How long it takes to sell a house in Seattle, and how to make it faster

5 min read · 7 sections
By Henos Adhana · Licensed WA Real Estate Broker #25016434 · eXp Realty

Plan on two to three months from the day you decide to the day you are paid, and longer if the house needs work. Getting ready takes anything from two weeks to several months, depending on what the pre-inspection finds. Priced to the market, a Seattle house usually has its offer within the first couple of weeks. A financed sale then closes in about thirty days.

The short version#

A sale has three stretches, and only the middle one is the part people ask about.

Getting ready: two weeks to several months. It depends almost entirely on the condition of the house, and you control most of it.

On the market: days to weeks. It depends almost entirely on the price.

Under contract to closing: about thirty days with a loan. It depends on the buyer's lender and the contract's deadlines, and it is the most predictable of the three.

Getting ready, the stretch people underestimate#

Start with a pre-inspection and, on an older house, a sewer scope. What they turn up sets the whole calendar. Roughly: two weeks if the house needs only yard work, a pressure wash and the usual listing preparation. Four to five weeks for handyman work inside and out. About eight weeks when several trades are involved, such as the roof, the crawl space, a plumber and an electrician. Four to six months for a remodel.

Getting bids alone can take a couple of weeks, and the good contractors are booked out. Plan for the longer version. If the report comes back clean, you simply list sooner.

Paperwork runs alongside. Your disclosure statement, Form 17, is quicker to fill in before you are in a hurry. If you are selling a condo, ask the association for its documents early, because the resale certificate alone can take ten days to arrive.

On the market, where the price sets the pace#

Seattle is running two markets side by side. A house priced to what nearby homes have actually sold for still tends to go quickly, usually with its offer inside the first couple of weeks. A house priced above that tends to sit, and a house that sits usually sells for less than it would have in its first week, because time on the market becomes the buyer's argument.

Condos have been slower than houses this year, so for a condo, price and presentation count for even more.

The first two weeks decide more than any that follow, which is why many listings go live on a Wednesday or Thursday, in time for a weekend of tours. If those two weeks are quiet, the price is the first thing to look at, and how quiet tells you roughly how far off it is.

Under contract: about thirty days with a loan#

From mutual acceptance, a financed sale usually closes in about thirty days, sometimes a little more. A cash sale can close sooner, on whatever date escrow and the title company can meet.

Inside that month, several clocks run at once. You deliver Form 17 within five business days, unless the contract says otherwise, and the buyer then has three business days to accept it or back out. The buyer's inspection period is set in the offer, typically a week or so. The appraisal and the buyer's loan approval follow. You sign a few days before closing, and the sale closes when the deed records.

Every deadline is counted the way the purchase agreement says, and short periods skip weekends and holidays. The guide to earnest money explains how the days are counted.

What genuinely makes it faster#

Price it to the market from the first day. Nothing else comes close. A price cut in week three costs you the attention you had in week one.

Inspect before you list. A pre-inspection and a sewer scope move the surprises to before the listing, when you control the fix, rather than into the buyer's inspection period, when they control the conversation.

Have the documents ready. Form 17, any repair invoices and permits, and for a condo the association's documents.

Make it easy to see. Flexible showings and a house that is ready to photograph on the day it goes live.

Choose the offer most likely to close. A strong loan approval, sensible contingencies and a closing date that works beat a slightly higher number that falls apart in week three.

If you need weeks, not months, a cash offer is a legitimate answer. It usually nets less, so put both numbers side by side first. The cash offer comparison shows how.

What slows it down#

A price above the market, first and foremost. After that, the usual culprits are an inspection that finds something the seller did not know about, a buyer whose financing was weaker than it looked, a title problem such as an old lien or unfinished estate paperwork, and, on condos, an association that is slow with its documents.

Every one of those is cheaper to find before you list than after. That is most of what a good listing plan is: moving problems to the part of the calendar where you still have choices.

Common questions#