Thinking of Selling a House As Is in California? Here’s How

There are few things more stressful than preparing a house to sell, particularly when you have a reason to sell it fast or you need to start work on prepping your new home. Cleaning, purging, and hauling away trash are steps that can each take more time than you’ve actually got. Collectively, these tasks are an even bigger hassle to perform. When you add in repairs—whether to the roof, the garage, or just a few kitchen cabinets—your investment of time, money, and energy can feel that much more overwhelming.

The reality is, however, that you don’t have to get these things done in order to successfully sell your home. In California, selling a house as is just isn’t difficult to do when you’ve got a few things in place to help with the sale. So, you can put the cleaning, the rehab, and even staging aside and simply follow these steps to increase your chance of selling the house.

How to Successfully Sell Your Home As Is

Do a “For Sale by Owner”

Though a lot goes into doing a “for sale by owner” (FSBO), it can be less expensive—and less time consuming—than hiring a real estate agent. This is important to consider when you want to sell your property as is because you’ll need to find ways to reduce your costs and save time. An agent’s rate can run as high as six percent of a home’s sale price. Since an as-is house won’t sell for as much as one that’s been repaired, a commission will can take a big bite from your profit. You’ll have to interview potential agents to find the right fit for you. And there is no way to tell how hard they’ll actually work to sell your home—until they do or if they don’t.

Since an as-is house won’t sell for as much as one that’s been repaired, a real estate agent’s commission will can take a big bite from your profit.

Perform a Home Inspection

Before listing your house, whether you use a real estate agent or not, pay to have your home inspected. Get a few repair estimates from contractors as well. Most buyers will even order a home inspection and, possibly, get some estimates of their own. But it will benefit you to know in advance what they’re bound to find out. You’ll also know how to price the house correctly when you understand what it’ll take to fix it up. You may also seem more trustworthy if you present your inspection report first.

Disclose Issues About the Property

Another critical reason for performing a home inspection is that, per California law, you must disclose everything you know about your property to prospective buyers. And what you don’t know can still hurt you later down the line if your buyer suspects you withheld critical details about the house. In fact, in California, you can be sued. So, whether you’re selling the house after someone has died on the property or the home’s old roof has just fallen out of warranty, disclose every detail in writing because just saying “as is” doesn’t let you off the legal hook.

Your home’s condition can make or break a deal depending on whether the house is priced right.

Set a Price That Reflects the Condition of the House

If you set a sale price that reflects the condition of the house, you’re much more likely to sell it. You have to factor in other issues as well—such as size, age, and architectural design—and compare these to the features of homes that have recently sold in your area. And, of course, your home’s condition can make or break a deal depending on whether the house is priced right. To help you come up with the right number, take a look at sold homes online and visit any houses that are currently on the market. Then, deduct the cost of repairs the buyer will have to absorb (and prepare yourself to still be asked to make concessions on your price).

Advertise the Sale

If you’ve chosen to sell your home without a REALTOR®, you’ll need to advertise the sale of your house yourself. Luckily, there are multiple websites that will help you do it online for a fee. Some will even get the house on California’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which is how most buyers and their real estate agents search for homes. It also still helps to advertise in local newspapers, like the San Diego Tribune, and create postcards or flyers to hand out. All of this, of course, tends to get very expensive. But without advertising the sale, there are few ways you can successfully sell your home.

Tackling just one or more of these steps towards selling your California house as is can feel like a heavy lift. When you’re also selling the family home after a divorce or because you’re behind on the house payment and need financial relief, you’re going to be that much more stressed. Should your house not sell as quickly as you need it to—and, unfortunately, there is no guarantee it will—your efforts may also seem wasted.

The solution for getting around all the potential snags of successfully selling your home is to go directly to a buyer who can take the house off of your hands quickly—and as is. It’s easy to do, too, since you already know who they are.

The Ease of Selling a House As Is in California

San Diego-based Sell Your House Direct is an as-is cash buyer of Southern California homes. They make the process so easy; there is very little you’ll actually have to do. You won’t have to clean or perform any repairs. You don’t have to provide disclosures or set the sale price, either. You’ll incur zero out-of-pocket costs since you don’t need to conduct an inspection. SYHD will even help pay for your movers. In fact, all you really have to do is take what you want and simply leave what you don’t. SYHD will handle it and, in return, put cash in your hands.

Sell Your House Direct passes their savings on to you instead of significantly discounting your offer to account for their future repairs.

The cash offer you receive will be a fair and fast one, too. Since SYHD partners with construction and renovation pros, their rehab costs are much lower than what other buyers might pay to fix your house. Sell Your House Direct passes those savings on to you instead of significantly discounting your offer to account for their future repairs. And they can close on your home in under a week. When it comes to selling a house as is in California, there isn’t another buyer who makes it this easy.