Selling a house is stressful, not to mention a hassle, especially when you want to get the house off your hands and move to a new place. Cleaning, listing, and showing a home seems like an unavoidably long and arduous process. Is it even possible to sell your house in under a week or two?
Whether it’s an emergency, a life change, or you’re just ready to live somewhere else, yes, it is possible to sell your house within a week. In this article, I’ll tell you how to sell your home ASAP, along with why Memphis is a great place to sell and different house-selling options.
How to Sell Your House Fast
The quickest way to sell your house is to work with an agent who has a good record of short sales. You will need to research the market, develop a marketing plan, and ensure that your house is move-in ready. A real estate agent can help with most of this, and their expertise will help your home sell faster.
You will take all these steps in tandem with the work that your agent is doing for you. They will find potential buyers, create your listing, and market your house while you make sure it’s ready to sell. If you don’t want to work with an agent, you can still sell your home fast. It will just take a lot more work on your part as the homeowner.
Researching the Memphis Housing Market
The most important part of selling a house fast is the market. In Memphis, the housing market is generally solid (and has steadily increased every year). If you are working with an agent, they will be sure to have all the information on the housing market, but you can do some research yourself (including monthly housing market reports).
Memphis is a great place to live, and the market reflects that. It’s a seller’s market, meaning that a buyer will snatch up any clean, livable house listed in Memphis almost immediately. This type of market is perfect for you – even without a real estate agent, you should have a buyer within a week!
Creating a House Marketing Plan
Real estate professionals create house marketing plans to help them sell more houses. The steps include identifying the competition and target audience, budgeting, determining distribution, and setting a timeline. It helps to understand the closing cost of the market and the steps needed to effectively market and sell a house fast in Memphis.
Since you are only selling one house, you don’t need to complete a house marketing plan. However, it’s still beneficial to have a plan for selling your home. If you want to get it all done in seven days, work with your real estate agent to create a timeline of what needs to be completed when, how to list and market the house, and your ideal budget.
Staging Your House
House staging is a tactic to sell your house more quickly and make more money out of it. It’s about more than just fixing the minor issues and cosmetics on your home – staging will make your house look like a blank slate, ready to be personalized and moved into. You want a place that looks as neutral as possible, so potential buyers can imagine how they would decorate and live in it.
There are a variety of things you can do to neutralize your house and make it more appealing. Some of these are essential (such as cleaning and decluttering), and others are helpful but not necessary if you don’t have time (or money) to invest. Only do what works for you when staging – don’t worry about getting all of these done!
Here are some ideas for staging your house:
- Clean your house
- Declutter surface areas
- Hide or get rid of everything you don’t use daily
- Remove personal items (pictures, family art, etc.)
- Make sure countertops and shelves are clean or empty
- Burn candles for a fresh smell
- Buy a potted plant or two
- Take out the trash
- Strip wallpaper and paint rooms a neutral color
- Clean carpets and flooring
- Open blinds and curtains for natural light
- Clean light fixtures
- Arrange furniture to look inviting (and not cramped)
- Prune hedges and trees and mow the lawn
- Wash windows
- Power wash exterior of the house
- Keep fresh flowers in vases for showings
Quick Fixes on Minor Repairs
Staging your house is primarily cosmetic – you want it to look appealing to a wide variety of interested buyers. However, if your home has issues below the surface, it’s essential to get these taken care of before you list the house.
Most potential home buyers don’t want something that needs a lot of work and prefer to set their bags down and call them home. If you have little things that need to be done, complete them before listing the house. Doing minor house repairs and replacements will increase your chances of selling quickly and getting a better price out of the house.
Of course, if there are substantial structural issues or major house repairs necessary, you might want to consider selling your house as-is to a cash offer buyer or house flipping company. You won’t make as much money this way, but if your home needs a lot of work, it might be easier (more on this later).
Leveraging Relationships to Promote Your House
If you are in a hurry to sell your house, the more people who know you are selling, the better. Reach out to friends in the area and ask them if they know anyone looking to buy. Especially if your house is for sale by the owner, talk to everyone you know, and don’t be afraid to ask for their contact information if they’re interested!
Social media is a great way to connect – you can share your listing or create a new listing for your house. Facebook Marketplace is one of the best localized online shopping centers – the algorithm will spread your house listing to those looking for homes in your area. Creating a YouTube walkthrough of your house could be helpful as well (but make sure it looks professional).
Other House Selling Options
If you cannot fix up your house enough for sale or need to sell quicker than this, other sale opportunities are available. You will not make as much money for a home sale when you go through a faster option, but it will get the house off your hands and cash in your pocket!
One option is selling your house fast at auction. The risk here is that it sells for a much lower amount than you need or that you won’t be able to find an auction willing to accept your listing. You will not make as much money this way, but the house will almost certainly sell to someone.
Selling your house to flippers or cash-offer home buyers is by far the quickest way to sell. It gets rid of market research, house repairs, listing, and sometimes even the need for an agent. If you are overwhelmed by the idea of fixing up your house and putting it on the market, either of these options will decrease your selling time.
Selling to House Flippers
The main positive of selling your house to a house flipping company is that you don’t have to do any work of fixing up the house. This is incredibly convenient if you have a home that needs a lot of work, whether that’s from damage or long-time neglect. You can sell it without having to fix it up or put it on the market.
To sell to a house flipper, you need to contact a company and let them know you’re trying to get rid of the house quickly. If it’s in a good location, most flipping companies will even buy homes in terrible conditions. The company will complete the deal promptly and efficiently with a cash offer, so you can move on, and they can get to work!
Keep in mind that house flippers are out to make a profit – they’re probably not going to offer you the ideal selling price. If they don’t think that they will turn it around quickly and make a profit, they might provide you with an even lower price. It all depends on how much work your house needs and how much cash you are willing to take for it.
Selling As-Is to Cash Home Buyers
If you are desperate to sell and don’t mind selling for a little less, you can look into selling to cash buyers. Cash home buyers can be individuals who don’t mind doing a little work on the place, rental property investors, or large capital companies looking for properties.
Most of these companies or individuals will find your house by your listing. When you post an “as-is” listing, people will know that the place needs work. They will also see that you are looking for cash offers and are willing to take less. All of these things will weed out some lookers and only bring you the most interested cash home buyers.
Each of these buyers will approach your house a little differently. Some will waive certain inspections or fees in exchange for not paying as much for the home. Others pay more, but only if your house is in livable condition (even if it’s not move-in ready). Research who you are planning to sell to, and make sure you have a reliable third-party source to witness the transaction.
Final Thoughts
No matter how you choose to sell your house, know that it’s possible to do it quickly. With knowledge of the market and a little home improvement work, your house will be ready for sale. If you have a good realtor and a decently priced home, as the homeowner, you should be able to sell your house within a week or even a few days!
