5 Ways to Sell a House Fast

Estimated reading time 5 minutes

Selling a house is a laborious process. Taking the traditional route, you must figure out your finances, decide if you should rent a house next rather than buy, choose an estate agent to sell your house, get an energy performance certificate, decide how much to sell your home for, prepare your home for sale, hire a conveyancing solicitor, and accept an offer. But it continues! After that, you have to negotiate the draft contract, exchange contracts, move out, complete the sale, pay off the mortgage, and finally, settle up with the solicitor and the estate agent. 

If you don’t wish to go through the above, a fast house sale will be appealing. You may be asking ‘should I use a “quick sale estate agent”?’ The answer to this is no. These companies are nothing more than expensive “online only” estate agents. Any company that tells you they have a “national (or international) database of property investors all willing to buy your house for close to full market value” should be treated with scepticism.

So, what are your options?

1. Sell your home quickly to a cash house buying company

Choosing to use cash house buyers is the fastest way you can turn your house into cash. It is a simple process that can be stress (and hassle) free and is the only way to 100% guarantee a sale. With Gaffsy you can get your house valuation quickly, and complete on your house sale fast with no fees. This option is often used by those having trouble meeting mortgage payments, or going through divorce proceedings, selling a probate property & facing repossession.

With no costs and no estate agent fees or commission to pay, Gaffsy is the cheapest way to sell your property, avoiding costs such as solicitors’ fees, clearance costs, utility charges, mortgage payments and cosmetic repair costs. There is no estate agency agreement to sign, no epc needed and no photos needed.

Genuine companies with cash funds can put money in your bank within 28 days with no issues and you should expect realistic discount percentage offers to be 85% of market value. The only way to guarantee a sale, that you have total control of, is to sell to a reputable cash house buying company such as Gaffsy. The difficulty is identifying the trustworthy companies as the industry has a very negative reputation. 

2. A fast sale through a property auction

A property auction is worth considering if your property needs work, has defective title or a short lease. However, finding a buyer is not guaranteed and completion dates are usually set for 28 days after the hammer falls. Be wary of anyone pushing something called “The Modern Method” of auction (it’s not free and it doesn’t always work). If you do choose a property auction, you can expect to achieve roughly 75-85% of the market value of your house.

3. 30-Day House Sale Specialists

A 30-day house sale specialist is a viable alternative. Likewise if traditional estate agents have failed to find you a serious buyer or you’re looking for the fastest way to sell for 95-100% market value.

If you are willing to sell for a small discount in return for a fast home sale, then there are some 30-Day House Sale Specialists out there worth speaking to.

4. Part Exchange with a new home builder

Now, this is only useful if you are buying a new-build property and house builders only offer this scheme if you’re ‘trading up’. Whilst not all house builders offer part exchange, you can expect to be offered 95-100% of market value.

How it works is:

Under a part exchange scheme you agree to sell your home to a new building company, with the price being determined by at least two valuations from independent estate agents. The company then markets your property, leaving you free to decide on your new home with said company — and with part exchange there is no risk of a subsequent price increase on your preferred plot. 

5. Change your estate agent

This option is worth considering if you’re out of contract and totally worth considering if you’re currently using a cheap online/hybrid agent. There are some things to look out for if you want to change your estate agent:

Are you getting lots of excuses? Common excuses include: “With so much uncertainty in the air, the market has become very slow”; “It’s the wrong season to sell. Things should pick up in a few months”; “The weather has caused everyone to stay home rather than make viewings”; and so on. At times, these excuses may be valid, but it’s vital that you don’t simply nod at everything they tell you.

Have the number of viewings dried up? You should be aiming for multiple viewings every week. If that’s not happening, something needs to change.

Have you been told to reduce the asking price? This is usually an agent’s go-to solution to your problem. This is frustrating when they’re the ones who advised you on the asking price in the first place, but it’s also not the best solution.