Sometimes you need to sell your house fast and there are a lot of different variables. Maybe the condition of the property isn’t great or there are tenants who won’t leave. Perhaps you are trying to get it done while living in another state. If you find yourself pressed for time and wondering “how long does it take to sell my house with an agent vs an investor?” then I hope this post will provide some solid insight.
You want to sell your house, and perhaps you need to sell in a hurry. Chances are, you arrived at this blog because you’re hoping to find the best solution for you that sells your house as quickly as you want AND more importantly, on your terms.
Before we get to the answer, it’s important to understand the difference between what an agent does and what an investor does:
When you sell your house with an agent, you are asking the agent to represent you in a sale and to try and find a buyer on your behalf. In other words, you’re selling THROUGH an agent to a buyer.
When you sell your house to us, you are actually working directly with the one who will be buying the house. In other words, you’re selling TO an investor (they are the buyer).
Now that you understand the difference, here’s how long it can take…
How Long Does It Take To Sell My House With An Agent Vs An Investor?
The Agent…
After an agent lists your house then other agents will show the house to buyers and with luck you’ll start getting offers. Obviously, the speed with which that happens can depend on the price, condition, location and lots of other things. Realistically, they’ll want your house to be in very good condition… updated, new floors, paint, etc. in order to ask for the best price and entice buyers.
Therefore, it can take weeks or months for you to fix up your house before an agent feels that it’s ready to list. And once the agent lists it, it can take weeks for the agent to find buyers to show your house to, and for one of those buyers to make an offer. Once an offer is accepted it is about 30 days to close. During that time there will be plenty to do… Inspections, repair negotiations, survey, title documentation, etc. And what people don’t realize is that if the buyer can’t get financing or gets cold feet in the deal then they can back out and you go through the process again. It actually just happened to us last week… it sucks!!
Bottom line, it can take months to sell your house through an agent – it all depends on how quickly you can get your house in “showroom condition” and how quickly they can find a buyer and whether the buyer goes through with the purchase.
How Long Does It Take To Sell My House To Liberty?
The Investor… aka us!
This part surprises most people: we can buy your house very fast – sometimes as little as 7-10 days if that’s what you want. That’s because we are the buyer (so no showings are necessary) and we buy houses in any condition so you don’t have to fix up the property either. Sure we want to
But how long does it really take? Usually about 3 weeks if we are going quick but not rushing. We have to check out the property, get pricing, make an offer and get everything clear at the title company. We always close with a title company for your security and ours! I find that’s about the speed that most people are comfortable with and it lets us get everybody set up for a win-win transaction.
So, should you sell through an agent or sell to us? Of course, that’s up to you! At the end of the day, if speed and convenience are important to you then you may want to think about selling to an us. If you have the time to do repairs and list traditionally, you could net more although in reality the difference is often not as significant as you might think.