A traditional sale isn’t right for every house in Jacksonville. Some houses and situations will benefit more by selling quickly and directly to a direct home buyer! In our latest blog post, find out more about what a direct home buyer is, and how it may be the right choice for you and your home.
I would like to begin this blog by posing a question to you, the reader: What is the best way to sell your home in Jacksonville?
Depending on your previous experience, or that of others whom you know and trust, you likely responded in one of two ways. You would either list it on the open market with the support of a traditional real estate agent, or you would simply try to sell it yourself (often called For Sale by Owner, or FSBO).
Am I right?
The reason that most people answer in one of those two ways is that most homeowners are of the belief that those are the only two options. But what if I told you there is a third, and in many cases, easier option? What if I told you that you could sell your home fast, for cash, to a direct homebuyer without the expenses, hassles, or unknowns of having to list it on the open market?
Have I piqued your interest?
Let’s start with the obvious first question: What is a direct homebuyer? It’s simpler than you may think. A direct homebuyer is a person or company that purchases homes directly from sellers without the need for a traditional real estate agent (potentially saving you, the seller, thousands of dollars in commissions and other closing costs). These companies have the resources to pay cash, can close as quickly as you need them to – sometimes in less than week – and do not require any cosmetic updates or structural repairs to the home prior to closing.
Sounds too good to be true? It’s not. Let’s dive in a little deeper and better understand when it may be the best option for you to sell to a direct homebuyer.
Scenario #1 – You Have to Sell within a Specific Timeline
We often hear that the biggest motivator for selling a home is time. Sellers generally don’t have enough of it if they need to sell their house by a certain date. There may be a litany of reasons why time is not on your side: you need cash fast for whatever reason, you may be behind on your payments and facing a short sale/foreclosure situation, you have been transferred for your job or relocated for the military, or maybe you are just sick of the home and ready to move on.
In any of these situations (and many more), working with a traditional Jacksonville real estate agent may not be right the right move. First of all, the listing process can take months, and even then it is not a sure thing. Homes in Jacksonville, on average, are taking between 40-60 days on the market to sell. And that is only after they are listed. Most real estate agents need time prior to listing to complete paperwork, get the home clean and ready for showings, take professional pictures, and more. You could be looking at several weeks of waiting before the home is even on the market and ready for showings.
Adding to the challenge of taking this route is the great unknown of what will happen once the home is listed. Unfortunately there is no guarantee that an offer comes on day one. What if it takes 30 days before the right buyer offers the right price? Worse yet, what if that offer never comes at all?
Best case scenario, let’s say you receive an acceptable offer on day one. Congrats, right? Well, don’t pop the champagne just yet. The buyer still has a 10-day due diligence period during which they can have the home inspected and at the sole discretion of the buyer, they can legally cancel the contract for any reason. After that you still have appraisal and loan contingencies which can last up to 30 days into the contract. If on day 29 the buyer gets notified from their lender that they do not qualify for the loan, guess what? Yep, they can legally cancel the contract – costing them nothing, but costing you time and important market exposure.
Scenario #2: You Found Another Home to Buy!
Consider this: You have been looking for homes for months, but have not found the one that checks all the boxes. You like some, but don’t love any. Because of this, you haven’t begun the process to list and sell your home. The worst thing that can happen is that you get an offer on your home, but you have nowhere to go.
Then one day, when you are least expecting it, it happens. The perfect home hits the market! Location? Check. Price? Check. Oversized gourmet kitchen with built-in stainless steel Viking appliances and one-of-a-kind marble countertops? Check, check and check. There’s only one problem, you can’t buy this home without the proceeds from selling your current home.
In fact, the seller is unlikely to even consider your offer until your home is under contract, let alone listed. Going back to our previous scenario, if your home is not already listed and under contract, you could be looking at another 60-90 days before it is. Unfortunately your dream home will be long gone by then.
In steps the direct homebuyer that can close on your timeline. Need a cash offer today? No problem. Need to close on a very specific timeline to align simultaneously with your purchase? Also no problem. It’s the most flexible option available.
Scenario #3 – You Don’t Have the Money to Spend up Front (or Frankly you Just Don’t Want to Spend it)
In addition to time, money is another leading motivator (perhaps the biggest) for home sellers in Jacksonville. For many, the reason for selling is simple – you have equity in the home and would like to cash it out.
In this scenario, the idea is the make money – not spend it, which is why working with a traditional real estate agent may not make the most sense (and cents).
Simply put, listing your home with a real estate agent in Jacksonville will come with upfront costs as well as those to your bottom line after closing.
To sell at top dollar, a home has to be show-ready. That means it should be professionally cleaned, decluttered and staged, free of cosmetic blemishes, and not in need of repairs. For some, this is not an issue. But for the vast majority of sellers, this is a costly one. Storage facilities are not cheap; fresh paint can cost thousands.
Now let’s say your HVAC or roof needs to be replaced, or your plumbing and electrical systems are outdated. You could be looking at tens of thousands of dollars in necessary or required repairs. Even if you had this type of money, who wants to that much into your home just to sell it to someone else?
If you sell to a direct homebuyer you won’t have to. They buy it where it is and as it is with no need to put money into costly repairs or updates.
Scenario #4 – You Don’t Want To Deal With Showings
Let’s say you ultimately decided that the traditional way of selling (with a Realtor or FSBO) makes most sense to you. Are you ready for the wave of strangers coming through your home, perhaps sitting on your furniture or looking through your stuff as if it was their own? Without even mentioning the inconvenience this can be to you if you have kids or pets, or work from home (OK I guess I mentioned it), who wants that?
Consider this, you leave your home so that an agent can show it to their buyer. Before you go you must make sure the home is picked up, all personal items stored and locked up, and you should take all cash, firearms, and medication with you. Since an average showing can take up to an hour, and you’ll want to leave a little early and come back home a little late to give time on each side for early arrivals or showings-gone-long, you are gone for close to an hour and a half. Now multiply this times several times a day and several days a week. And let’s not forget four-hour-long open houses on the weekends. Needless to say this can be a bit much.
Direct homebuyers eliminate the inconvenience. They may need to see the home one time but that is it. No showings, no open houses, no strangers going through your drawers.
Scenario #5 – You Want To Save Money
Do you like money? Who doesn’t? Want to keep more of your money in your pocket? Again, who doesn’t?
Well, by selling to a direct homebuyer, you can cut out a bunch of unnecessary fees like commissions, brokerage fees, and closing costs that are common when selling the other ways. Plus, as we mentioned before, you get the added bonus of saving money by not having to complete costly repairs that traditional buyers would ask you to do, or a lender may require as a condition to close.
And because direct homebuyers can be more flexible, they can close on your home before any additional payments are required, including mortgage payments, insurance premiums, HOA/CDD fees and more.
To Summarize, Mac Home Development is Your Alternative To Listing Your Jacksonville House
If you have made it this far into the blog, you must have had even the slightest interest in learning about an alternative approach to selling your home – and that is what is most important to us. At Mac Home Development , we want people to know you have options beyond working with a Realtor or selling your home yourself. Whether option three is the one for you or not, it is our goal to educate you enough so that you can make the best decision for you.
If you have time, are OK with spending money up front, and don’t mind the hassles of having to be show-ready all the time, then great. But if you do not want to go through the process of cleaning, repairing, and making the house perfect before offering it up for sale (and then waiting… and waiting.. and waiting to sell), the consider reaching out to us. When you sell your house directly to Mac Home Development , you won’t have to deal with any costs, red-tape, wasted time, or hidden charges.
Learn more about the benefits of selling directly vs. a traditional sale of your Jacksonville house! Contact us today for more information! 904-887-4015