Sell Your Home for Cash
You could sell your home for cash for many reasons. For example, maybe, the home has become too small now as your family has grown; maybe, the neighborhood has no longer suited your needs as it used to; maybe, you have landed a better job in another town and need to move; or maybe, you have gone through a divorce.
Marketing and selling a place is usually plenty of work, and it also takes a lot of time to get it done. For some homeowners who end up in these types of situations might want to seek for selling the homes fast for different reasons.
If you want to sell your home fast, there is an option, which is to sell your home for cash. However, while there are surely advantages to sell your home for cash, there are downsides as well. Understanding the pros and cons for selling your home for cash could help you determine what is the best way for you to sell the home.
The Reasons For Selling The Home for Cash
There are a lot of reasons why it makes sense to sell the home for cash.
- Avoid doing anything to fix up the place as the cash home buyers or cash house buyer is good with the purchasing for the house as is.
- Avoid dealing with the code violations as well as any permit issues that you might have.
- Sell the home more quickly that could help you avoid the repossessing or foreclosing from the bank on the property.
- Receive the money more quickly that could help you pay off any debts that you might have, or pay for another home if you are divorced or moving out of town.
- Get rid of the bad tenants more quickly if you have rented the place.
How to Sell The Home for Cash
You might have seen some signs posted somewhere like telephone poles, which say “Sell House for Cash”, or you might have received some postcards or letters in mails offering “CASH for your home”. In other words, there are always investors who are interested in purchasing bargain homes, fixing them up, and then reselling them for profit. As a matter of fact, “House Flipping” has been a part of the culture so that reality TV shows are even built around it. However, in recent years, there is a new phenomenon emerging, in which direct home buying occurs via the internet, and some companies are purchasing homes directly from the sellers for cash, which makes the process become much faster as well as easier.
- It is fast by selling the home for cash. The traditional route to sell home with a real estate agent and Multiple Listing Service, or “For Sale By Owner” does not have any guarantee that the home will be sold at all. For example, the home has been priced right, and it should get offers. However, it could take months for the type of deal that you want to come to you. According to the data from Realtor.com, after a home is listed, in general, the average that it takes to sell the home is about 65 days, which varies widely by location.
- There are no mortgages or loans involved by selling the home for cash. Usually, when you are under the contract, the escrow could last usually from 30 to 60 days assuming that everything is going smoothly. Although the majority of escrows do close, there are still some percentages of them that could fail. Could you imagine what it would be like after you finally sold your home but found out that the deal fell through at the last minute because the buyer was able to get a loan? It means that the entire process of finding a potential buyer, filling out all the paperwork, and applying for a mortgage needs to repeat again with no guarantee that everything will go smoothly this time.
- There is no fix-up needed by selling the home for cash. If you either are in a hurry to sell your home or do not have the cash on hand, the idea to fix up all the things big or small needed in order to maximize the value of home probably is not practical. Selling the home for cash does not need to fix up things in your home as the cash home buyers or cash house buyer would accept the purchasing for the place “as is”. Nevertheless, you are still required to disclose any defects or issues that you have known, and whether to fix them or not will be decided by the new owner. In other words, if your home is in need for major repairs but you are not able to do so, selling it for cash probably is the right way to go.
- There are no Contingencies by selling the home for cash. The traditional home sale is usually to go with contingencies. In fact, all of them will have the contingency of home inspection, and most of the buyers will also require the contingency of mortgage and maybe an appraisal contingency. At the time when it is the buyer’s market, the buyer may even want a home sale contingency, which means that the sale of your home will not go through until the buyer has sold her or his current home and it could delay or totally derail selling your property.
The Cons
- Get less money, which is the big disadvantage for selling the home for cash. If your main concern is to get top dollar for the home, it goes without saying that the all-cash deal is not the best route. The investors, whether from the traditional or online, buy properties to resell them for profit, and if they buy high and sell low, they cannot stay in the business. However, the all cash deal might still be a good option for you, if you factor in all the costs to fix up the place as well as sell it in the traditional way by paying the commission of a real estate agent.
- The money might not be real. If the buyer that you are dealing with is a known as well as reputable company, then it is not a concern. However, if you are dealing with someone who sent a postcard to you by mail, make sure that they have the money for the offering, such as asking them for a bank statement or other proof of funds from the bank.
- Also, selling the home for cash has a very short escrow, which sometimes, could be as short as 7 or 10 days. It stands to reason that you may need to negotiate for a lease-back to your home. Without a doubt, you do not want to pack all your stuff and move out, but then when something goes wrong with the sale at the last minute, you end up being stuck with paying two mortgages, or a mortgage plus the rent. On the other hand, if you could schedule the move out one month later after the closing of the deal, you will be in a much better position in the case the deal falls apart at the last minute.