Relocation is a complicated exercise that requires a good deal of forethought and coordination. We get local Charlotte home sellers calling us or submitting their house info on this website every week saying “I’m relocating and need to sell my house in Charlotte“. The great thing is that we’re able to help a good many of those sellers sell their house quickly (because we’re actively buying houses in Charlotte NC right now!).
There is a tremendous amount of detail to keep together, plus the stress of whatever is making you move in the first place – often it’s a new job or a sick relative, but the true need to move always comes with a dramatic change.
So how do you make the most out of a difficult situation?
Don’t Agonize – Organize.
You don’t want to be in a situation where you end up paying to own and maintain a vacant house for many months or even years after you have relocated. That gets expensive and it doesn’t have to be that way.
Although the market is relatively stable right now in Charlotte, it’s not as hot as it was a year or two ago when prices are were rapidly appreciating and houses were selling in a matter of days. Currently the prices have stabilized and days on market have increased . No one has a crystal ball, the market can change in the blink of an eye. We’ve heard some serious horror stories over the past couple of decades. Unless you’re rolling in dough, you probably can’t afford to carry two house payments for very long… and even if you could that doesn’t sound like a good idea.
So how do you make the right choices when you’re relocating and need to sell your Charlotte NC house fast?
Relocating And Need To Sell My House Fast In Charlotte… Your Options And Steps
First…
- Find out what your house is worth: To do this you can contact a reputable real estate appraiser for a professional appraisal, that could set you back 4 to 6 hundred bucks! You could reach out to real estate agent for a CMA (comparative market analysis) to get a better idea of your home’s value. Be prepared for the sales pitch though, once they know you are thinking of selling they will probably start hounding you to list with their company. You could connect with us and we can give you a no cost no obligation valuation on your property. Once you know what the house may be able to sell for in the current market, that sets the basis for how long you may willing to wait to sell it.
- Decide how fast you need to sell your house before or after you relocate: This is a biggie. I’ve seen professionals who moved out of state for a job who had their house on the market for over a year before selling it for a much much lower price than they hoped. Figure out how fast you need to sell your house… and how long you’re willing to keep making two housing payments, insurance payments, HOA fees, utilities, landscaping, etc. This is really important to plan for… Depending on the market conditions, a well priced home in good shape may take anywhere between 30-90 days to find a buyer and then could take another 30-60 days to complete the transaction and close if sold in a traditional method with real estate agents. (that’s assuming everything goes off without a hitch.)
- Find a solid real estate agent BEFORE you start packing boxes: Get the ball rolling early so you don’t waste any time. Every month that you wait or every month that it takes to sell the house… costs you money. Or if you don’t want to use a real estate agent to sell… we are a reputable local house buyer and we’d love to make you a fast-fair all cash offer. Just fill out the form through this link to get started >>
- Calculate the value of selling your house fast vs. “waiting it out” for a dream price: We all want to sell our houses for as much as possible. But one thing many people forget to do is come up with the dollar amount of how much it costs you to hold onto this house. The costs involved include the mortgage (which if you’re still within the first 10 years of the mortgage, the majority of your payment interest and not hardly going to principal at all), insurance, taxes, maintenance, HOA fees, utilities, landscaping, etc. Lets say you want to sell your house for $300,000… and your mortgage payment is $1,700/month, taxes $300/month, $150/month for insurance, and $100/month for maintenance (lawn maintenance, repairs while you’re gone, etc.).Those expenses add up to $2,250/month in “non equity building” expenses. If it takes you 7 months to sell that house through a real estate agent for that $300,000… it cost you $15,750 in DIRECT “holding costs” + you had to pay $18,000 in real estate agent fees (assuming 3% for the buyers agent and 3% for the sellers agent).Totaling $33,750 in LOST money. That doesn’t even account for the value of your time, your stress in thinking about that property sitting on the market, the opportunity cost of what you could have been doing with that extra money during those 7 months, etc. So the real cost to you was likely closer to $45,000.But, what if you were to sell your house next week and avoid all of that? Even if you sold for a discount below the retail price (lets say… $260,000)… you’re still ahead of the game by selling the house NOW at a discount to a home buyer like Zack Buys Houses vs. 7 months later at full price (and paying holding costs and real estate agent fees). Make sense?
- Consider renting the house out: You probably have a low rate on your current mortgage and the payment with the taxes and insurance is less than the market rent. This puts you in a position to create positive cash flow or passive income. Managing a rental property from another city can be a big challenge, most inexperienced landlords will need professional management to make sure the property maintained is taken care of and the rent is collected in a timely manner. This is a good option if you do not need your equity to buy the next house and you would benefit from the monthly income. If you do not want to deal with regular tenants that may tear up your property we have a rent to own program that helps folks buy properties on a rent to own basis. It’s the best of both options really. You get the monthly income for a while while the tenant is getting ready to buy and then when they do complete the sale you get cashed out all of your equity.
- Take action!: Whatever you decide… decide and take action. If you want to sell or rent the traditional way, great! Go the real estate agent route and find a reputable local Charlotte NC agent. If you’d rather not have to wait and not have to pay real estate agent commissions and fees… then a viable option may be to sell or rent your house to us 🙂
If you’ve got a lot of time on your side and a really great property, you might want to test the market by offering it out at a high price. There’s a small chance someone might just fall in love and be willing to pay top dollar, all cash and not even check the value with an appraisal – people do crazy things for love.
Most properties are pretty similar, in reality. They tend to be like the other houses around them in the neighborhood, in the same way that people who live near each other tend to have a lot in common too. So unless your property is truly exceptional, as in magazine-quality extra-special, you probably won’t capture the most money in the market by pricing at the highest point.
You can also win by marketing your property for rent and sale at the same time, just to see what happens first. You have to maintain control of the process, which can confuse even seasoned real estate brokers.
In certain situations, we may partner with property owners to help secure lease option agreements where highly qualified purchasers rent the property for an agreed time before buying. This strategy can yield buyers who are willing to pay top dollar for your house if you are willing to wait a little longer to be cashed out in full. All the while you will be receiving monthly payments until the sale is completed.
In other cases, we may help renegotiate a loan, help make monthly payments, offer relocation funds or conduct a short sale with a bank.
We love helping people solve complicated problems.
Creative solutions can bridge the gap to get you where you need to be.
Who Is Zack Buys Houses And How Can We Help You If You’re Relocating And Need To Sell In Charlotte?
We’re local investors. We support our families and beautify neighborhoods by buying houses from Charlotte home owners who need to sell fast for one reason or another.
The types of sellers who tend to work with us include people who…
- Need to sell fast (we can close in as little as 7 days if you need us to)
- Don’t want to hassle with listing a property with an agent
- Don’t want to have deal with showings and keeping the house in showing condition at a moments notice
- Need to sell a house that is in need of repairs or is outdated
- Don’t want to pay real estate agent commissions and fees or be locked into a long term contract with no guarantee of selling
- Need to sell a house with tenants occupying the property
- Can’t sell their house for one reason or another (we buy houses in as-is condition)
- … or a variety of other reasons
We’re passionate people, and we believe in the Charlotte community.
We’re honest and straightforward.
We’ll quote you a fair price, and we can close fast with cash.
If you’re prepared to wait and can hire professionals to help, you can manage the sale of your property from a distance. In certain circumstances that risk can pay off.
We’re happy to help you find answers to your toughest questions about your Charlotte real estate, so please feel free to call us at (704) 769-0141 and chat with us anytime.