CloseCenter

Selling path

Terms instead of cash: seller financing, lease-purchase, subject-to

Creative structures often get you a higher price than cash and sometimes a higher price than a listing. You are paid over time instead of all at once, and you carry counterparty risk until the note is paid. Get a real estate attorney before you sign anything here.

Term sheet

How this compares to the alternatives

Same four questions for every path. Read the row you care about across all three columns.

This page

Creative selling

Right for you if
you have equity or a low-rate loan and can carry some risk for a better number.
What it costs you
Often full price or better, but proceeds arrive over months or years. Expect legal and servicing costs.
Realistic timeline
The structure can close in a couple of weeks; payments then run for the life of the note or option.
What can go wrong
Buyer default, and you may be back on title through foreclosure. Subject-to leaves the original loan in your name — including the due-on-sale exposure.
You are here

Compare

Find your Realtor

Right for you if
your house is in condition to list and you want the highest realistic price.
What it costs you
Standard local commission, paid at closing. CloseCenter costs you nothing — the agent pays us a referral fee out of their own commission, only when the home closes.
Realistic timeline
Time on market varies with price and condition, then closing usually runs a few weeks once you are under contract.
What can go wrong
The house sits. Price was wrong, condition was wrong, or the agent went quiet. That is what the 30-day review exists to catch.
Read about find your realtor →

Compare

Cash offer

Right for you if
certainty and speed are worth more to you than the last dollar of price.
What it costs you
No commission and no repairs, but the offer comes in at a discount to open-market price. How big depends on condition and location, and we put the number in front of you.
Realistic timeline
Usually closes within about 2 weeks, depending on title work or issues that turn up. You usually pick the date.
What can go wrong
Retrading — the buyer lowers the price after inspection. Ask for proof of funds and a hard, non-refundable deposit before you take the property off market.
Read about cash offer →

Ranges are general and depend on your market, condition, and lender. Nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice.

At a glance

All six paths, side by side

Net proceeds, speed, certainty of closing, and what you pay.

Levels and day ranges are general and depend on your market, condition, and lender. Nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice.

  • Find your Realtor
    Net proceeds
    Find your Realtor Net proceeds: High
    Speed
    Find your Realtor Speed: Low
    Certainty of closing
    Find your Realtor Certainty of closing: Medium
    What the seller pays
    Commission at closing
  • Cash offer
    Net proceeds
    Cash offer Net proceeds: Low
    Speed
    Cash offer Speed: High
    Certainty of closing
    Cash offer Certainty of closing: High
    What the seller pays
    No commission, lower price
  • Creative sellingYou are here
    Net proceeds
    Creative selling Net proceeds: High
    Speed
    Creative selling Speed: Medium
    Certainty of closing
    Creative selling Certainty of closing: Low
    What the seller pays
    Paid over time, not at closing
  • Guaranteed Sold Program
    Net proceeds
    Guaranteed Sold Program Net proceeds: Medium
    Speed
    Guaranteed Sold Program Speed: Medium
    Certainty of closing
    Guaranteed Sold Program Certainty of closing: High
    What the seller pays
    Commission, plus the backstop terms
  • Avoid foreclosure
    Net proceeds
    Avoid foreclosure Net proceeds: Medium
    Speed
    Avoid foreclosure Speed: High
    Certainty of closing
    Avoid foreclosure Certainty of closing: Medium
    What the seller pays
    Depends on equity and lender approval
  • Sell your land
    Net proceeds
    Sell your land Net proceeds: Medium
    Speed
    Sell your land Speed: Low
    Certainty of closing
    Sell your land Certainty of closing: Medium
    What the seller pays
    Commission, often a higher rate

Typical days from first call to close

Typical days from your first call to the closing table. Levels and day ranges are general and depend on your market, condition, and lender. Nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice.
PathTypical days from first call to close
Find your Realtor

60–150 days

Cash offer

10–21 days

Creative selling

21–75 days

Guaranteed Sold Program

30–120 days

Avoid foreclosure

14–60 days

Sell your land

60–210 days

What the seller pays under each path

Find your Realtor

  • Agent commission, paid at closing
  • Repairs or credits you agree to after inspection
  • Normal seller closing costs and prorations
  • Preparation: cleaning, photography, any staging you choose

Paid to CloseCenter: $0

Cash offer

  • No agent commission
  • No repairs and no preparation
  • The discount to open-market price — the real cost of this path
  • Closing costs, usually covered by the buyer (confirm in the contract)

Paid to CloseCenter: $0

Creative selling

  • Commission, if an agent writes and markets the deal
  • Most of your proceeds arrive over years, not on closing day
  • Servicing, bookkeeping, and legal drafting of the terms
  • The cost of enforcement if the buyer stops paying

Paid to CloseCenter: $0

Guaranteed Sold Program

  • Agent commission on the sale that actually happens
  • The backstop price, which sits below the list price
  • Whatever conditions the guarantee attaches — get them in writing
  • Normal seller closing costs

Paid to CloseCenter: $0

Avoid foreclosure

  • Reinstatement, payoff, and any legal fees your lender has added
  • Commission, if the property is listed rather than sold for cash
  • A short sale needs lender approval, which sets its own terms
  • Speed usually costs price — that trade is the decision here

Paid to CloseCenter: $0

Sell your land

  • Land commission rates commonly run higher than house rates
  • Survey, access, or soil work a buyer asks for
  • Property taxes while the parcel sits
  • Normal seller closing costs

Paid to CloseCenter: $0

Levels and day ranges are general and depend on your market, condition, and lender. Nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice.

This fits you if

  • You own free and clear, or hold a low-rate assumable-in-practice loan
  • You want income rather than a lump sum
  • You have time and tolerance for some paperwork
  • The property will not appraise or finance conventionally

Look elsewhere if

  • You need all your equity at closing
  • You cannot tolerate a buyer missing payments
  • You are unwilling to pay for an attorney to paper it correctly

What we hold the agent to

The accountability layer

Four standards, in writing, the same on every referral. Not a service promise — a set of conditions the agent keeps or loses the referral.

01

Full-time agents only

Real estate has to be the agent's primary income. We do not screen on closing counts — a low-volume full-time agent beats a high-volume part-timer on responsiveness.

If it slips: the referral moves to another agent in the area. Coverage is not exclusive.

02

Contact within 4 hours

The agent calls you within 4 hours of receiving the referral, same business day. Not a text blast, not an automated drip — a call from the person who will handle the file.

If it slips: tell us. We reassign, and we tell you we did.

03

30-day listing review

At day 30 the agent sits down with you and reviews their own numbers: showings, feedback, days on market, price position. No spin, no new photos as a substitute for a decision.

If it slips: we run the review ourselves and put the numbers in front of you.

04

On the file through closing

One person at CloseCenter owns your outcome from the first call to the closing table. You are not handed off to a queue.

If it slips: you have a direct line and a name, not a support inbox.

Process

What happens, in order

No mystery steps. If a step slips, you hear it from us before you notice it yourself.

  1. 1

    Map your position

    Loan balance, rate, equity, and what you actually need the money for.

  2. 2

    Pick a structure

    Seller financing, lease-purchase, or subject-to. Each has a different risk profile and we spell it out.

  3. 3

    Underwrite the buyer

    Down payment, credit, reserves. A creative deal is only as good as the person paying you.

  4. 4

    Paper it with an attorney

    Note, mortgage or deed of trust, servicing setup. Not a template off the internet.

  5. 5

    Servicing and monitoring

    Payments go through a third-party servicer so there is a record. We stay on the file through closing.

Florida Panhandle

Loan assumption on a short-notice move, and terms on a second home

Sellers leaving Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field, Duke Field, NAS Pensacola or NAS Whiting Field often have a low-rate VA loan, and that loan can be worth real money to the right buyer. A VA loan may be assumable, but it is not automatic: the servicer and the VA have to approve the buyer, the process takes time, and your entitlement usually stays tied up unless the buyer is a veteran who substitutes their own. Ask the servicer three things in writing before anyone markets the assumption — is it assumable, what is their process and timeline, and what happens to my entitlement.

Start that call the week orders arrive, not the week before the move. The approval timeline, not the buyer, is what usually decides whether an assumption is realistic on a short fuse.

On second homes and rental condos the flexibility comes from the other direction. An owner with the property paid off, or nearly so, can carry financing and widen the buyer pool. The terms — down payment, rate, length, and whether there is a balloon — set the price as much as the property does. If the unit is in an association, the building's rules and its financing situation are part of what the buyer is buying, so put them on the table early. Have a Florida attorney draft or review the note and mortgage.

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FAQ

Questions people actually ask

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