When you decide to sell your home, you’ve got two top priorities: getting as much money as you can and selling it as quickly as you can. The problem is, selling a home the traditional way (using a realtor) leaves a lot up to chance.
You’ve got to hope that at least one buyer is willing to pay a significant amount for your property and you’ve got to hope they’re ready to move fast. While finding a buyer is more difficult to control, you do have some control over how much selling is going to cost you.
Read on as we guide you through 3 key ways to sell your property, how much they’ll cost you, plus which way is the cheapest.
What’s the Cheapest Way to Sell a House? 3 Ways Compared
1. Sell Your House Using a Realtor
Let’s start by saying that selling via a realtor is not going to be the cheapest way to sell your home, but it is the most well-known. A real estate agent will help you sell your property by giving you advice on how to effectively present and price your property, and by marketing it for you. They’ll show potential buyers the property, (hopefully) get professional photos done, reach out to anyone who has contacted them looking for similar properties in the area, and more. While a good realtor is worth the cost, there are a few downsides:
- They can’t sell a house if no one’s interested
- The better presented the home, the better job they’ll do (i.e., they’re not always the best choice for selling properties as-is if work needs doing)
- They charge a percentage of your sale price
In other words, if your house is easy to sell and the market is good, they’ll be able to sell it quickly and will take around 2-5% of the sale price as their fee. For a $500,000 home, that equates to $10,000 – $25,000. In other words, you’ll be paying thousands for their services – certainly not the cheapest choice on this list.
2. Sell At Auction
Most of us only have experience of property auctions from watching home renovation shows on TV, which means our view of them is that they’re a fast and hands-free way to sell a home that’s in some level of disrepair.
This assessment is only mostly true.
The reality is that while selling a house through auction is indeed a fairly straightforward way to sell, and is very hands-free for you, it’s not as beneficial for the seller as it often is for the buyer.
Why? We’ve written an entire guide on the process of real estate auctions and their pros and cons, which we recommend reading if you’re seriously considering selling via an auction, but here are some of the realities:
- Auction houses charge a percentage of the sale price, just like realtors do, though it’s usually less (1-2%)
- There is usually an entry fee to the auction (around $350-$750)
- There will usually be a 3-4 week wait from when you sign the contract until the auction takes place
- The auction house gets the money first, and they will generally send it to you 3-4 weeks after the auction
- Auction houses have rules you should review to see if you’re on board with (such as if you can refuse a bid or not)
- There’s no guarantee of a sale, and you’ll need to pay the entry fee again if you decide to put it in for another round
So yes, they’re a good way to sell a house if you don’t want to do any of the work of selling the home, or if you don’t believe the property is worth much (for example, if it’s fairly dilapidated) and you want to try and get the most from it without undervaluing it yourself, but be aware that auctions aren’t always the cheapest or fastest way to sell a house.
3. Sell to a Trusted Cash Home-Buying Company
This is the third way of selling a home cheaply that many people aren’t aware of – selling to a cash home-buying company. This is where you sell your home to a real estate investor who buys and flips or develops homes as a business. They’re always on the lookout for new properties to buy and they offer all the benefits of a private sale but with the efficiency and benefits of working with a company that does this all the time.
Here are some of the typical benefits:
- No fees to pay – no realtor or auction house needs to be involved!
- It’s faster than any other option (the typical time to close is 2-4 weeks)
- You can sell a home in “as-is” condition, even if it needs repairs
- You don’t always need to clear the house out (great for clearing out older family members old homes once you’ve taken out the valuables
- It’s straightforward
- No embarrassment – you don’t have to advertise the home with pictures, which can be something you’re reluctant to do if you have neighbors or family members you would rather not see your home
This is what we do here at Pavel Buys Houses – we buy houses in Massachusetts for cash, in almost any condition. We make it fast and easy to sell your home and we can work to your schedule. If you’re not in the New England area, you can find a company near you that does this. Just make sure you do your due diligence and find a company that’s as well-reviewed as us (5 stars on Google and we’re BBB Accredited).
Cheapest Way to Sell a House in Massachusetts
If you are looking for the cheapest way to sell a house in Massachusetts, we’re here to help. Avoid realtor and auction house fees by selling to us. All you need to do is tell us the property address and we’ll evaluate the home and offer you our best cash offer. You’re under no obligation to accept our offer, but if you do, we’ll move forward and can close in as little as 2 weeks (don’t worry, we won’t go faster than you’re able!). To find out more about how we calculate our offer or to get your cash offer, click here.