Wondering how does selling a house for cash work? You’re not alone. Many other home sellers are also baffled by this question.
Often, homeowners think that selling homes for cash implies exchanging a house for a full briefcase of money. However, that’s not the case; there’s more to it. A cash offer means that the buyer doesn’t have to use a loan to purchase your house.
Selling your house for cash can be a quick way of getting money. The good news is that the process is pretty simple and less stressful. In this article, we’ll walk you through the stages step by step to help you make the right decision.
Who Can You Sell Your House To?
Homebuyers share some common characteristics: they can buy your house off-market and don’t require financing. That means the offer they’ll give you will have fewer contingencies because it won’t require an appraisal.
The absence of lender financing may also help you skip the hustles of showings and stagings. Cash buyers differ depending on purchase intent and the homes they prefer to buy. Cash buyers you can sell your house to include house flippers, buy and hold investors, and iBuyers.
Read on to know how to sell your house for cash.
Researching House Sale Prices
Before selecting a suitable buyer to purchase your house, you need to know the sale prices of houses in your market. A real estate agent can help you identify these prices through a comp or comparative market analysis. Comps tell you the prices that properties like yours sold for in the market.
You can get the accurate price to sell your house by comparing house prices with similar square footage, condition, neighborhood, bathrooms, and the number of bedrooms. A cash buyer may not pay you the exact market comp price, though it offers you a good starting point for negotiation.
Finding Potential Buyers
You can use many ways to find cash buyers, but we’ll look at the most effective and common ways.
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Online Search
Most cash buyers use the internet to find homes for sale. Others even have established websites that they use to attract prospects. Conducting a search using Craigslist or Google for search queries like sell my house for cash and cash for houses can help you find reputable buyers.
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Sale Tools
You can download some sale tools that’ll enable you to find pre-vetted purchasing homes within your locality. The good thing about these tools is that they give you the buyer’s transaction history and help you identify the best match.
These tools only take about two minutes to find a perfect match. Furthermore, you’re not obligated to accept the offer if you don’t like a particular buyer.
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Wholesalers
Working with online wholesalers can also help you find reputable buyers. These individuals can match you with the right cash buyer, though they must first value your property, estimate its maintenance costs, and include it in their buyers’ list.
Regardless of the technique you prefer using to find buyers, ensure you conduct thorough research and ask for other sellers’ recommendations.
Interviewing Cash Buyers
There’s a high chance that many cash buyers will give you an offer for your house. Conducting an interview can help you find the most appropriate buyer. Some questions that you can ask your preferred cash buyer include:
- How many houses have you recently bought in my city or neighborhood?
- Do you have any proof that you’ll hand me the cash after the closing?
- How many days do you take to close?
- What are your preferred types of property?
- Which criteria do you use to determine a home’s cash offer?
Reviewing The Cash Offer
Once you settle on your ideal cash buyer, it’s essential to review their offer to know if they’re giving you a fair price. The process of evaluation can be quite challenging because there’s no exact formula for conducting it.
However, you can easily determine a good offer by checking the prices that similar properties in your area sell for. If your house isn’t in good condition, you can determine the approximate value by deducting the maintenance costs.
Serious cash buyers should be ready and willing to pay an initial deposit. The deposit should be between 3-5% of the total purchase price. It would be best to confirm the cash buyer’s proof of funds through a bank statement or letter from the bank before signing an agreement.
Property Assessment
A cash buyer may want to assess your property before transferring deposits and signing agreement papers. If you’re working with such a buyer, be ready to give your contacts and answer any queries that they may have about your house. Most buyers like verifying details that you give them after they’ve made an offer.
Signing The Purchase The Purchase Contract
After you accept the cash offer and the buyer assesses your home, you should sign a purchase contract. Most contracts are prepared by buyers and include the deposit amount, purchase price, and closing date. If the terms are favorable for you, you can sign the contract: if not, hire an attorney to help you review the terms.
Signing Closing Documents
Closing on a cash sale isn’t difficult because the buyer will tell you what you require to complete the process. However, you may have to clear any utility balances or outstanding taxes before closing. The documents you’ll sign during closing include:
- A statement of information
- Final closing instructions
- Certificate of title
- Mortgage loan payoff
- Mechanics Liens
- HUD-1 settlement statement
- Title deed
Cash buyers prefer closing on sales within a week or two. So, if there’s anything that may delay the closing process, like processing a buyer’s application, do it early.
Ready To Sell Your House For Cash?
Selling your house for cash is an excellent idea because it helps you get some quick money within a short period. Unlike the conventional house-selling process, it enables you to close your sale within days or a few weeks.
At Max Home Solutions, we buy houses at excellent prices. Call us now on 15615236982 for the best deals.