How to Sell Your House for Cash in Virginia

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Whether the road is calling your name, you want to put down roots in another state, or you’re entering your golden years, sometimes the only thing that stands between you and the next chapter of your life is selling your house.

Even if you’ve meticulously planned, sometimes the slightest of changes or unexpected shifts in the real estate market can throw off everything you’ve built your future on. And when your sale finally does go through, those little costs and fees can add up until you feel you haven’t gotten the proper value for your home when all is said and done.

The cost of selling a house the traditional way can be extensive. Selling your home for cash can save you thousands in fees and closing costs, ensuring that the money from the sale of your home can go in its entirety towards the next big thing that you’ve been dreaming of.

Although many people can be wary of it, selling your house for cash in Virginia can be easy and straightforward if you are informed and prepared. Today, we’re going to dive into everything you need to know to get a great cash deal for your home and have an excellent home selling experience.

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Steps to Selling Your Home Fast for Cash in Virginia

You know the old saying, if you want something done right, then do it yourself? Even though that can often be the more labor-intensive and time-consuming road, you’ll come out on the other side satisfied with your efforts and glad that you embarked on this learning journey to sell your house for cash.

Finding the Right Realtor

When you sell your house for cash, you keep it off the market and sell it yourself. Therefore, when you sell your home for cash in Virginia, you are your realtor! Now, what to look for in a real estate agent must be what you bring to the table yourself. 

This comes with some pros and cons. The disadvantages include the fact that realtors have years of experience marketing and selling homes, and the tools and skills necessary to do it successfully come naturally to them.

However, working with a realtor can be costly for home sellers when it comes to the bottom line. The fees associated with marketing, showing, and commissions can take a massive chunk out of your net profits. 

If this sounds ridiculous to you, then selling your home for cash your way will likely be the best fit for you. So, when you decide to skip the realtor and do the work yourself, what are you getting yourself into? 

When selling your home for cash, you won’t have access to the databases that realtors use to list homes. Hence, your home will be unlisted on the market. However, there are alternatives that home sellers use to put their home in front of the right eyes to make a great sale.

Homesellers can pay a small monthly fee for access to specific databases to list their own homes or use the popular lawn sign approach. These days, it’s even popular to market with photos and listings on Facebook and other social media platforms.

Buyers are increasingly using online resources to search for their new dream home, so meeting them halfway is the perfect way to secure a cash sale that is best for both parties.

Another option is to work with a wholesaler. These are companies that will buy your home outright for cash. If you’re interested in working with a company like this, there are plenty available. There are companies that buy houses in Norfolk and many other organizations that are cash home buyers in Virginia. If you’re wondering, “how do I sell my house fast in Virginia Beach?”, then there’s a great company for that, too!

Pricing Your Virginia Home

Homesellers who want to sell their home for cash, like any other home seller, won’t want their home sitting on the market for too long. This can put a roadblock in the middle of executing necessary plans and life changes.

Often, one crucial reason that houses fail to sell quickly is that they are incorrectly priced. This is another service that comes along with hiring a realtor. However, with a bit of time and effort, you too can price your home accurately to sell.

Firstly, you’ll want to do a little research about the area you live in. See what houses comparable to yours have sold for recently in your neighborhood and around it. Ensure that the homes you are searching for are an accurate and good comparison. They should have been listed around the same time as yours, be the same age, and have similar square footage.

You’ll also want to spend some time sprucing up your home to make sure that it looks its best. Scheduling an open house or home tour is also a great way to put all of your research into practice and see what potential buyers have to say about the pricing and value of your home.

Negotiating The Selling of Your Home

Once you’ve priced your home to sell, you’ll likely have to engage in some negotiation on the way to a successful sale. Negotiation is a vital part of selling a home, even when it is on the real estate market.

When you’re selling your home for cash in a sale by owner, navigating the negotiation process is totally up to you. So the most important thing to decide before you begin is your limits. 

In the heat of the moment, you may be so excited to receive an offer that the details of your financial needs may slip through the cracks. Prepare beforehand and discuss what your absolute lowest satisfactory offer would be. Consider any fees that you might still have to pay and factor those into your offer budget. 

The first offer you receive is likely to be below your asking price. If the offer is not ideal, then counter with your original asking price. Many buyers are willing to pay more but want to determine your boundaries with their initial offers. So make sure to be clear and firm about what sort of offers you are open to.

Sticking to your guns and even outright rejecting offers that aren’t satisfactory will let potential buyers know that you know the value of your home and that it’s worth the price you’re asking for it. 

Since you don’t want the sale process to drag on forever, include an expiration date on your counteroffers. This communicates to potential buyers that you respect both your time and theirs and that you mean business.

Pros and Cons of Selling a House For Cash in Virginia

Some situations necessitate working with a realtor, but if you’ve informed yourself about the process and planned ahead, putting your house up for sale by owner can be a great process and learning experience that is also ultimately rewarding.

However, taking on the responsibility might not be an ideal fit for some people. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages. To help you get a feel for whether selling your home for cash is right for you, keep reading about the pros and cons.

Benefits of Selling a House for Cash in Virginia

When you sell on your own, you are in control of the majority of the process of selling your home. You control the timeline, the pricing, the closing, and everything associated with the sale.

You also get to skip the overinflated closing costs and fees associated with using a realtor. While there still may be some small fees associated with a sale by the owner, you’ll save a great deal of money selling for cash.

Drawbacks of Selling a House for Cash in Virginia

While it can be empowering to control the whole process, there are many aspects that you won’t be immediately familiar with. Employing a realtor means paying for their years of experience and their intervention into those matters.

Hence, it can be a frustrating undertaking for those who don’t have the time or resources to properly learn the ins and outs of how to sell their home for a fair cash deal. In these cases, sellers can end up with the short end of the stick or a home that sits unsold.

Final Thoughts

Selling your home is an exciting event that can make way for the next chapter of your life. However, when your home sale isn’t as successful or lucrative as you’d hoped, choosing to take over the process yourself can be liberating.

As long as you work hard as your own realtor, price your home to sell, and know-how to negotiate for your desired price, you’ll walk away with a wealth of knowledge and satisfaction as you close the door on one part of your life and open the door to another.

Declaring Bankruptcy

You can declare bankruptcy, although it’s an option that should be considered as a last resort. When bankruptcy is filed, federal law prohibits any debt collectors, including your mortgage lender, from continuing to collect- even if the auction has been scheduled. However, this option just buys you more time to replace your lost job or recover temporary disability; it doesn’t free you from your debt obligations. Ultimately your creditors work with you on a fair repayment plan so you can keep your loan, or your property is sold to pay the debt. The reason why bankruptcy should be a last resort option is because of its negative impact on your credit history that can last from 7 to 10 years. 

Related ArticleStep by Step Guide To Sell House After Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy In Virginia

Renting out your Norfolk VA property

Renting out your Norfolk VA property is another option to consider. In the best-case scenario, you find a reputable tenant that takes great care of your house, pays on time, and would pay even more than your mortgage payments. But, unfortunately, you can also deal with the opposite of that and get a bad tenant that trashes your place, doesn’t pay on time, and won’t leave unless you legally evict them. 

Related ArticleRent Or Sell My House In Norfolk VA?

If renting your place out is still something you’d like to look into, just keep in mind that you’ll need to be ready to handle phone calls, unexpected repairs, or maintenance issues and cover unpaid rent and vacancies if need be. Since this can be a bit risky, you may want to look into another more stable option. 

Forbearance for Property Owners

A forbearance is an option your mortgage company may offer, which is basically where your monthly mortgage payments are on hold for a designated time frame. However, it doesn’t eliminate what you owe; it just postpones the collection of that amount. Sometimes a repayment plan can be arranged, the outstanding balance will be deferred until the end of your mortgage, or a loan modification is made. 

Related ArticleMortgage Relief and VA Loans

With a repayment plan, you agree to repay the outstanding amount you owe in regular payments over a fixed period of time or the life of the loan. 

When modifying your loan, the terms of your mortgage change to lower the payments. This may be done by lowering your interest rate, extending your term, or forgiving some of the principal amounts. The lender may also agree to waive penalties and fees you have incurred. 

A loan modification is completely different from refinancing. First, you’ll need to qualify for a mortgage modification which usually requires you to demonstrate a significant hardship. You’ll also want to ask your lender if they offer this option because not all do. 

Unfortunately, a loan modification can negatively impact your credit, but it will be less severe than a foreclosure on your history. 

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re in the midst of pre-foreclosure or a foreclosure sale has been scheduled, it’s good to know you have several options to stop foreclosure, including selling your house. Having a foreclosure on your credit report can last seven years and affect your future plans for years to come. So doing any number of things besides letting the foreclosure process play out would be beneficial. 

If selling your house sounds like the best solution, but you’re concerned with how long the process could take or the expense involved, selling to Avante Home Buyers would solve both of those concerns. So if you’re saying, “sell my house fast in Virginia Beach,” contact Avante Home Buyers today to get a cash offer or to find out more about how it works to sell to a cash home buyer in Virginia. 

Do you want to learn more about how to find buyers for your house in Norfolk? We can help! Give us a call or send us a message today! 866-833-5262