As a homeowner in the Golden State, you may find yourself racing toward a new chapter in life and asking, “How can I sell my house fast in California?” Whether it’s a sudden event or a planned move, handling California’s dynamic real estate market swiftly can seem challenging.
In this guide, we’ll explore your two best options for a quick sale: securing an instant cash offer from a house-buying company or collaborating with a top-performing local real estate agent. We’ll delve into the processes of both avenues and provide expert selling tips that could lead to a swift sale and potentially higher returns.
Need to Sell Your House Fast in California?
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Option 1: Sell your California house fast for cash
Selling your California 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 California. 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 as little as a week. 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:
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Who else will buy your California house for cash?
You can also find other cash buyers in California, such as house flippers, iBuyers, and investors, who will buy a house for cash. Below 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, and renovate and sell them as turnkey homes for a significant profit. Like flippers, these investors offer sellers below market value.
Oriana Shea, a top-selling Long Beach agent with over 27 years of experience, reminds buyers that companies who buy homes for cash may sometimes tack on other fees to their services, even if they don’t work on a commission basis. It is always in the best interest of the buyer to ask the cash buyer outright regarding their terms and conditions.
Cash house buyers in California
California 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 California cash buyers can close in as little as three days.
Here are examples of some established house-buying companies in California.
| 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 California | 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 |
Has purchased over 4,000 homes since beginning operations in 2003; available in many California cities | None |
| SoCal Home Buyers | socalhomebuyers.com
951-331-3844 |
Founded by husband and wife, team Doug and Andrea Van Soests | None |
| Premier Property Buyers | premierpropertybuyers.com
714-475-7526 |
A local family-owned company that takes pride in being honest and transparent | None |
| John Medina Buys Houses | johnmedinabuyshouses.com
310-928-9688 |
Founded in Los Angeles in 2013, and now buying houses throughout California | None |
| Laurel Buys Houses | laurelbuyshouses.com
916-476-2381 |
Serving for more than 20 years, the company touts integrity, transparency, and putting customer needs first | None |
*Service plans can change. Check the company’s website for current fees and costs.
How to find a top Califonia real estate agent
Finding the ideal real estate agent in California can play a crucial role in a fast and smooth home sale. HomeLight’s Agent Match platform is here to assist. By analyzing over 27 million transactions and thousands of reviews, we can pair you with top-rated agents well-versed in California’s shifting market dynamics. Whether you’re buying or selling, HomeLight’s goal is to connect you with the best real estate professional for your specific needs.
12 strategies to sell a house fast in California
Top-performing California agents like Henderson, Fuller, and Shea have an arsenal of successful strategies that attract buyers and make homes sell faster.
Henderson explains, “We have a 21-step marketing plan that’s very comprehensive. We promote properties such that more people see those homes, more people show up to view the homes, and more people put offers in on the listing. So we’re generating a multiple-offer situation on most of our listings.”
Here are 12 expert strategies that can help you sell your California home fast:
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 California market.
“One of the first things, the most important things, is to price the home strategically, such that you attract the highest number of interested buyers in the market,” says Henderson.
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.
3. Showcase your outdoor area
California 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 outdoor television to watch the Dodgers play on a Saturday night.
4. Master the art of marketing your home
Top-notch photography and videos play a crucial role in effectively promoting your home. The initial image that captures the attention of potential buyers on the multiple listing service (MLS) is the front photo of your property. By presenting an impressive front photo that highlights your home’s appealing exterior, you’ll entice buyers to explore further.
“Drone and 3D tours are important when marketing a home because when you’ve got a 3D tour your listing goes to the top of the search results and all the syndicated websites,” explains Henderson.
5. Captivate with the first impression
When it comes to showcasing your space, curb appeal takes top priority. In California, buyers specifically look for a meticulously maintained front yard featuring drought-tolerant landscaping that can endure prolonged periods of dry weather. If you have xeriscape, ensure that you thoroughly clean the rocks by removing leaves, debris, and dirt. Additionally, pressure washing your siding, windows, sidewalk, front patio, and driveway is essential to enhance the overall appearance.
6. Beckon buyers with an inviting door
“Statistics show that a quality front door provides an exceptional return on investment,” Fuller states. “This means a great front door with a great quality lock. The moment you walk up to the door and it’s not squeaking, stuck, or damaged. It’s solid, it opens smoothly, and operates beautifully.”
7. Create an irresistible, bright interior space
To evoke a welcoming atmosphere, it’s important to declutter and thoroughly clean your home from top to bottom. This includes removing cobwebs and cleaning the often-overlooked baseboards. Don’t forget to clean the appliances and fixtures as well as the windows, screens, and tracks. Consider hiring a professional stager to enhance the overall presentation of your home. Shea advises, “Staging is super important, but this doesn’t have to mean hiring an expensive staging company.”
In addition, sunlight creates a sense of spaciousness and exudes a clean, comfortable ambiance. So open your window treatments and increase the interior light. This not only adds interior appeal but showcases a breathtaking view or an outdoor oasis.
8. Focus on the right repairs
“Many sellers want to invest in repairs or upgrades that aren’t necessary,” Fuller says.
Remodeling might not get the results you’re looking for, and construction may even slow down your home sale. Instead, focus on the things that will add value. A fresh coat of paint – inside and out – can work wonders in revitalizing your property. Create a fresh feel with new flooring. Luxury vinyl plank is particularly popular in California and provides a wonderful return on your investment.
9. Advertise your neighborhood’s walkability
Walkability is important for many California buyers. This makes it critical for sellers to highlight parks, coffee shops, and local restaurants in the neighborhood.
10. Promote additional space for lodging or an office
If your property has an auxiliary dwelling unit (ADU), such as a mother-in-law cottage, emphasize this in your listing. If you’re selling a home with large square footage or a home office, leverage these.
In addition, a spacious garage is a popular commodity in California. Even if you don’t have a large garage space, take the time to declutter it to show that a potential buyer has room to park vehicles, store bikes, kayaks, or UTV.
“An emerging trend in our market are detached garages,” Shea shares. “It used to be a deterrent to have a detached garage, but now with the new ADU regulations, they are considered a feature and benefit allowing buyers the option to utilize that detached garage as additional living space or an income opportunity.”
11. Market your owned solar
In California, explains Fuller, where rolling blackouts can be common, owned solar has immense appeal to home buyers. This is particularly true for larger homes or older homes that use a lot of electricity. If your home has a pool, multiple air conditioning units, or doesn’t have efficiency windows, but does include owned solar, make sure to include that in your listing.
12. Take advantage of California market timing
Along with the recommendations above, it can be helpful to know the level of market activity in your California 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 California home?
As you can see, a top real estate agent in California can help you navigate the many nuances that you might not otherwise discover until you’re swamped in the process. With a network of investors at their disposal, they can tap into resources that can help expedite the selling process. Particularly in the current climate of inventory shortage, the time it takes to sell a listed home may be as competitive as cash sales. Their organizational efficiencies and marketing expertise can help you sell your California house fast.
If you need an even faster sale, HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform provides cash offers for homes in almost any condition in California. 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.
Writer Stacy Sare Cohen contributed to this story.
Header Image Source: (Bob Osias / Unsplash)
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