We’ve all daydreamed about buying fantasy homes while searching the web, but can selling your house online be just as amusing?
Selling your property online is possible. In fact, most housing purchases start on the web, and now, many housing sales begin there too.
But with so many options available to you, you’ll want a few bits of essential information before you begin. You don’t want to make a mistake that will cost you tons of money and keep you up at night with a knot in your belly. Let’s take a look at the considerations you’ll want to make when selling your home online.
How Can You Sell Your Home Online?
With record-low mortgage rates and low inventory on homes for sale, piping hot housing markets across the United States have seen single-family home sales exceed 10 percent in 88 percent of the metropolitan United States.
With that, more and more customers have grown comfortable with using and trusting technology for large transactions such as home purchases. In other words, as a seller, the digital marketplace is on your side!
Selling online provides a way to save money by not using a traditional high-cost real estate agent. You can still sell by using an agent, or you can list the property yourself (referred to as “for sale by owner”). Or, you can look into alternative options such as real estate investment companies.
Is Selling your house Online Hard?
Absolutely not. Selling online is no longer a difficult task, and it seems that as time passes, it is becoming more and more difficult to sell much at all without the efficiency of the internet at your fingertips. Studies have shown that close to 4 out of 5 home-shoppers are now searching for homes online.
Instead of in-person walkthroughs, meetings, appraisals, inspections, transactions, closings, and notarizations can all now be done online. If there were any benefits within the Covid-19 period, it is that digitized work has accelerated towards its true potential.
What Are the Expected Fees When Selling Online?
No matter what route you take, cost expectancy should be expected when selling a home. However, there are smarter routes to take if you want the most for your property.
If you go with an agent, they will be taking a cut of cost, usually somewhere between 5 and 7 percent which cover their commissions. For instance, if you are selling a $300k home, you can expect that somewhere around $18,000 will go to agent commissions and costs.
Beyond agent expenses, closing costs typically range from 1 to 3 percent of your home’s price. These costs include taxes, title transfer fees, attorney fees, moving fees which can go up to $2000, and fees for closing day prices (this goes towards who organizes and conducts the closing day final transactions. Typically a title company or a law office).
In general, by going with an established real estate agent you will make more on your sale. An experienced agent will likely cover their costs plus fatten your wallet. But that means you’ll want someone who can act fast and has connections, such as getting your home listed on the Multiple Listings Service, or MLS for short.
What is the MLS?
An MLS is a private database where real estate agents and brokers can keep an accurate inventory of the properties available to them. This allows for a wider market to help their clients sell or buy a property. The MLS has helped real estate agents move their listings in real-time to get money in your pocket fast. It is an essential resource in the digital home buying and selling market today.
Though the MLS has a wide network of homes to search, not every property is listed on them, and only real estate agents can list on the MLS, so you’ll want to confirm up-front that the agent you choose understands this portion of the market.
Are There Other Options to Sell Your Home Quickly?
Home sales have increased almost exclusively since 2011 (a mild dip in 2014), and in 2021 that yearly sales number will likely reach over 7.1 million (up by .6 million from 6.5 million in 2020).
Zillow found that in July of 2020 a survey showed that 36 percent of Americans would be likely to buy a home entirely online. One of the options available to sellers are real estate investment companies, such as The Best Home Buyers. These investment companies have become viable options for getting cash in your hand quickly for your property.
Now that we know that selling your home is possible, let’s look at how selling your home the smart way can be easy as well.
As many sellers have now done, when using a company like The Best House Buyers, homeowners no longer have to fix up their properties, pay commissions on real estate, or deal with agents. With House Buyers, homeowners have resources that will help avoid mistakes when selling your property in four simple steps.
- STEP 1: Consultation. Sit down and dig into your current situation to find the right solution for you.
- STEP 2: Valuation. After building the relationship, House Buyers can organize a financial analysis of your property, and provide options based on an accurate valuation. This is where the best ways to sell your property for cash, fast, will be identified.
- STEP 3: Let the offers from trusted buyers pour in.
- STEP 4: Get your money!
Conclusion
Though you’ll need to consider a few essentials: selling costs, the market you are selling in, whether to use an agent or sell on your own, how to price your property, whether you are upside down on your property, and how to market your home properly. After considering those key factors, online property sales can make your experience more pleasant.
In the past, there was a lot of pressure to make a quick sale on your home. But now, with a few smart online options, it can be done in a way that takes the stress right out from under you.
Brianna Hansen has been committed to helping people regain control of their money, build wealth, grow their leadership skills, and enhance their lives through personal development since 1992. Millions of people have used our financial advice through 22 books (including 12 national bestsellers).