Easy Ways to Sell Your House in VA

Sell Your House in VA The Easy Way

December 6, 2021 / By mikerbrady

Virginia’s housing market has been going strong in the past few months, with homes selling faster and above the listing price. Thus, If you’re planning to relocate, it’s the perfect time to sell your property.

That said, selling a house is just as challenging as buying one. Even if the housing market is booming, you still need to prepare and market your property well to get reasonable offers. Check out this guide to help you sell your home successfully and get the best deal in Virginia.

Easy Ways to Sell Your House Fast in Virginia

Sellers will often ask for an easy way to sell my house, but there’s truthfully no magic formula to achieve this. What you can do, however, is take note of key things to smooth out the home selling process and improve your chances of securing a quick home sale. Of course, one of the most important things to decide on will be selling your property.

Whether you end up selling your home for a cash offer, as-is, or online, it’s important to research the local market before jumping into major decisions. Below, you will find more information on the three main ways you can go about your sale, along with some considerations to know which option will be best for your needs.

Selling Your House for a Cash Offer

As a seller, you would likely gravitate towards accepting a cash offer for your house. It’s often the most attractive payment method in real estate since they’re the quickest to process and close. With this option, you can save time and money by skipping the home inspection, closing costs, appraisal fees, repairs and inspections, etcetera. However, it also limits your offers and may require selling at a slight discount.

Even if the real estate market has been a seller’s market for months now, it doesn’t guarantee you’d secure a sale quickly. Thus, if you don’t have the time, funds, or resources to go through the usual sale process, it would be best to find a cash buyer like companies that buy houses in Virginia or cash home buyers in Norfolk.

That said, if you can take a few months to test the market, consider listing your property to see if you can get any offers.

Selling Your House As-Is

Most of the time, it’s best to make minor improvements to your home before putting it up for sale, especially if your property is on the older side. However, if you’d rather not spend on repairs or you’re in a hurry to close a deal, you can sell to a reputable home buying company. Thankfully, you don’t have to look far because we buy homes in Virginia Beach and other areas in the state.

Home buying companies like ours accept properties in their current condition, so you won’t need to go through improvements and renovations. The offer might be a bit lower than what you’re looking for, but that’s also a result of selling your house as-is and maintaining its condition.

Selling your house as-is will usually be recommended if you’re relocating for a new job and need to move as quickly as possible. In such cases, you probably won’t have the time to fix up your home since you’d be focusing on planning the move.

Selling Your House Online

Nowadays, it’s become more common to buy and sell homes online due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

When selling your house online, one option is to sell through a direct buyer like iBuyer and other similar platforms. They are essentially real estate buyers who determine how much your property is worth and then offer. The process is quicker since they can get back to you in minutes or hours.

Alternatively, you can also sell a house online For Sale By Owner (FSBO). The main difference is that you’d need to do all the work yourself, including pricing, marketing, staging, negotiating an offer price, and others. If you opt for this option, here are some tips to help you sell your home fast:

Research the Virginia real estate market to check trends and prices.
Clean and declutter your home before selling.
Put all personal belongings in a storage unit to depersonalize the property.
Take high-quality photos under natural light to create an excellent first impression on buyers.
Use social media for marketing your listing.
Deep clean your home and make improvements like landscaping to increase curb appeal.
Hold an open house to encourage multiple offers.

Things to Know When Selling Your House

To help you become more prepared for the selling process, here are the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions.

Will You Need to Negotiate Your Price?

The negotiation process can often be tricky when selling properties. For example, you may often receive an offer that’s less than your listed price. If this happens, you might be wondering: will you need to negotiate your price?

You naturally want to get the highest value for your home as a seller, so you won’t usually accept a buyer’s initial bid. However, these are some responses you can make:

Counter with a Listing Price: One strategy would be to counter your original purchase price and see who’s willing to match it, assuming that you went through the work to reach a fair asking price.
Counter Below Listing Price: If you’re hesitant to drive away buyers, you can take a more subtle negotiation approach. Instead, counter slightly below your list price but above the buyer’s bid. By doing this, you’re showing that you want to stand by your price but still have some flexibility and room for adjustments.
Reject the Offer: If you feel brave and confident about getting more offers, you can reject the buyer’s offer; this sends the message that you’re firm about your valuation since you know what your property is worth. Again, however, it’s a double-edged sword. Buyers can either resubmit higher offers or opt-out of the deal, so you have to weigh your situation carefully.

Will You Need to Make House Repairs?

The answer will depend on you as the house seller. Generally, it’s preferable to do minor repairs to improve your home’s condition and increase its appeal to buyers, especially if you’re listing your property for sale. However, it isn’t necessarily required.

If you want to skip this step but still get a decent offer, an option would be to sell to a local buying company. These companies often give instant cash offers in as little as 24 business hours, and the best part is that you can sell your home in its current condition.

What Are the Costs of Selling Your House?

The costs can vary for each seller. Depending on how much preparation you do in advance and how much you get from the sale. However, the most common expenses would include the following:

Staging (Repairs and Renovations): Home staging is an excellent way to sell your house fast and increase your home’s value. If you plan to remodel and upgrade, home staging costs will range from $626 to $2,367, averaging $1,496. Of course, your expenses will vary depending on how extensive you fix up your home.
Realtor Fees: On average, the real estate commission in Virginia is at 5.10% of the final sale price. However, most of the time, you would already factor this into their selling price to ensure that they still get adequate returns. In addition, home sellers often prefer to look for cash buyers to skip these fees because of how expensive agent commissions can be.
Buyer Incentives: Offering incentives to buyers is one of the top alternative ways to sell a house. It’s a way to attract more buyers and convince them to purchase your property. Common incentives would be to give limited-time discounts or waive the closing costs, both of which will incur expenses on your part.
Taxes: Buyers and sellers usually share the burden of paying taxes in real estate transactions. On average, this would amount to $2,828.05 in Virginia.
Closing Costs: After taxes, closing costs in Virginia are around 1.55% to 2.06% of the home’s sale price. Given the median rate of $300,000 to $400,000 for properties in the state, that would amount to a little over $6,000 for closing.

Plan Your Virginia Home Sale to Maximize Returns

Selling a house in Virginia can be daunting for first-timers, but you should be able to get a good deal with a proper plan in place. So before you jump into the market, make sure you understand your needs and gauge the situation.

How long can you wait for a deal, and how much are you hoping to get from the sale? When do you need to relocate to your new home? How’s the market performing? What’s the average market value for properties in your area? By knowing all these in advance, you can make more informed decisions about selling your home in VA.

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

📞866-833-5262