Sell your home fast in Nashville

With a solid job market and a legendary music and arts scene, Nashville is a popular place to live with a growing population. If you’re hoping to sell a home in Music City — and do so quickly — these factors can all work in your favor. However, homes are sitting on the market for much longer right now than they did at this time last year. Here’s everything you need to know about selling your home in Nashville, fast.

How fast can you typically sell your house in Nashville?

According to March 2023 data from Redfin, Nashville homes typically receive two offers and spend a median of 53 days on the market before selling. That figure represents a hefty increase of 32 days over March of last year, which is not necessarily ideal if you’re hoping to sell a home on an expedited timeline.

The median sale price for a home in the city was $431,000, a 2 percent drop from last year but still well above the national median of $375,700. More than 22 percent of sellers lowered their price before closing a deal.

Need to sell faster?

If you need to speed up the selling timeline for your Nashville home, you have several options:

• Cash buyers: One of the quickest ways to sell a home is to work with companies that proclaim “we buy houses.” These types of companies make all-cash offers for homes, often in just 24 hours. The closing process is equally quick, as short as a week or two. But if pocketing a big profit is your goal, this approach may not be your best bet — in exchange for the speed and convenience, these companies usually offer less for your home than you’d make in a traditional sale.
• iBuyers: iBuyers have a lot in common with homebuying companies: They make cash offers for homes and work very quickly. But similarly, you likely won’t get top dollar. The two biggest players, Opendoor and Offerpad, both operate in the Nashville area.
• Listing as-is: Listing your home in “as-is” condition eliminates the lengthy back-and-forth negotiations that often take place over repairs, which allows the transaction to close more quickly.

Selling your home in Nashville

If you decide to proceed with a traditional sale, there are some important questions to consider before listing your home on the market.

Is it worth upgrading your home before you sell?

It depends on how much the upgrade in question costs, and whether the investment is likely to pay off. The reality is that many home renovations will not recoup their costs in your final sale price, and they will also delay you from putting the home on the market quickly. Instead of a major upgrade, consider smaller projects that can increase your home’s appeal.

What should you fix before selling your home in Nashville?

It may be tempting to skip repairs entirely in order to get the property listed faster. However, there may be some repairs that are worth the time and money. Ask your real estate agent to provide advice about which repairs make sense and which ones aren’t necessary.

Should you pay to stage your home?

Professional staging is an important consideration if you’re hoping to sell quickly. This process involves a professional redesigning rooms or even bringing in new furniture and accessories to make your home more appealing to prospective buyers. Taking this step can help the home stand out from the competition and inspire buyers to make offers faster.

How should you price your listing?

Working with an experienced local real estate agent is a smart move for sellers, especially when it comes to developing the best list price for your home. An agent who knows the Nashville market inside and out can help identify how much your home is worth in today’s market, and from there, develop the best list price for a quick sale.

While prices in Nashville remain relatively solid, the volume of sales is slowing — the number of homes sold in March was 7.7 percent less than in March of last year. And homes are spending about a month longer on the market than they used to. A real estate agent can help you come up with a realistic price for the current conditions.

What will you need to disclose to a buyer?

Nashville home sales are part of the Tennessee housing market, of course, which means there are state laws to be followed. The Residential Property Disclosure Act requires residential real estate sellers to complete a disclosure form providing details about the condition of the property. If sellers fail to disclose important information, a sale contract can be canceled. In addition, if your property is part of a homeowners association, be ready to hand over documentation about the financial health of the association.

The closing

When you reach the closing table, it’s time to finalize a variety of important items, including transferring the property to the buyer, paying off the remainder of your mortgage and paying your closing costs. Tennessee closing costs average about 1.4 percent of a home’s sale price, according to ClosingCorp. Here’s a closer look at some of those fees:

Costs of selling a home in Nashville

• Realtor fees: The seller typically pays the real estate commissions for both their own agent and the buyer’s. This cost is usually 5 to 6 percent of a home’s sale price, which will make it a big chunk of your overall closing expenses. On a median-priced $431,000 Nashville home, 5 percent comes to $21,550.
• Real estate transfer tax: As with many states, home sales in Tennessee require paying a fee to transfer ownership of the property. This cost might be paid by either the buyer or the seller, and will depend on the property sale price.

• Seller concessions: If you agreed to any concessions during negotiations — for example, agreeing to cover the cost of a particular repair — this is when you’ll pay up.
• Attorney fees: Having an attorney engaged in the sale of your home is not a requirement in Tennessee. But home contracts can be complex, and it’s always helpful to have a legal expert sign off on things just in case.

Next steps

If you’re hoping to sell your Nashville home fast, you’ll have to decide between selling to a homebuying company or iBuyer and selling on the open market with a real estate agent. The former is the quickest option, but the latter is likely to be more profitable, so it comes down to how fast you really need to move. Even if you opt for an agent, you can still make a deal happen quickly — just make sure you’re very clear that speed is of the essence. No matter which option you choose, keep local market dynamics in mind and set realistic expectations.

FAQs

• Are Nashville prices dropping?

  Home prices in Nashville are dropping, but only slightly. Data from Redfin shows that prices fell by 2 percent from March 2022, when the median sale price was $440,000, to March 2023, when it was $431,000. Regardless, that price is still above the nationwide median sale price of $375,700, per the National Association of Realtors.
  

• How fast can you sell a home in Nashville?

  Nashville homes spent a median of 53 days on the market in March 2023, according to Redfin data. But if you need to sell more quickly, you have options. For example, the two biggest iBuyers, Opendoor and Offerpad, both operate in the Nashville area and can get a deal done far faster than that — though you’ll likely pull in less money in exchange for greater speed.