The sooner you realize you want or need to sell your home, the sooner you act, the better the chances of getting a good price. When you decide to sell your home, you can sell off-market or on-market. Both are perfectly sound ways to sell your home with their own pros and cons. The off-market approach is conducive to a quick cash home sale, whereas the market (retail) sale will fetch a higher price. Each method can work best, depending on your circumstances.
Market / Retail Sale
Listing your home for sale with a real estate agent is listing on the retail market. This is the way likeliest to get the highest sales price. However, that doesn’t mean the highest net proceeds to you (keep reading).
The real estate agent will advertise your property on the MLS, Zillow, Redfin, Trulia and other popular sites. If they’re a good agent, they’ll advertise in other places too like Facebook. This attracts the largest potential pool of buyers by quantity. Your real estate agent will recommend some improvements you should make to the property prior to listing it for retail sale. You’ll wait to declutter the rooms, and add fresh coats of paint at an absolute minimum to get retail prices.
However, you’ll need to pay a commission; in Philadelphia, that’s likely in the 5-6% range of the sales price. You’ll also likely be asked to sign a contract to list for 6-12 months exclusively with that agent, so you’ll be locked in to a certain extent. If you aren’t happy with the agent, you can try working things out to get out of the contract, but it could get messy.
When a retail buyer comes forward and you agree a price, a home inspector will also point out everything that’s wrong with the property that you probably never noticed, and the buyer’s agent might use that to negotiate the price down a bit. There will likely be a mortgage company involved and the lender will need to be ok with the home inspection, the buyer and the deal.
If you have the time to wait for a buyer willing to pay market price, and the patience to let potential buyer’s look through your home and deal with all of the above, this is probably the strategy for you. There are plenty of good agents in Philadelphia.
Make sure you list your property well before you need to sell. If you’re under financial pressure to offload your home, a retail sale may take more time than you have.
Also, consider if someone is willing to give you an off-market offer that’s close to the retail price, but saves you the expense of a commission. You could net a bit more at closing in this case.
Off-Market Sale
Finding a buyer directly without listing through a real estate agent is an off-market sale. These are usually cash buyers or people with access to a lot of credit that can provide a quick cash home sale.
There are numerous benefits to this approach:
- Only show the house to one buyer, assuming they’re interested
- These buyers close quickly
- An inspection often isn’t needed
- No lenders to work with
- You don’t need to prepare the home by making repairs or decluttering
- They can be more flexible with things like leaving items in the property, pushing closing dates, and working through your unique needs
Finding a buyer isn’t hard. A simple google search for cash buyers will yield companies (like this one in Philadelphia) that will offer cash for many homes. There are plenty of other ways to find a buyer:
- Post something on Facebook or use the Facebook Marketplace
- Craigslist ads
- Friends or family
- If you know any landlords, ask them if they know any potential buyers
- Look for home flippers and strike up a conversation
- In Philadelphia, there’s an app called “Nextdoor” where you can advertise to people already living in your neighborhood
Not Sure Which Method Is Right For You?
Your personal situation and preferences will determine the right strategy. If you’re pressed for time, an off-market quick cash home sale is probably right for you. If you have time, patience and the ability to make some small property improvements to prepare for a listing, go for the retail sale.
Start by talking with someone that knows real estate. A company specializing in quick cash sales for homes will give you an offer less than what a retail sale would fetch, but you’ll get an idea of value. You can also ask a real estate agent to give you a free valuation. If the two prices quoted are within 5% of each other, a quick cash home sale that’s off-market is the obvious choice; it would give you more flexibility in closing, and you need to do the least amount of work to sell your home.
The fastest, simplest way is to reach out to a company that specializes in cash offers for houses. They’ll probably buy it, make some repairs and then sell it. If you’re in Philadelphia and want to see what your home is worth, click here and someone will get in touch.