If you’re wondering, “How do I sell my house fast?”, you’re in the right place! According to data from Realtor.com, the real estate market isn’t great if you “need to sell my house fast,” with the average days on the market being over two months nationally. If you’re facing an upcoming personal or financial deadline, the sooner you take action, the more options you will have. Folks often attempt to ignore the unpleasant reality of a job transfer, inheritance, divorce, foreclosure, or code violations, which only compounds the problem.
At SoldFast, we’ve been through real life and navigated over a thousand real estate transactions with compassion and discretion. We poured decades of experience into this article; we’re going to cover how to sell your house fast when it makes sense to avoid listing your property on the MLS, and some insider information you, the homeowner, deserve to be equipped with.

The Easiest Way To Sell Your House Fast
The most straightforward way to “sell my house fast” is to work with a company that buys houses for cash, such as SoldFast. A legitimate home-buying business can typically close on a property in 7-14 days, but sometimes, as little as 2-3 days is possible.
As a side note, if you’re facing foreclosure, your lender will often delay taking the home back if you can provide them with documentation that you’re selling the property. Banks will want a notarized purchase and sales agreement (contract to sell your house) from a reputable buyer. Selling your house to a cash buyer is like hitting the easy button on any real estate challenges you’re experiencing.
Price Your House Appropriately To Sell
One variable will determine how fast your home sells, and that is the price! You can have the ugliest fire-damaged house in the city, but if you price it appropriately, someone will jump at the opportunity to buy it.
Pricing a home to sell quickly is more of an art form than a science. You’ll want to balance your desire to sell your house quickly with the reality that you don’t have to give it away. We’ll cover this in the next section, but there is an appropriate price to “sell my house fast” based on its condition and what similar homes have sold for.
When you reach out to SoldFast, we’ll look at homes that sold within the past few months, within a quarter-mile radius (or less), and analyze the data to help you understand your home value and what a realistic sales price looks like on the market and off-market for cash!

Understanding Your Home’s Grade
Did you know your property has a grade assigned to it by the tax assessor? Every year, the county has inspectors who drive by every home in town. They assign one of the following ratings: unsound, poor, fair, average, good, very good, or excellent. The nicer that county believes your property is, the more they’ll increase your property taxes! If you’ve ever updated the outside of your home and then gotten an increase the following year, you now know why. We haven’t heard any stories of them lowering tax bills for property owners who fall behind on maintenance. It’s funny how that works. A tremendous little pro tip is that you can dispute your property taxes if they try to raise your tax bill, especially if you have data to back up your reasoning. You don’t have to accept their increase without fighting back!
Property values also directly correlate to the condition or grade of the home. When valuing properties, unqualified real estate agents and online estimates fail to consider construction quality, modernization, and interior design. This leads to overpricing homes so they don’t sell and unrealistic expectations for homeowners. It is extremely common for homes not to sell at their price or substantially below their Zestimate. Do you remember when the CEO of Zillow sold his house for 750k below his Zestimate?

Wholesalers Posing As Cash Buyers
While we covered “wholesaling” in our article on real estate scammers, it’s worth mentioning them again. Wholesalers pose as cash buyers even though they don’t have the cash to buy your property. They’ll make you an offer, shop your properties to legitimate cash buyers, and try to profit in the middle.
If you need to sell your house fast, be wary of wholesalers. They often make unrealistic offers, ask for extension after extension, and waste your time for weeks or months. Recently, we had a gentleman lose his home to foreclosure after we accepted an offer from a wholesaler who refused to close the day before the foreclosure was to happen. By the time he called SoldFast, it was too late, and he had lost his home.

Who Is Going To Buy Your House Fast?
Properties That Normally Sell for Cash
Properties that make the most sense to sell for cash are homes either occupied by tenants, severely outdated, or in disrepair. If a home has been trashed by tenants, occupied by squatters, boarded up by the county, or hoarded in, then selling it for cash might be the only option that exists. If a seller is on an extremely tight deadline, such as a tax auction or foreclosure, it also makes sense to explore selling to a home buyer that can provide a guaranteed closing date, such as SoldFast.
Sometimes, mortgage companies will not lend on properties, and selling for cash is the only option. Lenders want to know that properties are in good shape, have no significant issues, and are safe to occupy. For a buyer to qualify for a mortgage, the home has to have a good-looking roof, no termites, a functioning water heater, working bathrooms, HVAC, no biological growth (mold/mildew), and other lender-specific requirements.
If you’ve tried selling your house on the market with an agent and it didn’t sell, you might want to explore selling it to a cash home buyer. When homes don’t sell on the market, they tend to be overpriced or need renovations, so exploring alternative options is a great idea.

Properties Sell to a Landlords
If tenants occupy your property it’s going to be trickier to sell your home fast to anyone but another real estate investor. Mortgage companies require that owner-occupants live in the homes they’re buying. If you’ve got a tenant on a lease your best bet is either not renewing their lease and selling it vacant or selling it to someone that buys occupied properties. At SoldFast, we have zero issues purchasing occupied properties even if the tenant is behind on rent or, worse: hostile.
It’s worth noting that you will pretty much always make more money selling a home that is vacant vs. tenant occupied. Sellers will often have a tenant-occupied property and expect to sell it for remodeled retail values. Unfortunately, that rarely happens–especially if it’s rented below fair market value.
With the increase in property values, insurance costs, and property taxes, it’s becoming harder for rental property owners to make realistic, financially viable offers as rentals on single-family homes.
If your property is “grandma nice” and clean, it will likely be bought by a home buyer, a landlord, or a family wanting to build some sweat equity, which we’ll cover in the next section. If your property is a duplex, triplex, or quad, selling to a buy-and-hold investor will likely make the most sense unless you can snag someone looking for a work-from-home setup.

Understanding The “Investor Formula”
Most real estate investors utilize the “75% rule” to determine how much they can pay for a property. They’ll look at what a home is worth renovated, remove 25% for their profit, and subtract out the cost of repairs to arrive at their offer.
The equation looks like this: Property’s after-repair value – 25% profit margin – repairs = their offer
For quick and easy math on a $100,000 house, they’d set aside 25% for holding costs, construction overages, and profit. Subtract out the cost of repairs (let’s say 25k), and you’d be looking at an offer of $50,000.
Due to this ” rule, ” if multiple investors make offers on your property, you’ll notice that they all come in at about a similar price point. At SoldFast, we leverage our 40+ years of construction experience to negotiate exceptional rates on quality construction. This allows us to offer sellers more money and provide the community with a higher-quality product.

Be Aware Of Lowballing Tactics
Cash offers are sometimes called “lowball offers,” which can be a fair statement depending on the property condition and who is making them. Some local real estate investors will use a 70%, 65%, or even 50% rule when making offers.
We always encourage our clients to get multiple offers and even interview multiple real estate agents before deciding what they want to do. Call a few other folks in town before you contact us so that you can experience the SoldFast difference.
Selling to a Handyman
If your home has good bones and is financeable, selling it to a handyman or family looking to put in some elbow grease is a great option. While the average property buyer is looking for a new build or HGTV-esque remodeled home, some folks are looking for a home they can make their own. Sweat equity buyers will often pay more than real estate investors because they’re only budgeting for the cost of materials on renovations and planning on contributing their labor “for free.” On the contrary, flippers and landlords often use contractors who charge for both materials and labor, reducing their offers and thus the amount of cash a seller will ultimately receive.

Selling Your House To An Owner Occupant
If your home is well maintained and beautifully remodeled, you will make the most money by selling the property to someone looking for their next home to live in. While selling a perfect home to a cash buyer is possible, you will walk away with significantly less money than if you listed your home on the MLS and waited for a regular buyer to get a mortgage and close. Following our advice on pricing your home appropriately, you can “sell my house fast” and get paid in 30-45 days conventionally. If your time frame is tighter than 30 days, give our team at SoldFast a shout, and we’ll walk you through your options. We have purchased several homes from folks building new homes who needed to sell their old ones!

Addressing Misconceptions About “Selling My Home Fast” and As-Is
Homeowners looking for a quick sale often assume they can’t sell their house on the MLS. That isn’t the case. Properties sell fast and for cash on the market all the time. It’s also possible to sell your home as-is on the MLS and avoid doing any repairs or updates. Our team’s expertise is in buying and selling properties as-is on and off the market. If you can’t afford to do repairs/updates or want a quick exit, let’s get you all of your options. Simply fill out the form below.
Understanding How Much You Will Net
When you sell a property with an agent or to a cash buyer, you must understand how much money you will “net” or walk away with as cash in hand. You won’t see that dollar amount in your bank account when you get an offer on a property listed with an agent. When selling with an agent, you will have to pay real estate agent commissions, closing costs, prorated taxes, title fees, and other odds and ends. A realistic budget is around 10% of your home’s selling price.
Some companies that buy houses for cash will pay all your closing costs and fees, while others will not. At SoldFast, we’ll walk you through how much cash you’ll walk away with selling for cash, selling as-is on the market with one of our agents, and what you could make if you remodeled the house and sold it on the MLS. Oftentimes, the starting offers seem pretty far apart. But the gap is much narrower than you think when you look at the actual cash in your pocket.

Taking The Highest Offers Isn’t Always Wise
If you list your house on the market and receive multiple offers or have companies that buy houses for cash bid against each other, selecting the offer that is most likely to close is essential. Recently, there has been an uptick in real estate contracts not closing, and if you’re in a hurry to sell, this can have dramatic consequences.
Offers without inspections won’t require you to do any repairs and have less of a chance of falling apart. Be aware of folks “retrading” when they offer you a high dollar amount only to return and ask for a substantial reduction post-inspection.
Offers from a cash buyer that aren’t contingent on financing won’t require an appraisal or a bank to cut a check, resulting in a smaller chance of falling apart and a significantly faster closing.
Offers not contingent on selling another property can’t be derailed by something outside of your control.
The more earnest money deposit (EMD) a buyer puts down, the more serious they are about closing. Bonus points if they give you the money directly versus a title company or escrow agent. It’s a good idea to verify that it’s shown up after they claim to have sent it. We’ve routinely seen unscrupulous agents claim it was sent when it was not received.

Skip Selling It for Sale By Owner
According to research from the National Association of Realtors, FSBO homes sold for 23.5% less than properties listed by an agent in 2024. If you want to sell your house fast, you need to work with a cash buyer OR get as many eyes on your property as fast as possible. It only takes one person to buy your property, but going FSBO will significantly lower your home’s exposure to qualified buyers.
Real estate transactions are complex legal transactions that must be navigated carefully to limit legal complications. If you don’t hire an agent or work with a cash buyer and insist on selling FSBO, please have a local real estate attorney review your documentation and help you make educated decisions. Whether we’re involved in buying your house or not, our experienced team at SoldFast is happy to act as an advisor in your corner at no cost. We are your neighbors, and we want to protect the homeowners inside of our community. If we can be of assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out.
FSBOs accounted for 6% of home sales in 2024. The typical FSBO home sold for $380,000 compared to $435,000 for listed home sales.
– National Association Of Realtors
Finding Companies Who Buy Houses
A simple Google search of “we buy houses,” “sell my house fast,” or “companies who buy houses” will yield a few dozen options. While we’ve previously discussed that not all cash buyers are created equal, they make themselves relatively easy to find. We’re extremely well-connected at SoldFast, and if we aren’t the fit to buy your house, we’re happy to introduce you to folks we know and trust in town.
If you’re in a hurry to sell, dealing with a direct buyer with a proven track record is crucial and will prevent you from getting the runaround. Many companies that have come up on Google are individuals who pose as cash buyers and are, in reality, just wholesalers. At SoldFast we are direct buyers.

Finding Local Landlords
If you’re trying to sell a tenant-occupied or “grandma nice” place, approaching local landlords might be just the ticket. Go onto Zillow.com, punch in your zip code, and look at places for rent. You can use Zillow’s built-in contact form to contact property owners and property managers to see if they want to buy your property. Our city also has a local real estate association that you can visit for free and real estate investor buy/sell/trade groups you can join on Facebook to network in.
Tell Everyone You Know You’re Selling
The more people who know you’re open to selling, the better. Assuming you’ve listed your house on the MLS, it’s a great idea to post about it on social media, tell your friends/family, and even tell your neighbors.
You MIGHT even consider trying your neighbors and immediate circle of friends/colleagues before accepting a cash offer or listing your house with an agent. For our team at SoldFast, a competitor will rarely pay more than us, but it’s possible that someone you know might! A few phone calls, a Facebook post, or knocking on the neighbors’ doors could accomplish exactly what you’re trying to do!

Skip Major Renovations If You’re In A Hurry
If you’re in a rush to sell a property, you’ll likely want to skip any significant renovations like kitchens or bathrooms. While a remodeled home will always command a premium, the cost and complications of renovating a property if you’re unfamiliar with construction can’t be overstated. We encounter many DIY projects and shoddy construction work that won’t pass inspection and must be redone. Below, we’ll discuss some practical things you can do to sell your house fast and for as much as possible without opening a giant can of worms.

Declutter If You Need To Sell Fast
If you live in a home you’re hoping to sell quickly, get rid of as much clutter and junk as possible. A house with a lot of furniture or personal possessions everywhere can feel small and unappealing. Our goal with decluttering is to make it as easy as possible for someone to see their family living in this house or the potential in the property. This doesn’t matter as much with a cash buyer, but it matters a LOT with retail buyers.
Valuing real estate is an art, not an exact science. The more we can make someone feel good about our property, the more likely they will pay for it. Pro tip: Citrus Odoban absorbers can make a home smell like a million bucks, and Cinnamon Odobans can mask pet smells.

Movers And Putting Things In Storage
To make the home feel more open and airy, consider moving excess furniture or things you plan on saving into storage. This is particularly useful if you inherit a house and the heirs are unsure what to keep and sell. Move.org is an excellent resource for finding local movers and storage options vetted for safety and security. Self-storage facilities often offer a first month for free or at a substantially reduced rate.
Selling Valuables With An Estate Sale Company
Some estate sale companies specialize in running professional garage sales/auctions that you can hire to come in and sell anything you don’t want. They typically operate on a commission/minimum basis. This is a great option if you believe the items in the home are valuable and you’ve got a few weeks to a month or more to sell your house.
Most estate sale companies will also try to get you to auction your house. Still, in our experience, this can lead to accepting a lowball offer, particularly if the auction isn’t well-marketed or attended.
Let the estate sale company sell your knickknacks and use a professional to buy or sell your house.
-SOLDFAST
Always Get Professional Photos
To sell a property fast, you want to market it as best as you possibly can. Hire a local real estate photographer to take wide-angle photos of every room in the house, all major mechanical systems, all sides of the property, and even the roof. Insist that your photographer comes out during the “golden hour,” which is the hour before sunset when pictures look the best.
They should also edit and retouch your photographs so that the home appears clean, airy, and bright. We’ve seen amazing photos that make extremely rough properties look desirable; taking photos with your iPhone simply doesn’t cut it. You can likely skip fancy things like 360* tours, video walkthroughs, and drone photography unless you’re selling a multi-million dollar mansion.

Getting Rid Of Junk For Free With The Craigslist/Facebook Marketplace Trick
If you hate throwing away items that can be re-used, you might consider giving this a shot…. Instead of getting a 40-yard dumpster and pitching furniture, books, TVs, etc., you can do wonders with a simple post on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. “Free furniture, books, dishes, and collectibles this weekend only.” You’ll find that some items you view as trash are someone else’s treasure. You might consider doing an estate sale first and using this as a backup plan to eliminate things you don’t want. With SoldFast, you can take what you want and leave what you don’t.
Trading Equity for Convenience
When you sell a property fast, you are likely trading some of your equity for convenience. Most sellers we work with here at SoldFast aren’t desperate; they want a hassle-free home-selling experience. We routinely work with individuals downsizing, retiring, upgrading, moving for work or military service, and looking for a fresh start.
If making the most money possible on the sale of your property is your chief priority, you’ll be better off listing your home on the market and having a bit of patience. If you want to get all of your options, including a cash offer and what you could walk away with on the market, contact us today!

Prioritize Transparency
If you are in an “I need to sell my house fast!” situation, prioritize transparency. If you’ve ever traded in a car, you’ve probably had that disheartening experience where you see your car listed on the lot for substantially more than the dealership said they could give you. You can avoid that same feeling by asking homebuyers what they plan to do with your property, what they think they will be able to sell it for, and how they arrived at the offer they’re making you.
Selling a property is a massive decision that you’ll likely only make a few times in your life. It can be a bit of a balancing act between convenience, costs, and goals, which we are intimately familiar with; people on our team lived through the financial crisis of 2008 and lost everything. Generally, the nicer and cleaner the property is, the more it will sell for. That doesn’t mean you must remodel a hoarder house, but you might consider trashing it out. You don’t have to renovate a kitchen but you might consider replacing a roof to make it financeable for a sweat equity buyer.
Our team at SoldFast would be honored to help you navigate this process and earn your business for life. Whether you’re selling or buying property SoldFast is here for you! Thank you for taking the time to visit our website and read this guide. We hope you found it helpful and hopeful if you’re in a pinch. An informed homeowner is powerful, even if you’re on a tight schedule!
