You just got the call. New city, new role, new start date.
It's exciting — until you look around at everything you still need to do. Pack the house. Find a place to live. Coordinate the move. And somewhere in the middle of all of it: sell your home.
The clock is already running, and the traditional real estate process wasn't built for people with somewhere to be.
If you're relocating for work and need to sell fast, here's what you need to know — including why the way most people sell doesn't work well under a deadline, and what actually does.
How Long Does It Take to Sell a House? (The Honest Answer)
Before you can make a plan, you need to understand what you're working with.
In a typical market, selling a home the traditional way — listing on the MLS with a real estate agent — takes 60 to 90 days from start to close. That's roughly:
- 2–4 weeks to prepare the home (repairs, cleaning, staging, photography)
- 2–6 weeks on the market waiting for offers
- 30–45 days to close once you're under contract
And that's if everything goes smoothly. Deals fall through. Buyers lose financing. Inspection negotiations add weeks. In a slower market, or for a home that needs work, the timeline stretches further.
For someone with a hard relocation deadline — a start date, a lease signed in another city, kids starting school in the fall — 60 to 90 days is often a luxury you don't have.
Why the Traditional Sale Is a Poor Fit for Relocating Sellers
The traditional home sale process was designed for sellers who have time. You don't.
Here's where the friction shows up when you're working against a deadline:
Preparing the home takes time and money you may not have. Buyers on the open market expect a clean, updated home. If yours needs work — even minor cosmetic updates — you're looking at weeks of contractor scheduling, out-of-pocket costs, and the stress of managing it while you're also packing a household.
Showings are a logistical nightmare during a move. Keeping a home show-ready while you're actively living in it, packing boxes, and managing the chaos of a relocation is genuinely hard. Every showing requires notice, cleanup, and you to be out of the house.
You can't control the timeline once you accept an offer. Even after a buyer says yes, you're at the mercy of inspections, appraisals, and their financing process. Deals fall through at a higher rate than most sellers realize — and when they do, you're back to square one.
You may end up carrying two housing costs. If your new job starts before your home sells, you're paying a mortgage on an empty house while also covering rent or a mortgage in your new city. That's a financial drain that adds up fast.
The good news: there's a faster path.
How to Sell Your House Fast When You're Relocating
If speed and certainty matter more than squeezing every last dollar out of the market — which they usually do when you have a deadline — here are your real options.
Option 1: Price Aggressively on the MLS
If you want to use a traditional listing agent but need to sell quickly, the most reliable lever is price. Homes priced 10–15% below comparable sales tend to attract multiple offers and sell more quickly.
The tradeoff: you're leaving money on the table by design, and you're still exposed to the uncertainty of buyer financing and inspection contingencies. It's a way to speed up a traditional sale, but it doesn't eliminate the risk to the timeline. If you're evaluating all your off-market options, our guide to selling with iBuyers and cash buyers breaks down the major players and how they compare.
Option 2: Sell to a Cash Home Buyer
A cash buyer — like Wedgewood Homes — purchases your home directly, without listing it on the market. There are no showings, no repairs, no waiting for offers, and no buyer financing to worry about.
Here's how our 3-step process works:
- Start your offer. Complete an offer request online — it takes just a few minutes. Simply provide your property address and contact information. Your privacy matters to us; we don't sell or share your details, and our team will contact you directly.
- Receive your offer. A local market expert will review your property and share insights on local trends to ensure a fair offer. We'll arrange a property visit to finalize your assessment, then you'll receive a free, no-obligation, all-cash offer.
- Sell with certainty. Sell on a timeline that works for you and receive your cash in as little as 3 days. Choose your closing schedule, move at your own pace, and don't worry about inspections, contingencies, repairs, or staging — we buy your property as-is.
The offer will reflect the as-is condition of your home, so it's typically below full retail market value. But when you factor in what you're not paying — no agent commissions, no repairs, no staging, no carrying costs while the home sits — the net difference is often smaller than sellers expect.
Use our net proceeds calculator to compare what you'd actually walk away with under each scenario. And if you're ready to see what a cash offer looks like for your specific situation, submit your information to get started.
Option 3: Request a Relocation Buyout Through Your Employer
Some employers — particularly large corporations — offer relocation assistance packages that include a guaranteed buyout of your home. If your company is managing your relocation, it's worth asking HR whether this is an option before you pursue other paths.
Not every employer offers this, and the process can have its own timeline requirements, but it's worth checking before you assume you're on your own.
What to Do If You're Already Under a Tight Deadline
If your start date is close and you haven't listed yet, here's how to think about your situation:
8+ weeks out: You still have options. A traditional listing with aggressive pricing is viable if the market is active in your area. A cash offer is also worth getting — even if just to have a number as you evaluate your options.
4–8 weeks out: The window for a successful traditional listing is closing. You're unlikely to get through the full MLS process before you need to leave. This is the range where a cash buyer becomes the most practical solution for most sellers.
Under 4 weeks: A traditional sale is almost certainly off the table. A cash offer with a fast close is your best path to selling before your move date.
Even if you're already weeks out, it costs nothing to request a cash offer. You'll know your number within 48 hours, and you can make a clear-eyed decision from there.
Selling As-Is vs. Making Repairs: What Makes Sense When You're Moving?
One of the most common questions relocating sellers face: should I fix things up before I sell?
The short answer: probably not.
Here's why. Repairs before a listing require time (contractor availability), money (out-of-pocket costs before you've sold), and your presence (to manage the work and ensure quality). When you're coordinating a move to a new city, all three of those are in short supply.
More importantly, there's no guarantee that repairs translate to a higher sale price on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Many improvements return less than their cost. And if the home sits on the market anyway, you've spent money and time with no return.
If you're selling to a cash buyer, repairs are simply not part of the equation. The offer reflects your home's current condition — foundation issues, water damage, outdated systems, cosmetic wear, all of it. You can learn more about what selling as-is actually means and what types of homes we buy. You pack up and go.
How Wedgewood Homes Helps Relocating Sellers
Wedgewood Homes has been buying homes for cash for over 40 years. Each year we buy thousands of homes across California, Nevada, Texas, Utah, and Colorado — many of them from sellers in exactly your situation.
Here's what the process looks like for a relocating seller:
- No repairs required. We buy homes in any condition, as-is.
- No showings. You don't need to keep the home staged or interrupt your move prep for walk-throughs.
- Custom closing timeline. Need to close in 7 days? We can do that. Need 60 days to coordinate your move? That works too.
- Transparent process. Our local market experts walk you through the offer and answer every question. No pressure, no surprises.
Don't just take our word for it — read reviews from sellers who've been in your shoes.
We operate across Southern California, the Bay Area, Sacramento, the Central Coast, Central Valley, Las Vegas, Reno, Dallas, Salt Lake City, and Denver — covering the markets where most of our sellers are relocating from.
Real Talk: Is a Cash Offer Right for You?
A cash offer isn't the right answer for every seller. If your home is in great condition, you have plenty of time, and the market in your area is active, a traditional listing may net you more money.
But if you're working against a deadline, need certainty more than you need the absolute top dollar, or simply don't have the bandwidth to manage a traditional sale on top of a relocation, a cash offer is worth a serious look.
The best move is to get the number. Request a cash offer, then run the comparison. You're not committed to anything, and you'll have real information to make your decision.
The Bottom Line
Relocating for work is already a lot to manage. Selling your home doesn't have to make it harder.
If you need to sell fast — really fast — the traditional market process introduces uncertainty and risk that doesn't fit your timeline. A cash offer removes those variables. You know your number, you choose your closing date, and you can focus on the move.
Ready to see what your home is worth in cash? Request your offer from Wedgewood Homes today. There's no obligation, and you'll have an answer within 48 hours.