Selling Your House Online? Here are Your Options

Sell your house online with a top real estate agent

Most home sellers — 89%, in fact — partner with a real estate agent to help with their home sale. Although finding the best agent to sell your house might sound like a daunting task, there are online resources that have made finding a great agent easier than you might expect.

HomeLight, for instance, matches sellers with potential agents with a track record of success in their market. Sellers are empowered with information, including how quickly agents have sold homes in the past and how much they sell homes for compared to area norms.

Agents keep up-to-date on the latest tech-enhanced trends in real estate to help their clients market their homes. Online listings must grab prospective buyers’ attention, so they’ve got to stand out. Top agents can arrange professional photography, drone flyovers, and 3D tours to give your house listing an edge over similar properties.

They’ll even create paid marketing campaigns. According to Becker, “Most realtors will just put a home on the MLS and wait for the buyer to come to them.” However, Becker has found that including “online social media marketing, paid YouTube and Google ads, and specialized keywords” draws more attention to his listings.

Pros

• You get professional expertise from your top agent, including strategies that work best for buyers who are house hunting online.
• An agent who specializes in your area can provide insight into prospective buyers, neighborhood dynamics, and local real estate trends and highlight these in your online description.
• Top agents have access to the best inspectors and other professionals, so you’ll have peace of mind that your pre-sale inspection will be professional and thorough.

Cons

• Selling your house the traditional way by working with a real estate agent takes time. As of November 2023, the average timeline was 97 days — 52 days on market and 45 days for a buyer to close on a purchase loan.
• Your agent’s commission will come out of your sale profits.

Sell your house online as For Sale By Owner

The internet is a great resource for all kinds of information, including buying and selling real estate. Having easy access to online home selling resources has empowered and enabled homeowners to an unprecedented degree. Because of this, some sellers opt to forgo working with an agent and instead try selling For Sale By Owner (FSBO).

There’s a certain freedom that comes with being in charge of your entire sales process. However, it’s not exactly a popular home sale method, and often for good reason. In fact, only 7% of recent home sales were FSBO, which is partially due to the time and effort it requires. FSBO is a big project, so only take this on if you’re truly ready for a challenge.

Pros

• You can still list on the MLS through a flat fee MLS listing service for great visibility.
• You have total control over the sale.
• You don’t have to pay a real estate agent’s commission, which averages around 5%-6%, typically split evenly between the listing agent and buyer’s agent. However, as the seller, you’ll still probably have to cover the buyer’s agent’s commission.

Cons

• Marketing your home is all on you. You’ll have to create eye-catching content and spread it across the internet without a real estate agent’s help and expertise.
• FSBO takes a lot of time. Real estate agents earn their commissions by maintaining online listings, coordinating showings, and communicating with potential buyers. If you sell your house on your own, you’ll have to set aside plenty of time to dedicate to the sales process.
• You could lose money on your sale. On average, FSBO homes sold for approximately $310,000 in 2023 — much lower than the average price of $405,000 for agent-involved sales.
• You could put yourself at legal risk. A lot of documents in the selling process, such as a purchase agreement, are legally binding. Having an experienced, professional agent helps you avoid legal landmines. Consider working with a real estate attorney if you go this route.

Sell your house quickly to a cash buyer

The internet hasn’t only opened up the FSBO world; it also provides you with the ability to sell your house for cash directly to an iBuyer. Selling your house in this manner is a more streamlined process than a traditional sale, and you can often close in weeks rather than months.`

Traditional real estate sales involve finding an agent, staging your home, and vacating for showings and open houses. Investment buyers are looking for fast transactions and tend to pay cash for your home, sometimes sight unseen.

For people looking to cash out quickly, the internet has enabled new, simple options. For instance, HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform helps you get a competitive cash offer quickly. It takes just a few minutes to answer some simple questions about your home, and then you’ll receive a cash offer in as little as 24 hours and be able to close in as few as 10 days.

Pros

• It’s convenient since you don’t have to prepare your home for sale or showings. Some iBuyers will purchase your home without even visiting the property or sending an inspector.
• In some cases, you can sell your home entirely online.
• Direct sales can happen quickly, so it’s an intriguing option if you want to sell your house fast.
• Many direct sales happen without a real estate agent, so you’ll avoid certain costs like agent commissions.

Cons

• Direct buyers want a good deal. In exchange for a fast sale, you might have to settle for a lower price than you’d get from a traditional sale.
• There’s not much room for negotiation.

Develop a marketing strategy to sell your house online

If you decide to list your home FSBO, you’ll want to create a marketing strategy. Smart marketing includes keeping up with trends and creating a killer listing with stunning photos and a strong, detailed description of the house.

One of the biggest trends you’ll find is that online sales have led to a new and sometimes contactless method of real estate. In fact, in Becker’s experience, some buyers purchase homes without actually seeing the property in person. “They’re putting in offers online,” he says, “but there’s a large percentage that aren’t even coming over” to see a house with their own eyes.

That means it’s more important than ever to effectively market your house listing, and an eye-catching listing starts with great photography. Your listing pictures need to excite and entice prospective buyers to learn more about your house. So spruce up your indoor and outdoor living spaces, and hire a talented photographer.

Once you have fantastic photos, you’ll need to write an attention-grabbing and creative listing description. Tell the house’s story and help potential buyers picture themselves in your home. In Becker’s words, “you have to look at it through the buyer’s eyes and not your own.”

Selling your house online is a great and easy way to go

Gone are the days of homebuyers driving through neighborhoods looking for open houses. Instead, they’re searching for — and finding — their next house online. And thanks to a myriad of online tools, it’s easier than ever to sell your house online. Regardless of which sales method you choose, the internet can help you sell more easily than you ever thought possible.

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