Being foreclosed on is not a Buy my house for cash event, and it can haunt your credit score and make it unbearably difficult or even impossible to get a mortgage loan over the next seven years. Seven years! To prevent this kind of credit catastrophe, one of your best options to consider is selling your home. In many situations though, you’ll need to do this quickly in order to prevent being foreclosed on. While foreclosure is a process that can take a few months to a year to happen, selling a house can also be a bit of a lengthy process as well, so you should start thinking sooner rather than later, “I need to sell my house fast!” If foreclosure is coming and you know it, read on to minimize the damage to your financial future.
Deciding on Pricing
Since you’ll want to be selling your home quickly, you likely won’t be able to sit around waiting for the perfect buyer to appear to pay the price you think you deserve. In fact, it’s much better for you to take a hit on the money you receive for your house instead of getting foreclosed on. This will require pricing your house aggressively, and definitely not overpricing it. To guarantee a fast sale, you’ll want to entice potential buyers by thinking your house is a bargain. Look at the final sale prices of other similar properties in your neighborhood that have been sold recently and take 10 percent off of that average to arrive at your aggressive sale price.
If however you’re in the unfortunate state of owing more on your house than it’s worth, you’ll have to take even more steps to complete what is known as a short sale. To do this, you’ll have to work directly with your lender to get their acceptance of such a sale. While not having the money to make up the difference between the short sale and what you still owe on the house can also damage your credit, it still won’t be as bad as the consequences of a foreclosure either.
Once you’ve priced your house, it’s time to start marketing it. Get online and post your house on every listing website you can find. Even if cash is tight, hiring a professional photographer to take shots will drastically improve the reception you get from buyers looking online. You’ll also want to change out cheaper things that can make a house look new. This includes paint, carpet, and other cosmetic changes that are cheap in nature but can make a huge difference in the overall feel of a house. By doing the legwork to market your house and price it right, you’ll be able to sell your home quickly and avoid the horror of a foreclosure.
