Sell My House Fast in Virginia
Need to sell your house fast in Virginia?
Competitive cash offers: There’s no need to sort through dozens of We Buy Houses Virginia websites. Our team of experts understands the local market, and we work with one of the largest cash buyer networks in the nation to ensure you get the best offer possible through HomeLight’s Simple Sale Virginia platform.
No repairs or roadblocks: We specialize in helping Virginia sellers move quickly, even if a house needs repairs or you’re going through a difficult situation such as divorce, death in the family, or financial troubles.
Simple and fast: Get the cash you need to move on to your next chapter without the stress of showings, negotiations, or waiting months to close.
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Sell My House Fast in Virginia
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How to Sell My House Fast in Virginia: Cash Offer Options
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Sandy John Contributing AuthorClose
Sandy John Contributing AuthorSandy John is a freelance writer and editor who specializes in real estate, homeownership, and personal finance articles. Previously the real estate editor for The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, her byline has appeared in several national and regional publications. Sandy has purchased homes in four cities and she has lost track of how many DIY home-improvement projects she’s done.
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Richard Haddad Managing EditorClose
Richard Haddad Managing EditorRichard Haddad is the managing editor of HomeLight.com. He works with an experienced content team that oversees the company’s blog featuring in-depth articles about the home buying and selling process, homeownership news, home care and design tips, and related real estate trends. Previously, he served as an editor and content producer for World Company, Gannett, and Western News & Info, where he also served as news director and director of internet operations.
At HomeLight, our vision is a world where every real estate transaction is simple, certain, and satisfying. Therefore, we promote strict editorial integrity in each of our posts.
When life takes an unexpected turn, you might find yourself grappling with the pressing question: “How can I sell my Virginia house fast?” This urgency can stem from sudden life changes such as job loss or divorce, or the need to relocate for medical or emotional health. But when the clock is ticking, navigating the Virginia real estate market can seem daunting.
In this guide, we simplify your path to a rapid home sale in Virginia, presenting you with your two optimal choices: requesting a cash offer or partnering with a top local real estate agent. We’ll review the pros and cons of selling to a house-buying company, and share expert tips to help you make an informed decision about your home sale.
Need to Sell Your House Fast in Virginia?
Get an all-cash, no-obligation offer through HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform whenever you’re ready. Receive your offer in 24 hours and close in as few as 10 days. No showings, no repairs, no open houses. Available to sellers in Virginia.
Option 1: Sell your Virginia house fast for cash
Selling your Virginia house to a cash buyer allows you to cut through the traditional real estate process, such as inspections and repairs, home prep and staging, and can significantly accelerate your home sale.
HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform connects you to the largest network of cash buyers in the U.S., including trusted buyers in Virginia. We use the information you provide about your home, along with local neighborhood transaction data, to get you a convenient, no-obligation cash offer in 24 hours. If you accept the offer, you can close in as few as 10 days.
Here are the three easy steps in the Simple Sale process:
HomeLight was founded in 2012 and is BBB accredited with an A+ rating. The company has 4.6 stars on Google based on more than 500 user reviews.
Who else will buy your Virginia house for cash?
You can also find other cash buyers in Virginia, such as house flippers, iBuyers, and investors, who will buy a house for cash. Here are examples of these businesses, the types of homes they look to purchase, and their process.
- House flippers: House flippers buy homes with good bones in dire need of repair to remodel and resell as turnkey for a maximum profit. Flippers typically make offers well below market value to account for the cost of needed repairs.
- iBuyers: iBuyers use a proprietary algorithm that compares many data sets, including price history, lot acreage, a home’s square footage, tax valuation history, and other data points to determine the home’s automated valuation model (AVM). While historically offering more than flippers, iBuyers typically charge sellers a fee between 5% to 6%.
- Buy-and-hold investors: Buy-and-hold investors buy houses as long-term investments, often converting properties into rental units to build equity.
- Franchising/homebuying companies: These investors will buy your house “as-is” for cash, then renovate and sell them as turnkey homes for a significant profit. Like flippers, these investors offer sellers below market value.
Cash house buyers in Virginia
Virginia house-buying companies, also known as We Buy Houses companies, typically buy houses in need of repairs. Most of these companies will conduct a walkthrough within 48-72 hours, pay cash, and strive to close the sale in around seven to 10 days. In more urgent cases, some Virginia cash buyers can close in as little as three days.
Here are examples of some of the top house-buying companies in Virginia.
| Company name | Contact | About | Closing costs* |
| HomeVestors / We Buy Ugly Houses® | Webuyuglyhouses.com 866-200-6475 | Largest professional house-buying franchise in the U.S. | None |
| Simple Sale (a HomeLight platform) | Homelight.com/simple 844-488-8455 | Connects you to the largest network of cash buyers in the U.S., including trusted buyers throughout Virginia | None |
| We Buy Houses | Webuyhouses.com 877-932-8946 | Provides unified branding, marketing materials, and systems to professional investors nationwide | None |
| Express Homebuyers | ExpressHomebuyers.com 877-804-5252 | Virginia-based company has purchased over 4,000 homes since beginning operations in 2003; available in many states | None |
| 4 Brothers Buy Houses | 4brothersbuyhouses.com 202-601-4928 | Founded by four brothers (for real) and works with homeowners in the D.C. suburbs | None |
| Advantage Homebuyers of America | Sevendaystosold.com 757-644-1313 | Family-owned business based in Virginia Beach; has bought over 700 homes in 20 years | None |
*Service plans can change. Check the company’s website for current fees and costs.
Pros and cons of selling your Virginia house for cash
The experience of selling a house for cash in Virginia can vary from company to company. However, most owners encounter these benefits and drawbacks when selling their home to companies for cash.
Pros
- Fast closing: A cash sale in Virginia is significantly faster than a traditional mortgage-backed home purchase, often allowing you to close in as few as three to 10 days.
- No repairs needed: You can sell your Virginia home as-is, in most cases, with no repairs or renovations.
- No fees or commissions: Many cash buyers will cover closing costs and fees.
- No showings or open houses: You won’t have to stage your Virginia home for listing photos or prepare the property for showings or open houses.
- No obligation until you commit: After you receive a no-obligation offer, you can compare it to other offers. You can even consult a Virginia Realtor® for comparisons.
- Step away from a problem: With a fast cash sale, you can often avoid dealing with problem tenants or potential foreclosure.
- No contingencies: Cash buyers can waive contingencies that can make negotiations difficult, namely the financing contingency and appraisal contingency.
- No negotiating: You won’t have to deal with multiple buyers or the pressure of back-and-forth negotiating on price, credits, or repairs.
- Move on with life: If you inherited a Virginia home, are facing divorce, dealing with a death, or having financial challenges, a cash sale can help you move on from the home and possibly resolve some issues faster.
Cons
- Lower sale price: Cash sales typically result in a lower selling price than a traditional sale with the help of a qualified real estate agent.
- Repairs cost may be deducted: If the home does need major repairs, the cost of those may be deducted from the offer, depending on the cash buyer.
- May be harder to find a buyer: Depending on the condition or location of your Virginia home, you may have limited cash buyer options, especially if you have a unique property that will be harder for investors to flip.
- You’ll need to vet companies: It’s important to do research on “we buy houses for cash” companies in Virginia to make sure they are legitimate and reputable.
- Transparency may be limited: Some cash buyers won’t share their home evaluation process or how they calculated their offer, which is sometimes reduced last minute.
- Hidden fees: As you vet cash buyers, watch for hidden or unexpected fees. Read your purchase contract carefully before signing.
Option 2: Hire a top Virginia real estate agent
Working with a top agent in Virginia can be a good option for sellers who would like to sell faster than average but who have some time to devote to a traditional sale vs. an instant cash offer. Top agents who know the local area can add value in the following ways:
- Offer expertise in pricing so your home sells fast
- Prioritize repairs and upgrades that increase home value
- Provide staging tips to make your home appeal to more buyers
- Apply various marketing techniques to bring in a larger pool of buyers
- Use local expertise for skillful negotiation
HomeLight data shows that top Virginia agents sell homes faster than most agents, and the top 5% of agents sell homes for up to 10% more than average agents. Working with a top agent can lead to a speedy sale for top dollar to help you move past a divorce, sell a loved one’s estate, or get out of debt.
How fast homes are homes selling in Virginia?
In Virginia, the current statewide median days on market (DOM) for a listed home is around 23 days. The DOM represents the time from listing to a signed contract. In addition to the contract period, many sellers must also take into account the time until closing, which averages an additional 43 days a buyer needs to close on a purchase loan.
While these DOM estimates represent statewide medians, local market conditions can determine how quickly or slowly your house sells in Virginia.
Overall, home sales have been slowing in the commonwealth, with the Virginia Association of Realtors reporting that: “The 2023 housing market in Virginia has been very slow compared to prior years. Midway through the year (January through June), there have been a little over 50,000 homes sold across the state, which is back to around 2015 activity levels.”
Because of low inventory, prices remain high and have even gone up slightly over the previous year, although homes are spending a few more days on the market.
”It’s still fully a seller’s market. Most homes that are in good shape and priced right are getting multiple offers and selling over the weekend,” says Walter Grewe, a top agent in the Roanoke market with 17 years of experience.
Virginia real estate conditions and trends
Here is a snapshot of current real estate conditions in Virginia
| As of June 2023 | |
| Days on market (average time from list to contract) | 23 days* |
| Median home sale price | $411,000 |
| Number of new listings | -25% from last year |
| Number of closed home sales | -17.5% from last year |
| List price vs. sale price | 101.2% |
| Supply of inventory | 1.8 months |
| Population growth year over year* | +0.3% |
*Does not include the typical 44 days a buyer needs to close on a purchase loan. Data source(s): Virginia Realtors, World Population Review
10 strategies to sell a house fast in Virginia
Top-performing Virginia agents have an arsenal of successful strategies that attract buyers and make homes sell faster.
1. Set your price competitively
An experienced top agent will perform a comparative market analysis (CMA) to help you set the best price to sell a house fast in your Virginia market. Performing a CMA allows you to “look at the trend of where pricing is going in the neighborhood,” Grewe explains.
It’s important for your home’s price to reflect what other homes in the neighborhood have recently sold for because most buyers “have already started to do their research online before they ever end up working with any Realtor,” he notes. They have access to real estate websites and even the county tax office’s website, so they can see what other homes in the neighborhood have sold for.
Buyers who have done their homework “already have a ballpark figure in their head” of what homes in the neighborhood sell for, and if your home is wildly overpriced, people touring your house will know, Grewe says.
Additionally, people have an expectation of how the finishes and appliances in a $400,000 house differ from those in a $300,000 home. If you’re asking $400,000 for a home that’s worth closer to $300,000, the people who tour it will be disappointed and leave. When you overprice the house, you’re setting the wrong expectations, “you’re getting people in there who are not going to buy that house, and they’re just walking away,” Grewe explains.
Pricing the home correctly from the start will help attract the kind of buyers looking for a house like yours, so you’ll sell faster.
If you’re curious about your home’s current value, try HomeLight’s Home Value Estimator. While it shouldn’t dictate your final pricing strategy, an online home value estimate can give you a ballpark price range. You can get a preliminary estimate in less than two minutes.
2. Consider a pre-listing inspection
Home inspections can often hold up a sale. With a pre-listing inspection, you’ll know repair issues in advance and let the buyer know about issues before they make an offer, which saves time.
Even if you don’t want to do an inspection, consider repairing major issues like sagging roofs and iffy HVAC systems, Grewe advises. “People are concerned about higher ticket items like HVAC or the roof. No one wants to move into a house and have to put a new roof on it right away.”
Whether you should do a major repair may depend on the specific situation, but Grewe does recommend taking care of obvious issues, such as replacing a leaky roof or siding damaged in a storm. Such repairs do impact the price of the house. “Having a brand new roof is obviously going to give you a better list price than your neighbor’s house that still has a 20-year-old roof.”
3. Showcase your outdoor area
Virginia home shoppers love usable outdoor space. Extending your living space outdoors can be extremely appealing to buyers. Consider how you might transform your outdoor area into an attractive oasis. This might include adding a full furniture set, smoker, and television to watch the Nationals play on warm summer evenings.
“People like the ability to have an outdoor area, whether it is an enclosed deck or a patio with a fire pit,” Grewe notes. If your home doesn’t have a dedicated outdoor entertaining area, you can create one on a budget by arranging some lawn chairs around a small portable firepit.
4. Use the best technology to market your home
“You cannot get enough eyeballs on a home,” Grewe says, and social media can help get your home in front of more eyeballs. Grewe uses a professional photographer for every listing, and he posts the photos and information just about everywhere imaginable, from his company’s social media channels on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, to Facebook groups that highlight open houses and even groups that focus on yard sales.
Grewe’s photographer provides a laser-measured floor plan for the house, which he also posts on social media. “People find that very useful” because they can see the dimensions of each room and determine if their furniture will fit, he says.
5. Declutter to make the home look bigger
Removing clutter and doing a thorough cleaning can make a big difference in whether your home is attractive to buyers. “Reducing the clutter is one of the things I consistently discuss with sellers,” Grewe notes. “You’re moving, right? Pack all this stuff up. Get a storage unit or sell this stuff if you’re not taking it with you.”
Getting clutter out of the house has a couple of benefits, Grewe explains. “A staging friend of mine told me years ago that the more floor you can see, the bigger the home looks, the bigger the room looks.” So removing furniture makes your home look more spacious. It also helps reduce what Grewe calls “pinch points,” or areas in your home where potential buyers feel uncomfortable because there’s not enough room for them to move around easily.
While you’re decluttering, depersonalize the space by removing your hunting trophies and your sports memorabilia. Those sorts of items become distractions and reduce the home’s appeal. Grewe tells sellers to put their emotions about their collections aside and pack them away because “we want to appeal to as many people as possible that walk in here.”
6. Clean, clean, clean
It should go without saying, but you must clean your home thoroughly before you show it. In addition to decluttering, make the home neat and tidy. Vacuum floors, scrub surfaces, and pay attention to eliminating odors that visitors will find unpleasant. “I have been in houses where .. the pet odor is considerable, and there is nothing more off-putting to folks than pet odors,” Grewe says.
In Virginia, where it’s humid and pollen is common, take steps to reduce pollen and mold in the home to avoid triggering a potential buyer’s allergies. Consider using a HEPA filter, and mow the lawn regularly to reduce grass pollen. Tackle minor mold issues with a biodegradable moldicide, but consult a professional for larger mold problems.
7. Make your door and entryway inviting
Buyers invariably spend time in your entryway while waiting for the agent to unlock the door, Grewe says, so the entryway, yard, and front door should be neat and tidy, showing the home is well maintained. “The last thing we want is for you to have overgrown bushes or dead plants.” Instead, the front door and doorframe should have fresh paint, the hedges should be trimmed, and you should have some welcoming, colorful flowers planted.
A HomeLight survey of top real estate agents found that sellers get an average 238% return on investment nationally on the cost of simple steps to improve curb appeal, such as basic landscape maintenance, putting out fresh mulch, and replacing the garage door.
8. Increase the light in your home
If you watch house-hunting shows on TV, you know that buyers are looking for a house that is light and airy. The more light you have in your home, the lighter and airier it will seem. To increase the amount of light in your home, take down heavy drapery and window coverings and add lamps or other lighting sources in any dark areas.
Set the stage for potential buyers by turning on all the lights before anyone comes to view your home. “A well-lit room looks larger,” Grewe says, adding that painting the walls in light, neutral colors can also help make the room look lighter and more inviting.
9. Make upgrades on older houses
In Virginia cities like Richmond, Arlington, and Roanoke, where much of the housing stock predates the 90s, “people are looking for homes that have been updated,” Grewe says, “We’re starting to see more luxury vinyl plank flooring throughout homes because it has been shown to be a superior product as far as maintainability.” He’s also seeing solid-surface countertops in “starter homes” where traditionally, you’d see laminate counters.
Vinyl replacement windows are another popular item that appeals to people buying older homes, he adds.
Younger buyers, like those buying houses in Northern Virginia, like eco-friendly features such as smart thermostats, rain barrels, and energy-efficient appliances.
10. Take advantage of Virginia’s market timing
Along with the recommendations above, it can be helpful to know the level of market activity in your Virginia market during different times of the year. HomeLight’s Best Time to Sell Calculator uses housing market data for your city to show you the best and worst months to sell your home. See when is the best time to sell a house if you want to make the most money and which months are best to sell your house fast.
Ready to sell your Virginia home?
As you can see, a top real estate agent in Virginia can help you navigate the many nuances that you might not otherwise discover until you’re swamped in the process. Their organizational efficiencies and marketing expertise can help you sell your Virginia house fast.
If you need an even faster sale, HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform provides cash offers for homes in almost any condition in Virginia. If you don’t have the time or the means to prepare your home or move through the traditional listing process, you can skip the repairs and showings and close in as few as 10 days. Complete a short questionnaire and receive a no-obligation cash offer in 24 hours.
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