Every day we speak to homeowners who are trying to sell a house in 2020, and are very frustrated trying to do so. With the COVID-19 pandemic and a shift in the demand cycle of the housing market, sellers are experiencing many new challenges when they want to sell a house quickly. If you find yourself in just this situation, and you’re asking ‘how do I sell my house fast in Chicago,’ you need pay very close attention to these 5 difficulties sellers are facing when trying to sell their Chicago homes during COVID-19.
Managing Cleaning Precautions
Cleaning precautions have to be taken both before and after showings during Covid 19, for the health of the agents and potential buyers. If you’re currently living in the house you have listed, those precautions are also for your own health. The time and effort it takes to keep a house clean on showing ready during normal times is hard enough, but the extra disinfection of every single surface in a house can become especially wearisome to sellers. You will find yourself in the position of having to trust in the buyer’s agent to enforce the wearing of masks and taking off of shoes during showings, and to wipe things down to disinfect just like you would. Having confidence that your family will steer clear of the virus while various people are walking through your house is a big challenge. Ensuring a cleaning before and after showings takes extra time, and leaves sellers wondering how will I sell my house fast in Chicago when open houses or back-to-back showings aren’t a good idea!
Managing Marketing Changes
Chicago’s real estate industry is a very fast-paced one, especially during the spring and summer months. 2020 threw real estate professionals for a curve, though. In the spring, Illinois faced all kinds of shutdowns and the idea of listing a house during such a volatile and potentially dangerous time was out of the question for many sellers. Now that offices have at least partially reopened, attorneys and title companies have shifted to virtual closings and delivering documents for electronic signatures, and county recorders are more likely to also use an electronic systems, the part of the industry that handles the transactions in Illinois is catching up . Technology not only has allowed the transactions to take place, but there has also been even more of a shift in marketing a house. Agents who were not accustomed to using the digital tools out there already are finding themselves overwhelmed as all the sellers who would have listed in the spring are wanting to list now. Technology and digital tools are the main means for bringing buyers to your door. A house which is poorly marketed on the internet can literally leave it sitting on the market for weeks if not months. If your agent is using all the available technology to market your house, those costs will be passed down to you as part of the expenses included in your agent’s marketing plan. Homeowners are facing a heavy demain for online virtual tours and expensive marketing when trying to sell a house fast in Chicago during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Managing Repairs for a Move-In-Ready House
Our post-Coronavirus, “new normal” lives have changed a lot, and home buyers’ priorities and demands have evolved right along with it. For many, living arrangements and family dynamics have shifted as a result of job loss, job changes, the ability to work from home, and required homeschooling for many children. Homeowners who were able to shift to working from home need a quiet office space in their houses. Children need the same for their homeschooling activities. The previous housing trend was downsizing, and now families need more space. Those who are looking to move will need to resume working and homeschooling right away, and so a move-in-ready house is a must. The consequence for sellers is that they must make all the repairs and upgrades needed to attract a buyer who will wants to move in and not do any work to the house. This leaves many sellers frustrated, wondering how am I going to sell my house fast in Chicago when I can’t afford to make remodel or make repairs.
Managing Delays and Cancellations
When you want to sell a house fast in Chicago, one of the more frustrating setbacks are delays as a result of changes to the rules governing how real estate transactions are processed and recorded. When you sell a house in Chicago, there are currently two required certifications – a zoning certification and a water certification. Sellers are currently experiencing delays in scheduling these, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Various other Chicagoland suburbs also have required inspections before a house can be sold, and often there are delays due to reduced staff or various government offices being closed, having reduced hours, or an employee in the office contracting the virus. The reality is there are delays that can occur on the buyer’s side as well, when their attorney, agent, or a loan officer experiences a Coronavirus related delay. With all the people involved in a traditional home sale, it’s likely that the closing date will be pushed back, leaving a seller to wonder how in the world can I expect to sell my house fast in Chicago during this pandemic! Unfortunately, these delays could eventually turn into cancellations and cause you, the seller, to have to re-list your house and start back at square one.
Managing the Hassle and Stress of Selling
2020 has been a year marked by all kinds of events. People are facing very high levels of stress from living during this unique time in history and having to constantly shift plans to deal with the moment-to-moment changes. For most sellers, just imagining groups of people walking through your house is concerning, but especially now under the threat of a serious illness which can be transmitted even if you’re asymptomatic. During this time, most moves are due to life events that are also stressful — job loss, illness, ailing family members, or the passing of a loved one add tremendous stress during the best of times let alone when we are all learning to adjust to life during a pandemic. If there are delays to selling your house in the timeframe you needed it to, it could double your expenses while you continue to pay on a house sitting vacant. Selling a house on the market offers you no guarantees on when it will finally sell and you will have your proceeds in hand. The weight of these circumstances weighs heavy on those who are asking, how do I sell my house fast in Chicago?
What Are My Options
If you’re asking yourself ‘how will I sell my house fast in Chicago,’ you probably already realize that selling house in the traditional way takes time — time you either don’t have or don’t wish to spend. You may have already sold a house before and you know there are no guarantees when you list a house that it will sell at all, let alone in the timeframe you have in mind. Or you may have spoken with a real estate agent who is hesitant to list your house unless you put a lot of money into fixing it up — which takes time and money. Most homeowners just don’t have the time, money, or know-how to manage a remodeling project and there is always the risk that the sale price will not recoup the investment required for repairs and remodeling. So what options does a seller have to sell a house quickly in Chicago?
For Sale By Owner
One option is to sell the house to a traditional retail buyer without hiring a real estate agent. The owner will save on agent commissions and have more control over showings and negotiations during the deal. However, many owners underestimate the challenge of trying to sell without the use of the MLS – which only an agent can use. Trying to market your own house without the benefit of a professional who knows your local market is taking a big risk not only on getting your sales price correct, but also advertising it properly to avoid legal liabilities. In fact, during the entire transaction there are legal liabilities: advertising, property disclosures, issues with the title, and contract negotiations can all be very complicated. Most likely a house that is for sale by owner will take considerably longer to sell, due to less marketing exposure and less networking with real estate professionals. Sellers may save a bit on commissions, but the costs and risks of going it alone outweigh the benefits.
Professional Auctioneers
Selling a house at auction usually speeds up the close of the sale to about 30-40 days. Using an auctioneers also eliminates the parade of showings and long list of repairs or upgrades a traditional buyer will ask for. Sellers who use an auctioneer often save a lot of time. If you’re considering selling your house at auction, there are some important things to keep in mind. An auctioneer will usually require a fee, which can be as much as 10% of the purchase price on the house. The bidder might be responsible for the fee, but that will also means the bidder is incentivised to keep the bid low. If you, the seller, are responsible for the fee then you’ll end up paying the auctioneer out of your proceeds. Another big issue to consider is that an auction requires attendance. During the Coronavirus pandemic, attendance might be drastically lower resulting in the possibility of a low bid on your house. The outcome of an auction is never guaranteed, so while you may sell quickly, you have a lot less control over the sales price and your proceeds.
Sell Your House Fast For Cash
You may have seen signs around your neighborhood, or billboards along the expressway advertising ‘cash for homes’ or ‘we buy houses as-is’ and wondered how those types of companies can be for real. A professional cash home buyer can be an excellent solution for sellers who own a burdensome house and must sell quickly, especially if the house is distressed or has major issues that are not easily resolved. A cash home buyer takes on all the risks associated with a house, freeing up the owner to sell quickly and move on to the next phase of life. Using cash means there are no banks involved, so sellers can be sure there are no delays due to a mortgage approval process which includes appraisals and even sometimes additional inspections and repairs. A cash home buyer can close on a house anywhere from 7 to 14 days from the date the contract is signed.
When trying to choose the right cash home buyer to work with, make sure to do your research to understand the reputation of the company you’re working with. At Kendall Partners, we take the time to discover what the sellers’ needs are and the details of their unique circumstances and reasons for selling. We talk to sellers every day who are concerned about the condition of the house they need to sell, and we let them know they don’t have to clean it out or make any repairs – we buy houses in any condition. We’re discreet and compassionate, and we work with sellers to take the hassle out of selling a house. We use a simple, one-page contract which clearly states the purchase price of the house, the closing date, and the fact that we pay standard closing costs. There’s no fine print to try to decipher. And we never wholesale your property, meaning we will never push back your closing just to try to find a third party to reassign your contract to — when you sign a contract with Kendall Partners, we have the cash and the intention of closing on your house, actually buying it from you and taking title to it. This means you won’t have to worry about your sale falling through because we can’t find someone else to buy it.
Kendall Partners is your local, trusted cash home buying company in Chicago. We’ve been buying houses with cash since 2007, helping sellers take the stress and hassle out of selling quickly and allowing them to be rid of the burden of owning a hard-to-sell house. We help sellers get free from the stress of owning a burdensome house, allowing them to move on: Check out our testimonials and our 5-star Google reviews from satisfied sellers.Whether you have inherited an unwanted house, are facing job loss, divorce, a sudden illness or death in the family, or you just need to move quickly in order to take a new job or help out-of-state family members, we can buy your house fast with cash, in AS-IS condition. We have the expertise to guide you through your situation and determine if selling your house for cash is the right fit. Give us a call today at (630) 389-8232 or submit your information below and one of our friendly team members will reach out to you. We can have you a no-obligation fair cash offer on your house within 24 hours.