Taking out a mortgage loan is probably the most common practice people use to purchase a home. It lets them borrow money to buy the home, and they pay it back with interest over a specified period of time.
Until the mortgage is repaid fully, they don’t fully own the home. And if they plan to move at some point, the mortgage needs to be paid off first. Fortunately, there’re several options available if you want to move quickly and still owe on the home.
Here’re the most popular ones from which you can take your pick.
Rent Out the House
If you don’t want to sell the home just yet, you can think of using it as a rental property. This strategy works well when you’ve got a low mortgage. You can easily collect enough money from the rental to cover your mortgage, maintenance and insurance costs, and taxes.
However, it’s important to understand that being a landlord has many responsibilities that you must carry out. Also, if you’re moving to a faraway place, you may need to engage a local property management company to take care of things on your behalf.
Opt For a Short Sale
Ideally, you should consider a short sale as your last option because it’s a lengthy process. However, if you owe more on your mortgage than the value of your home, you cannot use a traditional way to sell it (unless you’ve got the funds to cover the difference).
In a short sale, your house is sold for its current value, the lender receives the proceeds of the sale and writes off the remaining balance. One major downside of choosing a short sale is that your credit gets negatively affected, and you may need to wait a few years to obtain a new mortgage loan.
Sell the Home for Cash
This is probably the best option when you’ve got a loan to repay, and you’re planning to move quickly. The first thing you’ve to do is find a ‘we buy houses’ company or an individual buyer who’ll purchase the home for cash. You can publish an advertisement stating ‘I want to sell my house for cash’ to attract such buyers.
As these buyers don’t need bank financing, the closing process can be started as soon as you receive and accept the offer. Usually, you can close within one or two weeks and receive the cash.
Moreover, cash buyers purchase houses in as-is condition, which means they’ll buy your house in its current condition. You won’t need to think about organizing and staging the house or cleaning it. It’s a win-win situation for everyone – the buyer receives a discount on the house, and you get a quick offer and a much faster closing process than a traditional sale.
If you’ve got a fixer-upper, selling the house quickly using a traditional method of sale is a very difficult task. In that case, selling it to a ‘we buy houses’ company for cash is perhaps the best method to have a hassle-free transaction.
