Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Unwanted Property

Housing situations change for many reasons: a job transfer or layoff, inheriting a property, your property won’t qualify for a conventional mortgage, the house is in foreclosure, or you have home damage and are unable to pay for repairs.

For all these reasons, you no longer have the desire to keep it and must sell fast, there are only a few options.

What are my options to get rid of an unwanted property?

1. Hire a realtor

2. Sell the house yourself

Hire a realtor

This may not be the most efficient option for a quick sale for many reasons. Depending on your situation, if dire, a traditional sale could be costly and time consuming.

If you can wait 6-12 months and are OK with paying agent/broker fees, it’s worth considering, so let’s examine the pros and cons.

Pros

Expertise - A real estate agent can be very knowledgeable about market conditions and help you price the property correctly to move it fast according to the demand in your area.·

Network of buyers - Also, a really good agent may already have a pool of buyers lined up looking for your particular home in your particular neighborhood.

They will be responsible for showing the home to buyers and handling all the paperwork associated with the closing.

Cons

Expensive repairs - You may be required to fix the place up for showings

Commission fees - Commissions can be very high as well as closing costs. These expenses will eat away at your net proceeds.

Takes longer - Agents usually use traditional marketing methods to attract potential buyers which can end up taking a few months to a few years. It’s important to select a top agent in your area that can work withing your time frame and with whom you can trust will get the job done. Consider the vetting process for choosing the right agent can also take a long time.

More uncertainty and expenses - To be tied up in a lengthy sales process potentially means covering the costs of two properties if you already moved out.

Sell Yourself (For Sale by Owner)

If you have experience in real estate and don’t mind handling the entire process from pricing the house, putting it on listing sites, vetting buyers, showing the property and doing all of the paperwork, this is worth considering. Again, it all depends on your unique situation and your timeline.

Pros

More control - You are in complete control of the entire process. You decide how you will market the home, how it will be priced, you negotiate, and prepare the home for sale; It’s all up to you. Take these benefits with a grain of salt; there’s good and bad with this.

More potential profit – You aren’t paying realtor commission, you could save thousands of dollars by selling yourself – maybe even tens of thousands, depending on the value of your home. Saving a commission is in fact, the biggest reason why homeowners attempt to sell independently.

Cons

Difficult and time consuming - Selling without a real estate agent is easier said than done. According to The National Association of Realtors, over ninety percent of all for sale by owners fail and end up hiring a real estate agent. In reality you are replacing the agent and his/her expertise so you’d better be willing to put forth the time and effort as a realtor would in order to sell your property.

Lack of expertise - One of the biggest reasons why for sale by owners fail is an incorrect asking price for the home. Without the guidance of a competent real estate agent or appraiser, pricing the home correctly can be extremely difficult.

New York regulations -Make sure you’re doing thing legally. You’re required to disclose any imperfections your house might have, like if lead paint is present anywhere inside. You could get stuck with a lawsuit if you fail to mention things like electrical or plumbing systems that aren’t built to code. The same goes for additions to the square footage of the property that were made without the proper city permissions.

Costs –Marketing your home to attract attention to buyers can be costly depending on what sources you pursue. Although you are not paying a commission to an agent to list and sell your home, you will be required to pay a commission to a buyer’s agent if you are no selling directly to an end buyer. There are also other upfront expenses such as inspections and repairs.

Selling to an investor

If you’re unwilling or unable to put effort into updating, listing, and staging your property for a conventional home sale and are willing to accept less than top dollar for your house, then an investor can be a useful option for you.

Pros

Faster sales times - If you don’t want your house to sit with a “for sale” sign in your yard for months on end, you definitely ought to consider selling your house to a real estate investor. When you sell your house to an investor, they are coming with all cash, the sales process gets wrapped up very quickly.

The idea of an efficient sale is often so appealing to sellers (especially those who are looking to move in a hurry) that they don’t even mind getting paid a little less for their house than they would if they were selling it on the market.

Sell as-is - With cash sales, you don’t have to worry about making any expensive and time-consuming repairs to your home. You get to sell your house as-is, which takes a lot of weight off of your shoulders. Most cash buyers will purchase houses in any condition too, so you don’t have to worry about being disqualified because of cosmetic or structural issues.

Spend less - In addition to saving money on repairs, you also get to save money on realtor’s commissions and closing costs when you sell to a cash buyer. Realtors take a percentage (sometimes a significant amount) of the proceeds of your house. Sometimes, you also have to agree to pay for the buyer’s closing costs when you sell to a realtor, which also means less money in your pocket

Less stress - When you sell your house the traditional way, there’s always the risk that something can go wrong at the last minute. For example, the buyers might not have their loan application approved and the sale could fall through. Things like this rarely happen when you sell to a cash buyer. They often already have the money lined up and can give you cash for your house right away.

No-obligation offers - You’re not obligated to accept an offer from a cash buyer. If you haven’t decided what you want to do yet but just want to see what kind of offer you’ll get for your house, you can, and you won’t be penalized for it or pressured into making a choice right away.

No showings - This is another huge benefit of selling to a real estate investor. There’s no need to exit your house at the drop of the hat because your realtor’s coming by with potential buyers. You also don’t have to worry about keeping your house clean and free from clutter to make it more appealing.

Cons

Won’t get top dollar - You are going to have to settle for a lot less money than if you were to do a traditional real estate sale

You are on your own - You won’t have a real estate agent working on your behalf and you will deal directly with the cash buyers for negotiations

The chances of dealing with people who are willing to take advantage of you are increased so you must be careful to ensure you are working with a reputable company.

Is selling to an investor a good idea?

Selling to an investor can happen for many reasons, but primarily because your property may not be up to snuff when it comes to performing on the open market.

If you’re considering selling your home to an investor, it likely has some structural and repair issues that are preventing it from being viable on the open market. While most investors will purchase your home as-is, it’s still worth figuring out if any repairs are necessary.

You may find yourself considering selling to an investor in order to avoid foreclosure on your home. If you’re behind in your payments and you need to get out from under the mounting debt, the speed and the relative ease with which an investor can purchase your home might prove a savior.