In this guide
- How Long Does It Take to Sell a House in 2026?
- 3 Ways to Sell Your House Fast (Compared)
- How to Sell Your House Quickly on the Open Market: 10 Tips
- The Fastest Way to Sell Your House: A Local Cash Buyer
- How to Sell My House Quickly for a Good Price
- How to Vet a Cash Home Buyer (Red Flags)
- Selling As-Is in Missouri: What You Still Must Disclose
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The Bottom Line
The Short Answer
The fastest way to sell your house is to take a cash offer from a local home buyer. There’s no mortgage to wait on, so a cash sale can close in as little as 7 days, or on a later date you choose, instead of the two to three months a typical listing takes. If getting the highest price matters more than speed, list with a good local agent and price it right from day one.
- Fastest: a local cash buyer. You sell as-is, with no repairs and usually just one visit.
- Highest price: listing with an agent. Plan on about two to three months from listing to cash in hand.
- Before you decide: compare what you’ll actually walk away with, not the headline price, and make sure a cash buyer is using its own money.
If you’re asking “how can I sell my house fast?”, something in your life is probably moving faster than the housing market. Maybe it’s a new job, a divorce, a house you just inherited, repairs you can’t afford, or payments that are starting to slip. Whatever brought you here, you need a plan that works on your timeline, not someone else’s.
Here’s the truth: you have more options than most people realize, and every fast option trades something for speed. Sometimes it’s price. Sometimes it’s effort. Sometimes it’s certainty. Our job in this guide is to lay all of them out honestly so you can pick the one that fits.
We’re Swift Home Buys, a local, family-owned home buyer that has helped St. Louis homeowners for over 10 years. Yes, we buy houses for cash. But we’re an open book, and a cash sale isn’t right for everyone. If listing your house with an agent is the smarter move for you, we’ll say so.
How Long Does It Take to Sell a House in 2026?
Before you pick a strategy, it helps to know what “normal” looks like right now. A traditional sale runs on two clocks: the time it takes to get an offer, and the time it takes to close after you accept one.
The national numbers
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), homes that sold in September 2026 spent a median of 33 days on the market, up from 31 days in August. Inventory has climbed to a 4.8-month supply, and NAR’s chief economist noted that longer selling times and more listings are giving buyers more negotiating power.
Then the second clock starts. Most buyers use a mortgage, and ICE’s Mortgage Monitor found that purchase loans took an average of 36.8 days to close in early 2026, the fastest pace since it started tracking in 2019.
Put those together and a typical financed sale takes about two to three months from listing to cash in hand. That’s before the weeks you spend cleaning, fixing, and getting the house ready to list.
What that means in St. Louis
Every neighborhood moves at its own pace. A move-in-ready house in a popular part of St. Louis County can get offers in days, while a dated house in a slower area can sit for months. For the latest local numbers, check the St. Louis REALTORS monthly housing report.
The bigger factor is the house itself. Homes that need major repairs, have tenants, or come with title or probate issues almost always take longer on the open market, because a lot of buyers and lenders won’t touch them.
We buy houses all over the St. Louis area, and each of our local pages covers what a fast sale looks like there: St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County, Jefferson County, Franklin County, and Lincoln County.
3 Ways to Sell Your House Fast (Compared)
There are three main ways to sell a house. Each one balances speed, price, and hassle a little differently.
| List with an agent | Sell it yourself (FSBO) | Local cash buyer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical time to close | 2–3 months (about 33 days to an offer + about 37 days to close a financed sale) | Similar to an agent or longer | As little as 7 days; often 2–4 weeks |
| Repairs and showings | Usually yes | Usually yes | None. Sell as-is, usually with one visit |
| Main costs | Agent commission (commonly cited at 5–6% total, negotiable) plus closing costs and concessions | Closing costs, marketing, and often a buyer’s agent fee | Every cash buyer has its own process and terms. At Swift Home Buys, you pay no commission and we cover your closing costs. |
| Price vs. open market | Usually the highest | Can be high, but harder to achieve | Lower; reflects repairs and the buyer’s risk |
| Certainty | Deals can fall through over financing or inspections | Same risk, without a professional to manage it | High, if the buyer actually has the money |
| Best for | Move-in-ready homes when you have time | Experienced sellers in hot markets | Homes needing work, tight deadlines, inherited or complicated situations |
1. List with a real estate agent
Agents provide a great service for sellers who can wait. A good local agent puts your home in front of the most buyers through the MLS, prices it accurately, and negotiates for you, which is why listing usually brings the highest sale price. NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers found that 91% of sellers used a real estate professional.
The trade-off is time and cost. You’ll pay commission and closing costs, and often repairs or credits after the buyer’s inspection. And if the buyer’s loan falls through, you can end up back on the market weeks later.
2. Sell it yourself (FSBO)
Selling “for sale by owner” saves the listing agent’s commission, but it’s rarely the fastest route the first time. You handle the pricing, photos, marketing, showings, negotiating, and paperwork yourself, and plenty of buyers still show up with an agent who expects to be paid. FSBO can work in a hot market if you’ve done it before. If speed is the goal, it usually isn’t the shortcut it looks like.
3. Sell to a local cash home buyer
A local cash buyer purchases your house as-is with their own money. No mortgage approval, no repairs, and usually just one visit. That’s why this is the fastest way to sell your house when it needs work or your deadline is tight.
The trade-off is price, and we’ll be upfront about it: a cash buyer takes on the repairs, the holding costs, and the risk, and the offer reflects that. One more thing worth knowing: not everyone who says “we buy houses” actually buys them. We’ll show you how to tell the difference further down.
How to Sell Your House Quickly on the Open Market: 10 Tips
If your house is in good shape and you can wait a couple of months, listing will probably get you the most money. These 10 tips help you sell your house quickly once it’s on the market.
Selling your house quickly on the open market comes down to three things: a price buyers can’t ignore, a home that looks cared for, and a listing that’s easy to find and easy to act on. Almost every piece of advice on how to sell house quickly pulls one of those three levers. Here’s how to pull each one without spending money you won’t get back.
Price it right from day one
1. Price for the first two weeks. Your listing gets the most attention right after it goes live. Price it in line with recent sales nearby, not what you hope it’s worth. An overpriced house sits, and a house that sits starts to make buyers wonder what’s wrong with it.
2. Know when to adjust. Agree with your agent up front on what happens if showings are light after the first week or two. A small, early price change usually costs less than another few months of mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, and utilities on a house you’re trying to leave.
Prep the house without overspending
3. Declutter and deep clean. Buyers need to picture their own life in the space. Clear the counters, empty half of every closet, take down family photos, and clean everything, including the baseboards and grout. It costs very little and makes every room look bigger in photos.
4. Fix what buyers notice. Leaky faucets, broken switches, missing trim, and peeling paint make buyers wonder what else has been ignored. A pre-listing inspection can flag issues before the buyer’s inspector does, so you can fix them or price them in. Skip big remodels. On a fast timeline, you rarely get that money back.
5. Boost curb appeal. The front of your house is the first photo buyers see. Mow, edge, pull weeds, trim the bushes, pressure-wash the walk, touch up the front door, and add a couple of potted plants. All weekend jobs.
6. Stage the main rooms. In NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Staging, 49% of sellers’ agents said staging cut a home’s time on the market, and 29% saw offers 1% to 10% higher. Focus on the living room, primary bedroom, and kitchen. Neutral paint and good lighting go a long way.
Market it hard in week one
7. Invest in professional photos. According to NAR, 52% of recent buyers found the home they bought online, so your photos are your first showing. Hire a pro, shoot on a bright day, and add a video walkthrough or 3D tour for out-of-town buyers.
8. Get maximum exposure. Make sure the house is on the MLS and the major listing sites, with a clear, honest description of what buyers care about: updates, location, lot size, schools, and anything that saves them money.
Make it easy to say yes
9. Be flexible with showings. Every showing you turn down is a buyer who may not come back. Yes, that means keeping your house cleaner than it has ever been, on a moment’s notice, for weeks. Plan short outings for the kids and pets and say yes to evenings and weekends.
10. Offer the right incentives. When buyers have more choices, a credit toward closing costs or a home warranty can tip them toward your house without cutting your price. And give extra weight to offers from buyers who are pre-approved, or paying cash, with few contingencies.
The Fastest Way to Sell Your House: A Local Cash Buyer
If your house needs repairs, you’re up against a hard deadline, or you just can’t do months of showings, a local cash buyer is usually the fastest way to sell your house. There’s no lender involved, so there’s no appraisal, no underwriting, and no loan that can fall apart the week of closing. If you’ve ever had a buyer’s lender go quiet three days before closing, you know exactly why that matters.
How a cash sale works with Swift Home Buys
Our process has four steps:
- Tell us about your property. Share a few basic details through our get an offer form or call or text us at (314) 357-0402.
- Set an appointment. We’ll schedule one quick visit to see the house and meet you in person. One visit, not weeks of showings.
- Get a fair offer. You’ll get a no-obligation, all-cash offer, and we’ll walk you through exactly how we got to that number. Whether you say yes is 100% your decision.
- Close the deal. You pick the closing date. We can close in as little as 7 days, or later if you need time to move.
You sell the house as-is, so there are no repairs or upgrades to make. You won’t pay any real estate commissions, and we cover the closing costs. We buy with our own funds, not a bank’s, so you don’t have to worry about whether we can close. You can see every step on our How It Works page.
We also try to make the move itself easier. Deborah Lydon sold us the home her parents had lived in for over 50 years. In her words: “Really appreciated that the closing costs were paid, could leave unwanted items in the property, and close in a time that worked best for me.” Bryan Medlin, selling his mother’s home, needed 15 extra days to move out after closing, and we made that work. You can read more reviews from St. Louis homeowners.
When a cash sale makes sense (and when it doesn’t)
A cash sale is often the right call when:
- The house needs major repairs, updates, or cleanup you can’t afford or manage.
- You’re facing foreclosure, divorce, relocation, or another deadline.
- You inherited the house and want a simple, fast sale. Our guide to selling an inherited home in probate in St. Louis walks through that process.
- You’re a tired landlord. We buy rentals with the tenants still in them.
- You care more about certainty and convenience than squeezing out every last dollar.
It may not be the right call if your house is updated and move-in ready, you have time to list, and top price is your priority. In that case the open market will probably net you more, and we’ll tell you so. See more situations on our reasons for selling page.
How to Sell My House Quickly for a Good Price
Speed and price pull in opposite directions, but you don’t have to give up one completely to get the other. The key is to compare offers by what you’ll actually walk away with, not the headline number.
Run the net-proceeds math
A higher list price doesn’t always mean more money in your pocket. To compare a listing with a cash offer fairly, add up what each path really costs:
- Commission and closing costs. Agent fees and seller closing costs come out of the sale price.
- Repairs and prep. Fixes, paint, cleaning, staging, and whatever the buyer asks for after inspection.
- Concessions. Closing cost credits or price cuts negotiated during the deal.
- Holding costs. Every extra month is another mortgage payment, plus taxes, insurance, utilities, and upkeep, and a second housing payment if you’ve already moved.
- Risk. The chance a financed deal falls through and you start over.
Now compare that to a cash offer with no commissions, no repairs, covered closing costs, and a date you choose. Sometimes the open market wins clearly. Sometimes the gap is a lot smaller than it looked, especially for houses that need work.
It also helps to know how cash buyers set their price, so here’s the honest version. Many investors start from a rule of thumb: roughly 70% of the home’s after-repair value, minus the cost of repairs, according to HomeLight. At Swift Home Buys, we look at the location, the repairs needed, the current condition, and what comparable houses nearby have sold for recently. Our offers are below full market value, because we take on the repairs and the risk. What we aim for is a price that’s fair for you and fair for us.
Two habits help you protect your price while you move fast. First, get both kinds of numbers before you decide: a pricing opinion from a local listing agent and at least one written cash offer. Seeing them side by side shows you exactly what speed costs for your specific house. Second, set your deadline first, then work backward from it. If your honest answer to “when do I need to sell my house quickly?” is “within a month,” a traditional listing probably can’t get you there once you add prep time, days on market, and a mortgage closing. If you have three months or more, you have room to test the market and keep a cash offer as your backup plan.
How to Vet a Cash Home Buyer (Red Flags)
Here’s the truth about those YouTube ads, postcards, and “we buy houses” signs: many of the companies behind them don’t actually buy houses. They’re wholesalers. They put your house under contract, then try to sell that contract to a real buyer, which leaves you stuck in the middle with no guarantee your home will ever close. Advertising doesn’t equal reliability. Before you sign anything, watch for these warning signs:
- They can’t tell you whose money is buying your house. Ask directly: “Are you buying it, or assigning the contract to someone else?” A real buyer answers in one sentence.
- They ask you for money. A real buyer never charges you an upfront “processing” or “application” fee.
- They pressure you. “Sign today or lose it” is a red flag. A fair offer will still be fair tomorrow.
- They can’t show proof of funds. Ask for it, and get a written contract you can review.
- They have no local footprint. Look for a real local address, a phone number that rings a real person, and reviews from real sellers.
- They change the deal at the last minute. Some buyers lock you in with a high number, then cut it right before closing. Ask up front what could change the price, and get it in writing.
- They won’t use a title company. Legitimate sales close through a licensed title company or real estate attorney who handles the money and paperwork.
It never hurts to have a real estate attorney look over the contract. For the full story on how wholesalers operate, read Don’t Be Fooled by Advertising: The Truth About Who Really Buys Your Home in St. Louis.
Selling As-Is in Missouri: What You Still Must Disclose
Selling as-is means you won’t make repairs. It doesn’t mean you can hide problems. In Missouri, sellers are generally expected to disclose known material defects, and the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act makes it unlawful to conceal or leave out material facts in a home sale.
In practice, most sellers use the Missouri Seller’s Disclosure Statement to describe known issues like roof leaks, foundation problems, or water damage. If your house was built before 1978, federal law also requires a lead-based paint disclosure. When you sell to a cash buyer who purchases as-is, being upfront about problems protects you, and it means the offer you agree to is the offer you get.
This isn’t legal advice. If you have questions about your specific situation, talk to a Missouri real estate attorney.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I sell my house fast without a realtor?
Your fastest option without an agent is a local cash buyer, who can make an offer within days and close in as little as 7 days. Selling it yourself (FSBO) also skips the listing agent, but it usually isn’t faster, because you still have to market the house, hold showings, and wait on a buyer’s loan.
What is the fastest way to sell your house?
A cash sale. With no mortgage, there’s no appraisal or loan approval to wait on. We can close in as little as 7 days, and if you need more time to move, you just pick a later date.
How long does it take to sell a house with an agent?
In September 2026 the national median was 33 days on the market, according to NAR, and financed purchases took about 37 days to close in early 2026, according to ICE. All in, plan on roughly two to three months, plus whatever time it takes to get the house ready.
Can I sell my house fast if it needs repairs?
Yes. Cash buyers purchase homes as-is, so you don’t fix anything. On the open market, houses that need major repairs often struggle, because many buyers’ lenders won’t finance them until the problems are fixed.
Will I get less money if I sell my house for cash?
Usually, yes, and we’ll always be upfront about that. The buyer takes on the repairs, holding costs, and risk. But once you subtract commissions, repairs, concessions, and months of holding costs from a listing, the difference in what you actually take home is often smaller than it first looks. Compare net proceeds, not headline prices.
How do cash home buyers decide how much to offer?
Great question, and we’re an open book. We look at the location, the repairs needed, the current condition, and what comparable houses nearby have sold for recently. Many investors also use a rule of thumb of about 70% of after-repair value minus repairs. Whoever you talk to, ask them to walk you through their math.
Do I have to pay closing costs or fees when selling to Swift Home Buys?
No. You won’t pay any real estate commissions, and we cover the closing costs. If the property has a mortgage, lien, or back taxes, those get paid off from the sale at closing, just like in any home sale. We’ll walk you through the numbers before you decide.
Can I sell my house fast if I’m behind on payments or facing foreclosure?
Often, yes. Selling before the foreclosure sale can let you pay off the loan and protect your credit from a completed foreclosure. Time matters, so reach out early, and know that you’re not alone. You can also talk with a HUD-approved housing counselor through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about your options.
Can I sell an inherited house quickly?
Yes, though the estate may need to go through probate first, or at least give the personal representative authority to sell. A cash buyer can often work alongside the probate process. Our guides on probate in St. Louis and taxes on inherited homes in Missouri explain the details.
Do I have to clean out the house before I sell it?
Usually not for a cash sale. Sellers like Deborah Lydon have left unwanted items in the property when they sold to us, instead of hauling everything out before closing. On the open market, though, you’ll need the house empty or staged and clean before photos and showings.
Can I sell a house with tenants still living in it?
Yes. We buy rentals with tenants in place, which saves you from waiting out a lease or dealing with a vacancy. On the open market, tenants can make showings harder and shrink your buyer pool to investors.
Will I owe taxes when I sell my house?
If it was your primary residence and you lived there at least two of the last five years, you can usually exclude up to $250,000 of profit, or $500,000 for married couples filing jointly, under IRS rules. Rentals, second homes, and inherited houses follow different rules, so check with a tax professional.
How do I know if a cash offer is fair?
Ask the buyer to explain their math, then compare the offer to what you’d realistically walk away with from a listing after commissions, repairs, and months of holding costs. A fair buyer is upfront about repair estimates, buys with their own money, and won’t pressure you. You can also compare your options side by side on our Compare page.
What areas does Swift Home Buys buy houses in?
We buy houses in St. Louis City and St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson, Franklin, and Lincoln counties, in any condition and any situation. Not sure if your property qualifies? Contact us and ask. There’s no obligation.
The Bottom Line
So, how can you sell your house fast? Start by being honest about what matters most:
- If price matters most and you have time: list with a strong local agent, price it right from day one, and use the 10 tips above.
- If speed, certainty, or convenience matters most: get a cash offer and compare your net proceeds side by side.
- If your house needs work or your situation is complicated: a local cash buyer will usually be the fastest and simplest path.
There’s no wrong answer, only the one that fits your timeline. As Kimberly L. from Affton put it after selling her dad’s house to us: “My dad and I never felt pressured on the sale of his house.” That’s how it should feel, whoever you sell to.
If you’d like to see what a cash sale would look like for your home, request your free, no-obligation offer or call or text us at (314) 357-0402. We’ll give you a straight answer, even if that answer is that you should list. You can learn more about our family-owned company, browse our frequently asked questions, or read more home-selling guides on our blog.
We don’t just make offers. We close, right here in St. Louis. Ready to sell your house quickly? Get your cash offer today and pick the closing date that works for you.
Written by
Ben Muhamedbegovic
Swift Home Buys, St. Louis, MO
Ben Muhamedbegovic writes for Swift Home Buys, a local, family-owned company that has helped St. Louis homeowners sell their houses quickly for over 10 years. We buy houses as-is for cash, charge no commissions, and let you choose your closing date.
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