Can You Sell a House with a Mortgage In California?

Getting a cash offer from a property investor or a cash buyer is possibly the quickest method to sell your property with an unpaid mortgage. As cash buyers cut out lenders, the sale may conclude in as little as seven days.

Selling your property to a cash buyer also means you won’t need a real estate agent. Essentially, you’ll avoid paying commission fees and bypass open houses. Additionally, cash buyers handle closing costs and related fees tied to the property sale, ensuring you get the precise amount they propose after deducting your remaining mortgage.

If you are interested in getting a cash offer, here’s the simple process you have to go through:

First off, you have to request an offer from the cash buyer or investor. You may do this by calling them or filling out a form on their website. Note that when asking for a cash offer, you should disclose that your house still has an unsettled mortgage.

Once a request for an offer is made, the majority of all-cash purchasers arrange a property inspection. This step is crucial to assess the present condition of the property, including any required repairs, in order to determine an appropriate offer. It resembles the process real estate agents undertake when conducting a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to establish a suitable listing price, albeit without subsequent showings or open houses. Following the investor’s walkthrough, anticipate receiving an offer within 24 hours.

If you are happy with the offer, you can accept the cash buyer’s offer by signing the contract via email. You have to review and sign the contract to confirm you agree with the terms. This will make the home sale official.

After you sign the contract, we’ll pick a closing date together. If you’re paying in cash, you may have more flexibility on when you move out. Just let us know when works for you, whether it’s a few days or a few weeks.

Once closing is set, a title search will be conducted and other possible issues preventing the sale will be addressed. 

On the closing day, you won’t have to worry about the closing fees – the cash buyer will cover them. If you have a mortgage, the lender’s representative might be there to collect the rest of what you owe. Then, the rest of the money is yours to take home.

Many homeowners opt for conventional selling methods to maximize property profits. However, timing plays a crucial role in this endeavor. Selling during the winter might not yield optimal results due to lower market activity.

Furthermore, the listing price of the property needs to be appealing to attract potential buyers. It’s essential to prepare the property for sale by staging it properly, which includes applying a new layer of paint and fixing any damages. Following this, effective marketing strategies should be employed, along with scheduling open houses and viewings.

It can take months to years to reach the closing table in a traditional home sale, which means the seller would still have to pay monthly mortgage payments until the house is sold on top of the selling expenses. Not everyone has the luxury of affording all of the holding costs.

In contrast to a cash deal, the seller must fork out 6% for agent fees, in addition to closing expenses. After that, the outstanding mortgage amount gets deducted. Whatever’s left becomes the seller’s net profit from the property sale.

Time might be crucial, and waiting for the local real estate market to get better may not be an option. In such a situation, you may think about a short sale.

A short sale happens when your mortgage lender says okay to receiving less money than what you owe. Basically, you have to persuade them to say yes to the sale and acknowledge that this choice can harm your credit score.

Usually, short sales can impact your mortgage choices down the line for a while. However, this is preferable to losing your home to foreclosure when you look at it financially.

Yes. You still have to settle your monthly mortgage payments while you are preparing your house for sale or while it is currently listed to avoid the accumulation of more interest.

Putting your house on sale won’t stop the mortgage company from asking you for payments. It’s only until you pay off your full mortgage that your monthly payment stops.

You can list your property with a mortgage anytime, except during foreclosure auctions. If you decide to sell shortly after moving in, that’s fine. But don’t count on its value going up so soon.

If you must sell quickly because of a move or divorce, consider selling to a cash buyer for a speedy sale. They can close in just a few weeks.

Nope, you can sell a mortgaged house without a real estate agent. If you go for a cash offer, you’re dealing straight with the buyer. That means you don’t need an agent, and you don’t have to cough up agent fees.

But if you feel uneasy about selling sans agent, you can bring one on board to steer you through the sale.

Many homeowners take out a HELOC to pay for some expenses of homeownership. The HELOC is paid at the same time you pay off your mortgage after the sale.

To put it simply, if a mortgage property is also attached to a HELOC, both your mortgage and HELOC loan balance would be settled before you take home what’s left of the sale.

Whether you can get two mortgages depends on your income and real estate plans.

Usually, lenders check your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) to decide if they’ll approve another mortgage. DTI compares your total monthly debt payments to your monthly income and ideally should be 45% or less for you to qualify for a second mortgage.

Remember, this 45% includes all your debts like credit cards, car loans, etc.

The majority of home sellers are trying to sell a home and buy another at the same time. This is not uncommon. However, what happens to the mortgage depends on which real estate transaction reaches closing first.

When you sell your home before buying another, you avoid double mortgages and keep things simpler. You get the money from the sale, pay off your old mortgage, and use the rest for the down payment on your new home. The sale usually gives you enough money to make a big down payment and skip private mortgage insurance.

If you’re purchasing a new property but haven’t finalized the sale of your current one, you’ll likely need to use your savings for the down payment.

This situation also arises when the funds from selling your home only cover the remaining mortgage balance, leaving nothing for you.

To ease the process of buying a new property before your old one sells, consider these suggestions:

• HELOC: HELOC is a line of credit that is secured by your previous home’s equity. If your old house is not yet on the market, you can get a HELOC loan and use it as a downpayment for a new home.
• Contingent Sale: You may want to put a contingent offer on the property you mean to buy if the seller permits. This means your purchase of a new home won’t close until you sell your last home.
• Bridge Loan: Even though this can be a huge financial burden, many homeowners find themselves taking out a bridge loan. This is a temporary loan you can use as a downpayment; however, you have to pay it monthly or according to the terms of the lender. This means that while waiting for your home to sell and buying a new one, you will make payments for this loan as well as your existing mortgage.

The solution hinges on your outstanding balance with the lender. If the sale’s earnings cover your mortgage and yield surplus cash, you can use it for a new home’s down payment. But if your debt surpasses the sale’s proceeds, you won’t have funds for a down payment.

Your net deposit reflects what remains after settling the mortgage, title company, and real estate agent fees (if you opt for a conventional sale).