How Long Does It Take to Sell a House?

Oftentimes when you’ve made the decision to sell your home, one of the first questions you may ask yourself is how long the process will take. While it can be frustrating to not have a concrete and definitive answer to this question, it may take longer than you may have thought. Many homeowners believe that homes can sell within days, and while you may receive an offer quickly, there is a lot more to the sale and purchase.

The Timeline

The timeline of how long it takes to sell a home varies drastically pending on the area, home-style, pricing, current market values, the available real estate within the area and so much more. While the real estate market can shift drastically and quickly, it seems that homes are selling at quite a fast rate currently and are currently selling 8% faster than they were a year ago. The risk you may have as a buyer is that bidding wars are quite common, in fact, 71% of homes sold in August of 2020 received multiple and competitive offers.

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In August 2020 the average home sold and closed escrow in 56 days, which means that the sellers would have accepted an offer in less than two weeks. This number can go either up or down pending on a few key factors. With the right agent, you should be able to get a rough idea of the market in your area which will not only help you price and advertise your home, but it will also inform you on if you are trying to sell in a hot or cold market which could drastically change the timeline of the sale.

Once an offer has been accepted, you’ll have to wait for escrow to close, this means that you have a minimum of 30 days to wait before handing over your keys to the buyers. The national average for closing a home is between 4-6 weeks, however, many underwriters have been pushing for a 30 day close upon offer acceptance.

Related: What Causes You to Lose Your Earnest Money?

Motivated?

Another factor that plays a big role in how quickly the home will close is the buyer’s willingness and eagerness to close. The buyer is required to submit documents, signatures, etc. to the underwriters in order for their loan to close, and thus, if they are not timely in doing so it could set the closing date back further. While there is no black and white answer to pinpoint how long homes will sit on the market, the market is booming, and homes aren’t generally sitting on the market for too long prior to receiving one if not multiple offers.

If you’re ready to list your property, are searching for a new home, or have questions regarding the real estate in the Northern Houston and Cypress real estate areas, please feel free to contact our office at any time.

Related: 

10 of the Best Home Improvement Projects for Sellers

How to Prepare for the Home Inspection When Selling