How To Sell A House Remotely

How To Sell A House Remotely

How do you sell a house remotely and without sacrificing a great outcome?

In this comprehensive guide, I’ll lay out the framework that can help you successfully sell your house remotely. 

You’ll learn:

• Why selling a house remotely does not need to be difficult
• What 9 Out of 10 sellers don’t know about selling from out of state
• The fastest way to sell your home from afar
• The only 3 options you have to sell remotely

Plus, we also pulled information, state by state, to help you start the process of a remote sale of your house.

Skip The Line and Sell Your House Today: Whether remote or local, we buy houses from homeowners with an easy and fast process.

Let’s jump right in!

MAIN TAKEAWAYS:

• With new notarization laws and emerging digital signing technology, selling a house remotely has gotten a lot easier and more common. However, there are challenges that do persist.
• Our data indicates that selling a house from out of state is possible but requires investments in relationships that can help get the job done.
• You have options! If you’re selling a house remotely, you may want to consider the pros and cons that come with each option. Selling your home directly to a cash buyer is often the easiest path forward.

Selling Your House From Out Of State

Depending on what state you own your home in, there are literally thousand upon thousands of real estate transactions each and every year. 

I live in Pennsylvania.  Check out the number of homes sold just last year:

Data courtesy of Pennsylvania Association of Realtors

And to think out of the thousands that were sold last year, you simply cannot imagine that every single person was living in the house and local to the area when they sold it.

There are so many reasons why someone might be selling a house remotely from a different state (more on that later).

Don’t get me wrong:

The majority of sellers will be folks who are selling a house they currently live in.

However, there is still a good number of sellers who will not have the luxury of being in the house and getting it ready for a sale.

This is where knowing how to sell a home remotely becomes absolutely critical.

Common Reasons For Selling A House Remotely

If you asked me to list out every single reason why a homeowner would sell their house remotely (from a different state), then this article would be pages upon pages long. 

Instead, to give you an idea, I pulled out the top 5 most common reasons.

Our home buying business in Philadelphia receives hundreds of phone calls and leads a year.  We filtered the data down to only account for sellers who had a house they were selling but currently were not living in the same state. 

Surprisingly, out of the 280 sellers we worked with in 2023, 48 of them were trying to sell their house remotely. 

And of those 48, we found the following 5 reasons to be most common and repeatable across the board.

Reason 1: Job Relocation

Getting a new job out of town is a very common occurrence.  For a lot of hard-working Americans, it usually means moving for a new or better career opportunity.

However, it’s very common for employers to pull out the rug fast.

We talk to lots of homeowners who are only given 20-40 days to relocate.

Can you imagine trying to sell your house in that timeframe?

Many do not.

They just move and figure it out later.

In fact, a whopping 37% of adults moving out of state are doing so for either:

1. Career advancement
2. Making more money
3. Transferring offices
4. Starting in a new division

And in case you didn’t believe me when I said 20-40 days, check this out:

Reason 2: Family Care

Moving out of state to be closer to family is something you cannot put a price on.  Especially in a time of need, a quick move is often the easiest and fastest way to be closer to family.

There are lots of people who move across the country each and every day for this reason.

Here are some reasons why moving closer to family is important:

1. Taking care of elderly.
2. Being closer to adult children.
3. Maximizing time around younger children.
4. And many more…

Many of the sellers we talked to have moved suddenly, usually around a health or financial related event in their family. The objective for them is always to be closer and support the family.  These small trips have turned into longer term care and selling their house remotely is just part of the process now.

Reason 3: Move First, Sell Second

We also have found that homeowners may just decided to make the move first and then sell the old palce afterwards. 

Sounds a bit odd, right?

Well, if you’re doing okay financially, it can actually be a nice way to go about it.

When buying a new home in a different state, you might be bidding against other buyers and having to differentiate your offer.

One quick and easy way, is to remove the sale contingency that stipulates your existing house must be sold as well.  Removing this strengthens your offer and establishes you as a serious buyer.

Then, once the dust settles on your purchase and you move out of state, you can focus on selling the previous house.

Although we see this a top reason, it can be a double-edged sword.

In general, it might not be recommended for many, but in reality it might be thing that helps you actually make the move.

See the dilemma people can face below:

Reason 4: Out Of State Landlords

This is so prevalent, that there’s even a term for it: Absentee Out of State Owner.

And by the way, it’s very possible that a regular person could end up in this situation if they aren’t careful.

Let’s play this out:

You move out of state. Whatever the reason be.

Instead of selling your house from out of state, you decided to keep it and rent it out.

You’ve won.  You beat the system.

After 2-3 years of tenants, maintenance and clogged toilets…you realize that maybe you didn’t win.

This is the classic case of a tired landlord who owns property out of state and wishes to be done with it.

As if being a landlord is not tough enough locally, you’ve been doing it from a different state miles away.

Check out this post on the BiggerPockets forum about an investor who has come full circle on what it means to be a landlord:

Sorry, Caleb!

I’m a landlord.

I’m also an out of state remote landlord. 

I can vouch that it is not easy.  Being far from the property is challenging at best. 

It’s easy to see why many investors opt to sell the house remotely.

Reason 5: Remote Retirees

Last but not least, are the people who hang on to the belief that they can have multiple homes in retirement.

Well, technically, you can.

But as you age, managing multiple homes can be hard to juggle.

And if you hung on to that dream for a while, then it’s possible you might have one, two or even multiple different homes in different states.

Selling your house remotely is something you should get organized around for the sake of your estate and affairs.

But you won’t have any luck trying to do this yourself. You will need some help from.

Let’s dive into what that help looks like.

Can You Sell A House Remotely

By now it’s clear that there are many property owners who need to sell their homes from out of state.  It’s probably more common than you thought it was.

So yes, it can be done.

But you need a process.

Even tech giants know how important a process is:

I will share with you the exact steps, considerations and key topics that will help you sell your home remotely.  Nothing will be left unsaid or undiscussed in these next few sections.

It can be a lot, but it’s what you will need to know in order to get the job done.

Let’s start.

Finding Help

The first reality is that you simply cannot do this alone.

No, literally.  It’s physically impossible.

You can not sell a house from a another state without some help.

Why is that?

1. You are not there to show it to buyers.
2. You are not there to stage or clean it.
3. You are not there to sign paperwork
4. I’ll stop, but you get my drift.

Finding local help, or as I call it, “boots on the ground”, is vital.

It’s your only option for selling your house from out of state.

The help can be anyone from real estate professionals to neighbors or family.

The important part here is recruiting the help. 

Communication

Once you have identified and asked for help, you need to set expectations around communication.

Check out this awesome framework for being an exceptional communicator by ProofHub:

Courtesy of ProofHub

Use this as a reminder and accelerator for communicating with real estate agents, buyers, neighbors, friends and family. 

But I challenge you to add one more element to this:

Incentives.

Have an incentive for the other party to keep communications with you too!

Apart from paying people like agents and contractors, I like to send gifts and do thoughtful things that demonstrate my appreciation for their help. Selling a home is not a walk in the park to begin with, but doing it remotely makes the ask even bigger.

Property Access

Making sure that people can get in and out of the property easily while you are not there is a top priority to making this all work.

Here are some of the important steps:

1. Set up alarm or garage codes for access.
2. Mail or ship keys to important people.
3. Dial in your security cameras to monitor from out of state.
4. Let your neighbors know who will be coming and going.

Not sure where to start with all that?

I suggest investing in a good lockbox.

A lockbox is the cornerstone of getting this set up.  If you hired an agent or professional home buyer, then they can install one of your property.

The lockbox will give restricted access at a reasonable price:

Using Data

Arguably the most important step in all of this is using data wisely to set expectations around pricing, closing, and amount of time it will take to sell the house.

There are some great resources out there that you can pull data from for free:

1. Zillow, Redfin, Realtor, etc.
2. Calling local investors
3. Calling local real estate agents
4. Local real estate bloggers

Remote Closing

The last step in any real estate transaction is getting to the closing table.

However, in your case, that won’t be physically possible.

So how does the deal get done?

It is widely known that some states may offer remote closings while others require you to be there in person.  Just like some states are “attorney states” while others are “title agency states”.

Based on my experience, it is always good to ask about a mobile notary.

Even if your state does not typically offer remote closings, a mobile notary is typically provided in cases where remote closing may traditionally be unavailable. 

It will cost more, but it helps you sell the house without being there in person.

States That Allow Remote Closing

Remote mobile notaries have really ballooned since the pandemic.

In fact, the majority of states offer remote closings (or remote online notarization):

How To Sell A Home Remotely

Now that you know everything that goes into selling a home remotely, let’s talk about your three main options.  In most cases, you will go with one of the three.

However, some sellers do benefit from exploring a hybrid between some of these options.

Option 1 – Find An Agent

This is the most common option for remote sellers.

You can do some research, hire and pay for a real estate agent. That’s always an option.

You’ll want to make sure you find a realtor who can appreciate the nuances of dealing with this kind of situation.

For example:

• Are they someone you can trust in the home without you there?
• Do they have numerous 5-star reviews on major platforms?
• How many recent sales have they done?  How many of those were with remote owners?

It’s totally doable to find a great agent who can handle your situation but you will want to interview at least a few to make sure.

Here’s a 4-step method for filtering out a couple of agents to interview:

1. Go to Zillow.com > Navigate to “Find an Agent”.

2. Enter the Zip Code of the house you are selling.

3. Under Specialty, select “Relocation”

4. Take the top 5 agents with the most amount of 5-star reviews and interview them!

Option 2 – Ask Friends & Family

Having some help from friends, family or neighbors is often an overlooked strategy.

Many people choose not to do this because it can take time and effort…much of which they do not want to burden friends and family with.

However, it is an option that some sellers do pursue.

We’ve seen:

1. Parents ask children to coordinate with agents or sellers.
2. Sellers asking sisters, brothers or cousins to help prepare the property and empty it out.
3. Family members helping settle probate and divide the belongings
4. Couples sharing a key with the neighbors to help provide access to buyers or realtors.

It’s not ideal, but it gets the job done from a distance.

If you do decide to ask for help from people you know, be sure to show you appreciation!

Option 3 – Sell To A Local Home Buyer

The last option is perhaps the easiest.

Here’s why:

Instead of finding someone to help find you a buyer, why not just go right to the buyer and simplify the whole process.

Local home buying companies can purchase your house remotely from you.

They handle all of the hassle and issues around doing this from out of state.

Additionally, they purchase your house “as is” which means you don’t have to travel in to clean it up, repair it or even find contractors do that.

If you’re looking to sell a house remotely, then going right to a local cash buyer is going to be your cleanest and quickest option.

Imagine this:

1. You call a cash buyer.
2. They give you an offer.
3. You sign an agreement digitally.
4. You’re done.

No showings.  No listings.  No lockbox.  No cleaning.  No traveling.

If you’re selling a house from out of state and want to just get a deal done, fill out the form below for a free, no obligation offer on your home:

Common Questions When Selling A Property Remotely

Q: How do I manage the sale of my home without being physically present?

A: Depending on which option you choose, you will need some help to get an offer from a buyer.  Outside of that, much of the process and paperwork can be handled remotely.  It’s important to note that some of the options, such as listing the house, will have a lot more steps involved that you will need to coordinate remotely (e.g., showings, listing contracts, lockboxes, etc.) while other options are much more streamlined (i.e., working with cash buyers).

Q: Are there any legal ramifications of selling my house remotely?

A: Selling your house from another state is perfectly legal as long as you are able to abide by remote signing and notarization laws.  If your state allows it, signing the paperwork from a different state is acceptable.  It’s important to consult on any legal concerns you may have with an attorney.

Q: How can I ensure my home is safe when listing and showing it without me there?

A: This is where a really stellar agent shines.  They are hard to find, but you will need one in order to feel confident and satisfied with the well-being of your property.  This includes cleaning, staging, securing and managing your home without you there.  If you just don’t feel like putting that trust in a stranger, then you may want to explore other options such as getting a cash offer sight unseen.

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Author: Doug Greene

Doug Greene is no stranger to all topics real estate and business. For over a decade he has been educating others and helping homeowners navigate difficult, complex problems with their property.

His work has been featured in the NY Times, Washington Post, Realtor.com, Apartment Therapy, HomeLight, Homes & Gardens and many more.