when parents start looking for homes, popular times for vacation house hunters to arrive, or shifts in the weather.

Bottom line: When you need to sell fast, you do have options

Selling a house has a reputation for being overwhelming, stressful, and time-consuming. But fast? Not so much.

That said, you don’t have to leave your selling fate to chance. Whether you decide to request a cash offer, work with a top agent who can meet your deadline, or collect information about your home value before picking a route, you now know your main ways to sell your home fast. All that’s left to do is pick a path.


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