5 Quick Ways to Sell Your House Fast Need to sell your house in a hurry? Entrepreneur is here with five quick ways that just might be able to help seal the deal.

Over the last few decades, technology has truly changed how many industries operate. It's affected everyone's daily life, from communication to transportation to entertainment. For some industries, it's destroyed businesses.

Netflix and those that followed took over their industry and made Blockbuster obsolete. Tesla burst onto the scene and changed how society looks at cars and their carbon footprint. Uber led entrepreneurs to create their own hours and individuals to have transportation at their fingertips, rather than relying on a taxi to pass by at the right time.

But one industry that has grown because of technology instead of crumbling is real estate. Apps like Zillow and Redfin have changed the connection between realtors, potential buyers, and sellers by making information much more accessible.

But with all of this access, can you sell your house fast? Well, that depends on what you consider fast. With agent commissions, closing costs, red tape, and all other kinds of other hoops and hurdles, it's not likely you'll be able to sell your home as fast as you'd like — unless you're willing to put your home on a fire sale for exponentially less than it's worth.

That said, if you know how to navigate your situation, who to go to, and how to weigh your options, you can sell your home quickly without losing everything you spent on it.

Continue reading for more information and strategies for selling your home quickly.

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How to sell your house fast

Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with technology. As an engineer, I pour over bits and bytes, bending and prodding them to my will. I spend countless hours crafting intelligent code. Then countless more debugging and optimizing it. And for the past two years, I've been trying to solve this problem. It's a big problem. The question is, how can you create a platform and a marketplace to sell your home at lightning speed and still get top dollar? And how do you do all of that without actually using a real estate agent to navigate the entire process?

That was the genesis of Kribbz, the real estate company I've been building for the past couple of years. It's a platform that uses blockchain, the safest and most secure way to store data — transactions are immutable and indisputable. In the near future, my hope is that it will remove all necessity for forking over a 6% real estate commission just to sell your home.

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But today, right here and right now, there are other ways to sell your home quickly. No, it's not instantaneous like the platform we're building. It's a bit slower than that. Yet, if you play your proverbial cards right, there are methods and techniques you can use to get the most bang for the so-called buck. Again, it all depends on your definition of fast. Can you sell your home as fast as you can order an Uber? Not yet, at least. But you can sell it moderately quickly. Here's how.

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Understanding the mechanics of home selling

There are some factors when it comes to the selling process that simply cannot be changed. These impact the speed of the home sale. They're things like location. You hear it all the time. Location, location, location. If your home is in a highly desirable neighborhood or located directly on the water, you're probably in luck. It will most likely sell fast. Also, housing market forces. Is it a seller's market? Or is it a buyer's market? You can't really change that aside from waiting it out. But you never know how long each will last.

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So how long does it typically take to sell a property? According to Zillow Research, the national average number of days a home spends on the market is 68 days. Of course, that depends on the location and whether it's a seller's or buyer's market. But it also depends on the sale price. If you're looking for top dollar, expect to wait. And, if your home is in poor condition and in need of renovations, don't expect top dollar. For example, Zillow says that homes in Palo Alto, CA spent an average of 12 days on the market. In Peoria, Illinois? 28 days.

1. Sell your house to a wholesaler

Most people don't understand that nearly 30% of all U.S. real estate transactions in 2021 happened using all cash. That number has fluctuated over the years, with 30.6% in 2014 and 25.3% in 2020. Regardless of fluctuation, it occurs much more often than people think.

That means there are no banks involved. It also means that most of the traditional hurdles of underwriting are gone. But wholesalers do something a bit more unique. These types of real estate investors help the middleman in your house. Not for top dollar. But you'll get afair cash offerfor your home value on your closing date. That's for certain. They've lined up cash home buyers on their end who tell them what inventory they're interested in.

All the wholesaler does is put your house under contract, flip the interior, exterior, and landscaping forsome curb appeal, and sell it to a cash buyer. Often, this involves little to no money out of their pocket. So why would you flip it to a wholesaler? Well, it's fast and relatively cost-effective. Certainly faster than attempting to list it with a traditional agent and more prudent than completing renovations yourself before trying to sell.

Now, how do you find a wholesaler who will buy your home as-is? That's a bit more complicated and can be a hassle. They often find you. In their search for distressed home sellers, they look for "for sale by owner signs" that indicate properties are ready to sell at a deep discount.

So what do you do if you don't want to wait for them to find you? Use one of the national companies like WeBuyUglyHouses, iBuyer.com,WeBuyHouses.com, or any of the others out there. But keep in mind that you'll likely sell that asset at 60 to 70 cents on the dollar. This might not be the most appealing offer or the prospective buyer you had envisioned, but it can still get you more money for your property than a fire sale.

Another way to source wholesalers on your own is to search on Google for something like "sell house for cash offer" followed by your state or your city name. You could also use Facebook Groups or LinkedIn to source cash buyers for your house sale by searching for "cash buyers real estate" or other similar terms.

2. Find the top real estate agent in your area

Okay. There's a real difference I need to highlight here among real estate agents. While I have nothing against them personally, here's the truth. Most agents are well-intentioned. They certainly have every intention of selling your home for top dollar. And they want to sell it fast. But is that usually the case? Not often. Most lament that realtors don't quite do their job. The whole list-it-and-forget-it complaint — meaning your realtor puts up the listing and puts zero effort into showings, open houses, or walkthroughs — seems to take center stage. And rightfully so. You're giving up 6% of your home price at the end of the day.

In the US, there are 3 million active real estate agents. Roughly 1.54 million of those are licensed agents, according to the National Association of Realtors. But a very small portion of those licensed agents actually make money. And the longer they're agents, the more likely they become top producers. You develop relationships over the years and over time, your business balloons. And those are the agents you want to go after if you want to sell quickly.

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So how do you find a top real estate agent in your area? Simple. Just do a search online. Something like "best real estate agent in Los Angeles" or whatever area you're in. Look for realtors with hundreds of positive reviews that show a solid track record. Find the top producers and see if they'll list your home. Does that mean you'll sell it overnight? Certainly not. But going with a top producer who's already developed relationships is the best chance you have for moving that property faster than the average in your area.

3. Dramatically reduce your price

Look, you can't change the location of your home. You just can't. But you can change the price. And depending on the temperature of the real estate market, dramatically altering your price can seriously speed up the process. I'm not talking about a small price shift here. I'm talking about a major change in the asking price. If you're listed at $400,000, dropping it to $350,000 is a dramatically lower price. Dropping it by $5,000 won't do much for you here.

What most people like to do is to remove the home from the MLS and relist it again. That's well and good, but there is a history created on your property. Anyone can see the number of days it spent on the market. They'll also know whether you're a serious seller or not. Rather than removing it from the market and relisting it, just drop the price. Again, price is a huge motivating factor. Keep in mind that people love things at a dramatic discount, especially those looking to purchase homes.

Also, understand that your property has to be a great deal compared to other properties in the neighborhood. It won't make a difference if you've dramatically dropped your price and you're still pricey compared to the other homes. People want a good deal. They would much rather buy the least expensive home in a neighborhood than the most expensive one. All the upgrades might matter to some people. But if you want to sell fast, it's mostly about the price.

4. Consider a short sale of your home

Most of the time, when people want to sell fast, it's because they're underwater. We call these properties distressed. Why? Because, often, the debt owed on the property is more than the market value of your home. That means that equity is non-existent. Plus, it compounds the situation when you're going through a divorce, the death of a spouse, bankruptcy, or other financial problems. And when you no longer have an income to pay the mortgage, you risk losing your home entirely.

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It's not a good situation. And if the bank has threatened you with foreclosure, there are things you can do. The most prominent? Ask the bank to make a short sale. What's a short sale? First, it relies on the debt being more than the home's market value. But it also counts on all the lien holders agreeing to the sale. So, if you have three mortgages, they all have to agree on a short sale. If you have one, clearly, your chances are better to short-sell your home.

How do you do it? You have to contact the primary noteholder. That's the largest mortgage holder on your home. If you only have one mortgage, great. Contact that bank. Tell them about your situation. Then, find out who you need to speak to to get out from underwater. Yes, it's embarrassing and humiliating. But it's certainly better than a foreclosure. It's better than being evicted from your own home.

5. Transfer your mortgage to someone else

Okay, the last way to complete a quick sale of your home might be to transfer your mortgage to someone else. But it also means that your mortgage must be assumable by someone else. You'll need to read your mortgage docs to figure this out. But if it is assumable, then you're in luck. This could even mean that you could stay in your home and rent it. Is this a common scenario? No. Yet it is possible. You just need to do a bit of legwork to make it happen.

Keep in mind that whoever the new "borrower" is, they need to qualify for that mortgage. And that might take some hoops to jump through. And if you're truly buried in debt and can't make your payments, it might not be the fastest way to get out of your home. But it is an option. How long does it take? Again, it all depends. Contact your bank and see if this is even a thing. If it is, you'll also need to find the person who's willing to assume the mortgage in the first place.

What you should know before selling your house quickly

Technology has changed how many industries operate, often by making them faster and more streamlined. And while it has changed how parts of real estate function, like home viewing and some communication aspects, it has kept some of the more aggravating factors of the real estate world the same. Selling your home generally takes time, patience, and of course, money.

If you are a homeowner who is short on cash and need to sell your home fast, there are certainly methods to make it happen. However, you need to keep in mind that there are snags in every option. You need to consider everything very carefully, from a lack of wholesalers to unreliable realtors to transferring your home's deed to someone else.

Selling your home is a tough decision, and it can be all the more stressful when you need to do it in a hurry. Even when it feels like you don't have time, conduct as much research as possible to make the most informed decision possible and choose the quick home-selling method that is right for you.

Visit Entrepreneur today for more advice and information on the real estate business.