“How fast can I sell?” has three different answers depending on which route you take, and the gap between them is large.
Listing with an agent
Two separate clocks run here, and people often only count the first.
Time on market is how long until you have an accepted offer. This depends heavily on price, condition, and season. A well-priced house in good condition in a desirable metro neighborhood can go under contract quickly. A house that needs work, is priced optimistically, or is in a slower submarket can sit for months.
Time from contract to closing is the second clock, and for a financed buyer it generally runs around 30 to 45 days — underwriting, appraisal, title work, and the inspection period all have to complete.
Then add the preparation before you list: repairs, cleaning, photography, staging.
Selling by owner
Similar to a listing, often longer. You save the listing-side commission but lose MLS exposure and take on the marketing, showings, negotiation, and paperwork coordination yourself. The closing clock is the same, since the buyer's lender does not care who listed it.
Selling to a cash buyer
Substantially shorter, because the longest parts of the process simply do not exist:
- No time on market — the buyer is already there
- No mortgage underwriting
- No appraisal contingency
- No inspection-driven renegotiation
- No repair or preparation period before you start
What remains is the title search and the closing itself, which is why closing in as few as 7 days is realistic. The main thing that extends it is a title issue: an open probate, an unreleased lien, a judgment, or a deed problem that takes time to clear.
What actually causes delays
- Financing. By a wide margin the most common cause of both delay and outright collapse. A buyer's loan falling through puts you back at the beginning.
- Appraisal coming in low. Triggers renegotiation or kills the deal.
- Inspection findings. Repairs and credits get negotiated, sometimes for weeks.
- Title problems. Liens, unreleased mortgages, probate that was never completed, boundary or easement issues.
- Occupancy. Tenants who will not cooperate with showings, or a seller who has nowhere to move to yet.
- Condition. Houses needing significant work take longer at every stage, and disqualify most financed buyers entirely.
Which to choose
If you have time, list. The open market nets more money, and it is not close. If you have a deadline you cannot move — a foreclosure sale date, a job start, a court order, a second mortgage payment you cannot carry — then certainty is worth more than the last few percent of price, and a cash sale is the route that provides it.
Landrun Home Buyers buys houses for cash across the Oklahoma City metro, in any condition, with no fees or commissions. Get a free, no-obligation offer →