Selling a home or property can be rather intimidating, especially if you’re in a hurry. For a number of reasons, home sellers may be interested in moving the process along at a faster rate than usual.
But there is only so much that you can do in order to ensure this. The state of the housing market at the time you put your property up for sale, as well as the location in which you’re selling, can greatly affect how quickly you’ll see results. For that matter, there are individual issues with buyers that can affect whether or not your property actually sells — even if you’re ready and have everything on your end prepared.
When someone initially approaches you with an offer to buy a house with cash, however, you might want to know a few things before taking them up on the offer. For that matter, you need to think long and hard about whether or not you’re open to selling a house for cash before you put it on the market in the first place.
It’s becoming increasingly popular among certain companies (and in some cases, individual sellers) to buy a house with cash and then renovate the house to “flip it” on the market. But what do you need to know as a seller? Let’s find out.
1. A House Bought With Cash is Often Purchased As-Is
Quite often, when someone offers to buy a house with cash, they’re buying the house as-is. This means that you won’t need to make any renovations or repairs before selling the house, as these won’t be factored into the conditions of the sale. The great thing about selling a house as-is, of course, is that you don’t need to worry about the home being altered before you complete the sale. Therefore, you won’t need to invest any more money into it.
Now, some offer to a buy a house with cash regardless of whether or not they’re buying it as-is. But because many buyers use cash upfront to invest in a home that they plan to renovate and sell themselves for a profit, there is less of a concern regarding its condition at the time of sale. The downside for you as a buyer is that the value of an as-is home could be lower than a property that’s been renovated. But the sale happens faster and you get the cash up front, rather than needing to jump through the typical hoops associated with a property sale.
2. Closing Is Often Simpler
In 2018, the typical American home spent anywhere from 63 to 95 days on the market. This timeline included closing. Closing is often what halts the sale of a house and makes it more difficult for you to move on and get the proceeds from the sale. While you may have everything prepared when getting approved for a mortgage, the buyer you’re working with may not do the same. This is not nearly as much of an issue with cash buyers for houses are involved. Cash buyers have the money that they need in full, and therefore don’t need to be approved by a lender. Again, this speeds up the process and simply makes it easier for you to finish the sale.
3. You May Want To Consider Selling Your House On Your Own
There are a lot of benefits to choosing the for-sale-by-owner process if you’re looking for someone who will buy a house with cash. Typically, real estate agencies work with buyers who need to get mortgages approved. Cash buyers, as previously mentioned, are often companies that buy houses to flip. This means that they’re often looking for houses on their own and often those that are being sold directly by the owner. If you’re already selling a house for cash, you may simply want to cut out the middle man and do it yourself.
Selling a house for cash is a lot less complicated than it may seem. You really need to be motivated and find the right buyers; but in the long term, it can take a drawn-out sale process and simplify it greatly.