Why do you need to sell your home? Do you have another job lined up in another town? Do you have your eyes on a bigger, better home for you and your family?
Or maybe you’re facing a more intense situation? You could be staring down the barrel of an imminent foreclosure or trying to liquefy assets because you’re going through a divorce.
Regardless, you might be considering the option to sell a house as-is, rather than investing valuable time and money on repairs and renovations. But can you really sell your house without dumping in a ton of time, effort, and money?
The answer is yes. Keep reading for a thorough guide (with plenty of options) on how to sell a house as-is. We are here to answer all of your questions and show you how to get it done.
Learn More About the Condition of Your Home
First, if you want to get a fair price for your home, you need to identify its true condition. This will help you accurately value your home for the market.
Just as importantly, most buyers and their lenders will demand an official home inspection before they’ll place an offer on the home. Alternatively, the buyer might place an offer on the home that’s contingenton the results of a future home inspection.
However, it’s important for you to know what condition your house is in if you’re planning on selling it as-is. This information is necessary to write an honest and accurate home listing.
Otherwise, you might end up attracting tons of buyers who will immediately walk when they find out the home is in disrepair. This will waste your time and theirs. Not to mention, it will give you a lot of false hope.
Identify High-Priority Repairs and Upgrades
Once you get the results of the home inspection, it’s time to make some important decisions. Just because you want to sell a house as-is, it doesn’t mean you can’t do any repairs.
For example, there are some damages and issues that will make it almost impossible to sell your home in the traditional real estate market. For example, some repairs you should consider making include:
- Leaking or damaged plumbing
- Mold issues
- Pest issues
- Roof damages
- Non-functioning vital components of the house (HVAC, water heater, etc.)
- Outdated electrical
If you can’t afford to make these repairs or simply don’t have the time, there is another option. You can sell the house without making a single repair, it will just limit your options for buyers. However, we will cover the absolute best way to sell a house as-is further down if you’re limited on time and/or money.
Consider Making Quick and Easy Cosmetic Renovations
Regardless of if you decided to make any major repairs or updates, there are cosmetic renovations you can invest in that are quick, easy, and affordable. More importantly, they will drastically improve the visual appeal of your home, which will make it easier to sell a house as-is.
When buyers can see the potential of a house, they’ll be more likely to invest in it, even if it needs work. Therefore, it won’t go amiss to:
- Add a fresh coat of paint to the interior walls
- Replace all old and burnt out lightbulbs
- Update old and damaged fixtures
- Patch holes in drywall
- Replace cracked windows
- Professionally steam clean the carpets
- Recaulk bathrooms and kitchens
- Etc.
You can accomplish most of these feats in a single weekend if you put your mind to it. And if you do the work yourself, your biggest expense will be sweat equity. However, the payoff will be well worth the effort.
Additionally, consider doing a little work to the outside to improve curb appeal. Keep the vegetation neat and trimmed and add an exterior coat of paint if necessary. The property should be free of clutter, debris, and trash.
Enlist the Help of a Realtor
It’s okay to ask for help when selling a house as-is. This is especially true if you want to sell a house as-is fast. Working with an experienced local realtor might give you the assistance you need to make it happen.
A realtor knows the area and the industry well. They know who to target with your as-is listing and have important connections in the community. This includes other agents who might have clients looking for fixer-upper homes and real estate investors.
However, a real estate agent’s services won’t be free. Most real estate agents charge a 3% commission for helping you sell your home. For example, if you sell your house for $200,000, your realtor will get a $6,000-cut.
Yet, your realtor fees might not end there. In many cases, it is determined during negotiations that the seller pays for the buyer’s realtor as well. In this case, you’ll be paying closer to $12,000.
Finally, you should know that the traditional home selling process also has closing costs, relatively equal to your realtor fees. Therefore, you could be paying up to $18,000 to sell your $200,000 home.
Determine the Value of Your Home As-Is
Now, let’s talk about how to find the value of your home when selling a house as-is. If you decide to hire a real estate agent, they can help you get price comps based on the homes that have sold in your immediate area in the last few months. This is a comparative market analysis that compares your house to those that have sold based on certain factors, such as:
- The age of your home
- The condition of your home
- The features of your home
- The footprint and overall square footage of your home
- The size of your property
- The features of your property (fences, outdoor buildings, patios, etc.)
- Recent updates
- The numbers of rooms and bathrooms
- And more
A thorough comparative market analysis should give you an accurate idea of how much your home is worth in the current real estate market. However, if you’re selling your home traditionally, you’ll probably need to have the home officially appraised by a third party.
Appraisals are often required by banks and other mortgage lenders. They want to verify the value of a home before they invest on behalf of their client (the buyer). Furthermore, the buyer will want to see the official valuation for their own peace of mind.
Clean and Stage the Home for Maximum Appeal
Learning how to sell a house as-is means learning how to make it more appealing to potential buyers. As noted earlier, there’s nothing wrong with highlighting the home’s most attractive features to showcase its true potential. While this includes doing some small renovations (like repainting), it also requires deep cleaning the home.
While anyone can clean a house, and a dirty floor won’t reduce a home’s value, buyers want to see a home that’s clean and spotless. This is more of a psychological factor than anything else. They will equate the cleanliness of the home with how well the home has been maintained, its potential, and its value.
Furthermore, if a buyer walks into a home and it hasn’t even been cleaned, it will be a major turn-off. Dirt, messes, stains, grime, and odors will send buyers running in the opposite direction, even if they know the home is an as-is sale.
Additionally, it never hurts to have the home professionally staged. Having high-end, high-fashion furniture throughout the house will add charm, appeal, and a certain level of class to the home.
Again, buyers need to see the home’s potential. Furthermore, stages homes have been shown to spend 73% less time on the market. Of course, staging a home can cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a month.
Write an Honest But Alluring Home Listing
If you want to sell a house as-is with as few hangups as possible, be creative but honest while writing your home listing. As we talked about earlier, it’s absolutely imperative to be upfront and honest about the condition of the home. Trying to hide issues and damages will make you appear untrustworthy, which will immediately turn buyers away once they realize the discrepancy.
However, that’s not to say you can’t hype the home up in other ways. If it’s an old home, for example, you can talk about its historical past, its architectural charm, and any unique features it has based on when it was constructed.
Lastly, make sure your listing is targeting the right types of buyers. When selling a house as-is, you’re primarily looking for three different types of buyers:
- Young families looking for a low-cost fixer-upper
- Low-income buyers looking for the most affordable homes
- Real estate investors looking to fix-and-flip or fix-and-rent
In your listing, be sure to include literature that might attract each one of these types of buyers.
Consider a Faster, Simpler Route
Finally, let’s talk about the absolute best way to sell a house as-is. We alluded to this option earlier when discussing repairs and renovations.
What if you don’t have time or money or even the desire to put anything else into your house? Have you considered selling to a cash home buyer?
This option is easily the fastest and simplest route if you want to sell a house as-is fast. It’s ideal for people who are facing foreclosure, being relocated for work, or going through a divorce. However, it can also be a great solution if you’ve inherited a house you don’t want/can’t afford or have a rental unit you don’t want to manage anymore (with or without tenants).
What Kind of Homes Are Eligible?
Is your home eligible for a cash offer? Absolutely, it is.
At Smith Liquidations, we buy houses in any condition. That’s right, you don’t have to make repairs, updates, or renovations.
You don’t even have to clean up after yourself once you move out. If you don’t feel like packing everything up and just want to leave it behind, no problem.
How Does It Work?
Of course, by now, you’re probably wondering how it works. How can you sell a house as-is to a cash home buyer?
Believe it or not, the process is incredibly simple and straightforward. If you want a cash offer, all you have to do is reach out to us. Then, there will only be one home inspection (from us) to evaluate the condition and as-is value of your home.
We’ll get back to you in a day or two with a fair cash offer. If you like our offer and are ready to move forward with the sale, you pick the closing date.
If you need to push the closing date out to get your affairs in order, no problem. If you want to close on the house as soon as possible, we can get things done between 7 and 14 days.
For reference, the traditional closing process usually takes 30 to 45 days and isn’t guaranteed. Furthermore, the buyer can pull out or disqualify themselves for any number of reasons, setting you firmly back to your starting position. Our closing, on the other hand, is guaranteed.
Are There Any Hidden Fees?
Finally, let’s talk about your costs. On our “How It Works” page, you can see exactly how we come up with our cash offer. Essentially, we evaluate your house and look at its potential after we’ve put in repairs. We also extrapolate our costs to ensure we are making a profit on the deal.
Yet, we don’t have any hidden fees. There are no closing costs, repairs fees, cleaning fees, or realtor fees you have to pay. And if you need more reassurance, check out these testimonials from some of our satisfied clients.
Our mission is to make it easy for people like you to sell a house as-is, no matter why you need to sell your house, how quickly you need to sell your house, or what condition it’s in.
Need to Sell a House As-Is?
Are you looking to sell a house as-is fast? If so, we are here for you.
Follow our guide if you want to sell your house traditionally or look into selling your house to a cash home buyer. We promise we will take care of you and get you out of your home as soon as possible.
Contact us today to get a free cash offer for your home. And remember, there are no obligations.
If you don’t like our offer, you don’t have to accept it. What do you have to lose?