When it comes to real estate, timing is everything. Maybe you need to sell your house quickly so can you move for that new job you just landed. Or perhaps you have a chance to buy your dream home down the street, and you need to make an offer before it gets snapped up. Or maybe it’s late spring, and you can’t stand the thought of another scorching Dallas summer. (Hey, we get it.)
A traditional home sale takes an average of 90 days from start to finish. That’s three months, during which anything could go wrong. If you can’t sell your house fast, you might miss the chance to make an offer on a new house. Or you could end up paying a double mortgage while you wait for your current home to sell. These problems are all too usual in a traditional sale. If you’re looking to sell your home fast in Dallas, here are some things to watch out for.
A great way to attract home buyers and sell your house fast is to host multiple open houses and showings. However, the preparation required for these showings can be incredibly time-consuming. Buyers will be looking to see whether or not your house is move-in ready, which means you’ll need to declutter your home, make general improvements like painting and landscaping, and repair any significant issues.
In a traditional sale, the average seller will show their house to potential buyers a jaw-dropping 13 times before closing. That’s 13 rounds of cleaning, arranging, and decluttering. Thirteen rounds of stashing personal photos, removing valuables, dusting and vacuuming, getting kids and pets out of the house, etc. Left unchanged, your home might not make a great first impression it needs to sell quickly.
Once the offers start rolling in, you’ll enter the negotiation process. Beyond the purchase price, you’ll also negotiate factors such as the closing date, earnest money deposit, option period, and closing costs. It can take a lot of back and forth to finalize the details of an offer, especially if you and your potential buyer aren’t on the same page.
Once you’ve accepted an offer on your home, you’re still not in the clear. A traditional offer can be contingent on the sale of the buyer’s home - meaning they’ll only buy your house if someone else buys their house. That can be risky when you’re on a tight timeline. After all, you have no idea when the buyer’s house will sell (or whether it will sell at all).
An offer can also be delayed or even fall through for financial reasons. Most home purchases are typically financed by a mortgage lender, i.e., the buyer is borrowing money to give you in exchange for your property. Any number of issues could interfere with this bank loan and cause the sale to collapse. For instance, the buyer might have previously unknown financial troubles that their lender discovers after they’ve made an offer.
As a seller, the closing process can often feel like you’re stuck in limbo. After you and your buyer sign the purchase contract, you may have to wait for them to tackle their own home buying to-do list, like finalizing their mortgage, scheduling a home inspection, and even selling their current home. On average, the closing process alone can take 50 days to complete. This period can get even longer if your buyer insists on a later closing date. And if you’ve already bought your new home, a delayed closing means you might have to pay two sets of burdensome housing costs at once.
If you’re selling your house in Dallas-Fort Worth, these pain points can affect your ability to close on the house quickly. At Orchard, we’ve created a real estate solution to bring certainty to buying and selling your home, also saving you time along the way.
If you sell your house with Orchard, you can escape the offer limbo completely. Just spend a few minutes telling us about your Dallas home, and you’ll receive a fair, market-price cash offer the next business day. The offer isn’t contingent on another sale, or a loan, or anything else.
We’ll also purchase your house in its current condition with no prep work required. That means you don’t have to spend time making repairs and improvements before selling. You also can avoid the lengthy process of showing your home to dozens of prospective buyers. Our service also allows you to move out on your schedule, so you can line up your closing dates and avoid potential delays, overlapping housing costs, or double moves.
And if you’re looking to sell and buy a house in Dallas at the same time, our Move First service can give you the freedom to shop without your home sale holding you back. Learn more here or get started with a free home valuation.
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On top of Orchard’s Home Sale Guarantee, we list, prep, and show your old home after you’re all moved out.
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