How long does it take to sell a house?
About 7 to 26 weeks for most sales, in 4 parts. Pick the day you'd like to be closed and see when you'd need to start.
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Free · works back from your date · nothing you pick leaves your browser · updated September 2026
When do you want to be closed by?
The day you'd like the keys handed over and the money landed. The rest of the plan works backwards from it.
A date you have in mind, or a guess. Nothing you pick leaves your browser.
"Sometime in the spring" only becomes a plan once it is worked back into a start date, and that date is usually sooner than people expect. About 7 to 26 weeks, start to finish, is what most sales take.
Part 1 of 4
How long does it take to sell a house?
About 7 to 26 weeks, start to finish, for most sales. Getting ready takes two to six weeks. The market takes a week to three months, and the price decides most of that. Under contract usually runs thirty to forty-five days for a buyer with a mortgage. Closing is a day or two.
The middle stretch is the one nobody can promise. A home priced against what sold nearby recently tends to find its buyer in weeks. One priced above that tends to wait, then drop.
Part 2 of 4
The 4 phases, and what moves each
How long each one commonly runs, and what decides where in the range a sale lands. Once you have a plan, your own dates stand beside each.
Clearing out, small repairs, pictures, a price, and the listing itself. Two to six weeks is common. What moves it: how much needs doing to the house; whether you're choosing an agent first; how fast you can get photos taken.
From the listing going live to an accepted offer. A week in a hot market, three months in a slow one. The price decides most of it. What moves it: your price against recent nearby sales; the season and the local market; how the home shows.
Inspection, appraisal, the buyer's loan, and the title work. Thirty to forty-five days is the usual stretch for a buyer with a mortgage. Cash can close in two weeks. What moves it: cash or a mortgage; what the inspection turns up; how quickly the title work clears.
Signing, funding, and the deed getting recorded. The money often lands a day or two after you sign. What moves it: whether funding happens the same day; your county recorder's turnaround.
Part 3 of 4
What happens in each stretch
Every stretch is a set of steps, and every step has a guide. These are the same guides a Keighbor seller reads inside their Room.
Before you list · 2 to 6 weeks. Everything that happens while the sign is still in the garage.
On the market · 7 to 90 days. Getting seen, getting people through the door, and getting an offer.
Under contract · 30 to 45 days. The stretch between a signed offer and a clear-to-close.
Closing · 1 to 4 days. The last few weeks, and the day itself.
Part 4 of 4 · where to read next
Questions about the dates
How long does it take to sell a house?
About 7 to 26 weeks from getting ready to closing, for most sales. Two to six weeks getting ready, a week to three months on the market, thirty to forty-five days under contract with a financed buyer, and a day or two to close.
Can the middle stretch be shortened?
The price decides most of it. A home priced against what sold nearby recently tends to find its buyer in weeks; one priced above that tends to wait, then drop. Photos, how the home shows, and the season move it too, but less.
What if I'm buying at the same time?
Two calendars have to meet. Many sellers line up the purchase to close a few days after the sale, or negotiate a short rent-back so they can stay put between the two. The plan above shows where the gap would fall; the under-contract stretch is where it gets negotiated.
Does saving the plan start anything?
No. It opens a free Room with the four dates on its calendar. Nothing is listed, nobody is contacted, and no clock starts. Move the dates whenever the plan changes.
These are typical stretches, not yours
No two sales run the same way. Some of these steps won't apply to you, your state or your contract may add ones that aren't here, and the order can change. Use it as a map, not as a set of instructions. The ranges are what sellers commonly see. Your market, your price, your buyer's financing, and your county recorder each move them; your contract sets the real dates once you have one. Keighbor is a software company, not a law firm, brokerage, or tax adviser. This is general information, not legal, tax, financial, or real estate advice about your sale. Your situation may differ. Before acting on a contract, disclosure, title, tax, or pricing question, ask an appropriately licensed professional in your state.
Written and researched by Keighbor Research · read against the published guides these stretches come from · how we research and check what we publish
Your dates, where the rest of the sale is.
A Room keeps your plan on one calendar with the showings, the buyer's deadlines and the closing, and names what is coming up when you open it.
Two people asked to see the house on Saturday.
An example sale, not anybody's. Your Room draws your own dates.
Put these dates on your sale's own calendar.
Your Room opens with four dates on its calendar. Add contract deadlines later, and it counts the days.
Organize my saleFree to set up. Pay once when you list: $89 or $189. 7-day refund.
Where it is in your Room
- Open your Room
- Calendar, in the menu on the left
Your dates arrive as deadlines, and the Room raises each one before it lands.