How do you sell a house urgently? Realistically the only way to guarantee a fast sale for cash is to sell to a house buying company or investor. This is the fastest way to sell a house for cash!
There are many ways to sell you house quickly. Please take a look at some of the other solutions. The right solution for you will depend on your personal circumstances.
Having said that, you may like the property lease option solution explained below, as it can be just as quick and sometimes quicker. But it has other benefits too, so see below.
Both of these solutions tend to be favoured by those who are in financial difficulty.
But of course, if you feel this is what you want to and need to do, a cash sale is possibly the best option. You don’t have the time to wait for the usual house sale process. You can’t afford to have the sales chain breakdown.
A cash sale means no lengthy chains and no delays in the sale process
By opting for a cash sale using an investor or cash home buying company, you cut out all the lengthy delays associated with selling a house in the conventional way.
However, there are drawbacks to this solution.
Be prepared for a below market offer of between 70-80% of market value
To sell to a cash buying company, you have to be prepared to take a significantly reduced offer on your house.
Depending on the company and on your situation, this is likely to be between 70-80% of the fair market value. The offer you receive will depend on what work is needed to bring your property up to standard.
However, looking on the bright side, if you’re facing a repossession and your home does get repossessed, the bank will sell your home at auction for around 75% of market value, or less!
However, the biggest downside of going through a repossession is that you have no control over the process. There will also be legals fees, court fees and continued interest to take account of.
Your mortgage company will only pay off your mortgage to the extent of what they receive from the sale of your home, after selling fees. Which means that they may come to you for the balance.
At least if you take control of the process, you may stand a good chance of repaying the whole of your mortgage. Whilst your credit report will already be adversely affected by being behind on your mortgage payments, by stopping the repossession can only serve to help.
Please be careful with who you choose to buy your home for cash, as with all industries there are scammers in this industry too.
What if you’re in negative equity and need to sell fast?
If you are in negative equity, or if 70-80% of market value won’t be enough to pay off your mortgage, you need to be seriously considering the lease option solution below.
I could have also included a change of estate agent. Or alternatively to instruct two or more agents. But by listing your house with two estate agents you’ll simply spend more on agents commission, but not necessarily sell your house any faster.
Most, if not all, estate agents use the internet to sell. Nearly all estate agents use Rightmove or similar. Also, most people search the likes of Rightmove before they even visit an estate agents high street premises.
But in reality this may not actually help to sell your house any faster. You’ll still be stuck in a sales chain. Plus it’s certainly not be for cash!
Let’s take a look at each of the above options to the fastest way to sell a house for cash in more detail.
1. Sell to an investor using a lease option
The other way to sell your house fast for cash is to sell to an investor on a lease option.
A options are property contracts that have been around since the dawn of property law in the UK. An option is a legal contract which provides for a formal deal between the ‘purchaser‘ and the ‘seller‘ of a house.
The lease element of a lease option is to allow for regular payments to the house seller during the course of the option contract.
Put simply, a lease option is also known as a lease with the option to purchase.
As mentioned, a lease option is put together using a legal document, which is prepared by a UK solicitor. This legal document states that the investor has the right to buy your property between now and some point in the future, at an agreed future price. This future price is what’s also known as the ‘strike price‘.
Fast upfront cash with a lease option – the option fee
But the key part of the lease option is the ‘option fee‘ or upfront cash or advance. The amount of cash advance will among other things depend on how much equity you have in your property. This will get paid to you at the start of the deal.
The key benefits of a lease option are that they are very quick to action, so you sell your house extremely fast indeed. These can be done in less than 30 days if needs be.
But you need good solicitors that understand lease options in order to achieve this.
Sell your house fast for market value
The other key benefit to a lease option is that you are more likely to sell your house at closer to the true market value of your home. But sometimes you can get more than current market value.
Lease options are ideal to achieve a fast house sale. They are also a great solution if you need to act extremely fast. For example, if you’re about to be repossessed.
The key understanding of a lease option for any one is to realise that even though your home may be worth what it is, it’s only the equity in your home that you own.
The equity in your home is the difference between what your house is worth and what you owe in your mortgage.
In order for a lease option to work, it will require your mortgage lender to agree to the deal. Having said that, most mortgage companies agree. This is an extremely easy process and one that you won’t have to worry about.
Whether or not you’re in arrears, it doesn’t matter. But if you are behind on your mortgage payments, your mortgage company will usually welcome someone like us to take over the responsibility of your payments. No mortgage lender wants to go through with a repossession. They would all prefer to find an alternative solution.
A better way to sell your house other than using an estate agent, if you need to sell fast for cash, is to use an auction sale. The benefit of using an auction to sell your house, is that it’s usually faster than you would sell using a conventional estate agent.
Completion dates of auctions are usually set for 28 days after the hammer falls. But the winner at the auction is usually required to place a 10% deposit on the day.
But there are drawbacks of selling at auction, as follows:
Auction fees are not always cheap.
If you manage to sell, expect to achieve between 75-85% of market value.
Selling at auction is not guaranteed, this boils down to how much you set your reserve at and how well attended the auction is on the day.
Be aware that the new modern method of auction via an estate agent isn’t free and it doesn’t always work.
3. Drastically reduce your asking price – by at least 10-15%
If you are trying to sell your house using the conventional way by way of an estate agent, or even if you choose to sell your home yourself without using an estate agent, if you reduce the price, this will have the affect of speeding up the sale.
However, in order for this to be successful and for your house to stand out, you really need to reduce the asking price by a minimum of 10%.
Be aware that even in a slow market, this option may not always work. But also be aware that you are still marketing to home-buyers.
With home-buyers, and even if they manage to secure your property for less than market value, you may still end up in a long chain or suffer long delays whilst they arrange for mortgages and the like.
4. If you’re buying a new home, look for builders offering a part exchange deal or have an assisted move scheme
This option will only ever work if you’re looking to buy a new-build property. But of course not all builders and developers will offer a part exchange or assisted move schemes.
A part exchange only works where you’re trading-up. That is, if the house you’re buying from the developer costs more than the house you’re selling. With a part exchange deal for your house, expect to be offered some where between 95-100% of its market value.
However, with an assisted move scheme you have more flexibility. The assisted move scheme will work whether you’re up-sizing or down-sizing.
An assisted house sale is worth considering if your property is proving hard to sell because its empty and needs repair work or money spent to modernise its appearance.
Essentially, the way an assisted sale works is the assisted house sale specialist will pay for (and manage) the refurbishment. At the end of the refurb, the investor will sell your house for an up-lifted market value. In return for doing this arrangement, you not only get a good price for your house, but you also receive a share of the sale profit.
The profit on sale is the difference between the agreed price to be paid to you and the final sale price. But is after deducting refurbishment costs, legal fees and selling costs.
Make sure you need to sell your house fast for cash
As a closing comment, please review your situation. Just because you’re in arrears and there’s the potential to be repossessed, this doesn’t always mean you need to sell fast for cash.
We are always happy to oblige you with help and a friendly voice to discuss your options. If you do want to ask a question, please contact us, or alternatively leave a comment below.
Your alternative if you’re in financial difficulty is to speak with your local Citizens Advice Centre.
You may need to sell your house fast for other non-financial reasons. If you do need to sell your house quickly and you need help on this, we are here to help you if we can.
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Article written by Russell Bowyer who has been investing in property since purchasing his first commercial property in the 1990's for his own Chartered Accountancy business. But his first property investment project was to turn an old dilapidated restaurant into a large 5-bed home, which he purchased for £117,500 and sold for £450,000 (to see an "after" photo of the house before it was sold see here: About). Russell owns a number of investment properties, which includes houses, flats and HMO's. More recently he has turned his creative side to investing in property using lease options. His largest lease option deal to date was to acquire 12 properties worth over £2 million for just £12, which means he paid just £1 to acquire each property!
3 thoughts on “What Is The Fastest Way To Sell A House For Cash (Sell Your House Fast!)”
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Thank you for your feedback and for the sharing – very much appreciated!!