How to sell a house fast for a relocation in Washington
To sell a house fast for a relocation, decide whether to sell before or after you move, then choose between a listing and a sale as it is. You don't have to fly back to close: a Washington electronic records notary can notarize by live video, or a notary where you live now can, if the title company accepts it.
It takes about a minute, there's no obligation, and your details are never sold.
or call Jason (425) 242-4673
Should I sell my house before or after I move?
Sell before you move if you need the money for the next place or can't carry two homes. Move first if the new job starts soon or you want the house empty for showings. Each order has a cost, so put the monthly cost of owning both places next to the price you expect from each route.
| What it solves | What it costs you | Fits best when | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell first, then move | One mortgage at a time, and the sale money is in hand for the next place | Showings while you pack, and a closing date tied to your moving date | The new place needs your equity, or the start date is flexible |
| Move first, then sell | An empty house is easier to clean, paint and show | Two sets of bills until it closes, and a vacant house to look after from far away | You can carry both places for a few months, or the job starts right away |
| Rent it out and sell later | Rent can cover some of the mortgage while the market or your plans settle | You become a landlord, and a later sale has to work around a tenant | You may come back, or you want to hold the house for a while |
| Sell as-is for cash around the move | One walkthrough and a closing date set in the contract around your move | Usually a lower price than a fixed-up listing | The house needs work, or nobody can be there for months of showings |
Whichever order you choose, run the numbers first. Add up what the house costs you each month while it sits: the mortgage, property tax, insurance, utilities, and any yard or gutter care you'll pay someone else to do once you're gone. Multiply that by a realistic stretch on the market, counting the weeks it takes to get the house ready. Then compare what a listing would leave you after repairs, commission and those carrying costs with what a sale of the house as it is would leave you. If you sell first, line up short-term housing for any gap between closing and the new place. If you move first, plan who will look after the house while it's empty. A buyer's lender may ask for repairs, and somebody has to let the inspector in either way.
A house that shows well in a strong neighborhood often sells for more listed, even after you've moved, because the broker runs the showings while you're gone. A house with deferred repairs or a full garage is harder to market from another state. The cash sale vs listing page walks through the costs of each route.
Can I sell my house after I've moved?
Yes. Nothing in Washington law requires you to live in a house to sell it, and many sellers close from another city or state. What changes is the logistics: someone needs a key, the house needs care while it's empty, and you need a way to sign the closing papers from wherever you are.
- Leave a key with someone you trust nearby, a neighbor or a relative, who can let in an inspector, an appraiser or a buyer's agent.
- Forward your mail so property tax statements, utility bills and anything from the lender reach you.
- Keep your contact details current with the title company and your broker, since they'll send papers to your new address.
- Take photos of each room before you leave, so you have a record of how you left the house.
- Keep the folder of repair receipts, warranties and permits with you. Buyers ask for them, and they help you fill out the seller disclosure.
Moving out doesn't change your disclosure duty. In most sales of a house in Washington, the seller has to give the buyer the seller disclosure statement, known as Form 17, unless the buyer waives it or the sale is one the law exempts (RCW 64.06.020). A seller who moved for a job isn't on the exempt list, which covers sales like a foreclosure, an estate sale by a personal representative or a transfer between spouses in a divorce (RCW 64.06.010).
If you've already moved, a local person with a key can let in an inspector or a buyer, so the walkthrough doesn't have to wait for a trip back. Which belongings stay, and who clears the rest, get settled in the purchase agreement before you sign.
How do I look after a vacant house while it sells?
Tell your insurer the house will be empty, keep the heat and power on, and have someone check it on a schedule. In Western Washington the worries are a hard freeze, a windstorm that drops a branch, and rain finding its way in, so a quick look after bad weather matters more than a weekly visit in summer.
- Insurance
- Many homeowner policies change or limit coverage once a house sits empty for a stretch the policy defines. Call your insurer before you move out, tell them the dates, and ask what the policy needs from you.
- Utilities
- Keep the power, water and heat on until closing. A buyer's inspector needs them to test the furnace, the water heater and the outlets, and a cold, dark house shows badly. You can usually stop trash pickup and internet.
- Heat and pipes
- Set the thermostat low rather than off. Western Washington's cold snaps are usually short, but a few days of arctic air can freeze pipes on an outside wall. When a freeze is forecast, ask your house-checker to open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls so warmer air reaches the pipes.
- Outside
- Disconnect garden hoses, cover the outside faucets before the first freeze, and know where the main water shutoff is. Clean the gutters in fall, since fir needles and moss fill them fast, and keep the yard mowed so the house doesn't look empty from the street.
- Checks
- Give one local person a key and a short list: walk the house after storms, look under sinks and at ceilings for water, check the doors and windows are locked, and pick up anything left on the porch.
If the house needs work that you can't oversee from far away, listing it still means managing contractors from another state. The guide on selling a house as-is covers that trade, including what a buyer of a house as it is usually takes on.
Can I sign closing papers remotely in Washington?
Yes, Washington law allows it, two ways. A commissioned electronic records notary in Washington can notarize your signature over live video while you're somewhere else, and a notary in your new state can notarize it in person with the same effect here. Which of these your sale can use is up to the title company and any buyer's lender.
Washington's notary law says the person signing has to appear in person before the notary, except as its remote section allows (RCW 42.45.040). Under that section, a Washington electronic records notary public located in this state can notarize for a "remotely located individual" using technology that lets the two of you see and hear each other at the same time (RCW 42.45.280).
- The notary has to confirm who you are: by knowing you personally, through a credible witness, or by using at least two different types of identity proofing (RCW 42.45.280(3)(a)).
- The notary has to be reasonably able to confirm the record in front of them is the one you signed, and the session is recorded on video (RCW 42.45.280(3)(b) and (c)). The recording is kept for at least ten years.
- The notary's certificate has to say that the act was performed using communication technology.
- If you're outside the United States, the papers have to concern property or a deal connected to the United States, and signing them must not be against the law where you are (RCW 42.45.280(3)(d)).
A notary where you live now works too. Washington gives a notarial act performed in another state, by a notary public of that state or another official authorized there, the same effect as if a Washington notary had performed it (RCW 42.45.090). That's how a mail-away signing works: the title company sends the papers, you sign them in front of a notary near your new home, and you send them back.
The law is changing on January 1, 2027. The version of RCW 42.45.280 that takes effect that day spells out how a remote signer can sign paper documents on camera, sign a short declaration with them, and send them to the notary no later than three days afterward.
Title companies and lenders set their own rules on remote and mail-away signings, whatever the statute allows, and some documents may need ink on paper. Ask the title company early which way it will handle your signing. If someone else will sign for you under a power of attorney, ask an attorney and the title company first, because title companies have their own requirements for those.
I ask early where you'll be on closing day, so the signing can be planned around your move.
Should I rent out my house instead of selling it?
Renting can make sense if you might move back, if the rent would cover most of the costs, or if you'd rather hold the house through a slow market. It also makes you a landlord with duties under Washington law, often from a distance, and it makes a later sale harder because a tenant has rights.
Washington's landlord-tenant act lists what a landlord has to keep up during a tenancy. It includes the roof, floors, walls and other structural parts, the electrical, plumbing and heating systems and appliances you supply, a reasonably weathertight house, adequate locks with keys for the tenant, and heat, water and hot water (RCW 59.18.060). From another state, that usually means paying someone local to answer the calls.
Selling later is the other part to plan for. A Washington landlord can end a tenancy only for a cause the statute lists. One is an owner who elects to sell a single-family house, with at least 90 days' written notice of the date the tenancy ends (RCW 59.18.650(2)(e)). The statute also expects the owner to really sell: it presumes otherwise if the house isn't listed at a reasonable price in the first 30 days after the tenant moves out. Some cities, Seattle among them, add their own rules.
The guide on selling a house with tenants covers that later sale in detail: the notice, a lease that runs with the house, showings with someone living there, and the security deposit.
Renting the house can also change the tax picture when you do sell, depending on how long you lived there and how long you rent it. Ask a CPA before you decide, since the answer depends on your own dates and numbers.
How do I sell a house fast for a relocation?
To sell a house fast for a relocation, pick your order first, sell before or after the move, then choose how to sell and set up the signing for wherever you'll be. Most delays come from repairs, showings and paperwork that wait on you, so the steps below clear those early.
Set your dates
Write down the start date at the new job or home, the last day you can be in the house, and how long you could carry both places.
On the first call I ask for those dates, because they decide which routes are realistic.
Gather the house papers
Find the deed, the mortgage statement, the property tax statement, and any repair receipts, permits and warranties. You'll want them whether you list or sell for cash.
If something is missing, I'll tell you which pieces the title company can pull for you.
Compare the routes
Get a price for a listing and a price for the house as it is, and subtract repairs, commission and the months of carrying costs from the listing number.
I'll give you both numbers in writing, a cash offer and what a listing with me would likely leave you, so you can set them against your moving dates. Jason Bryant is a licensed broker with Windermere Real Estate (license 101377).
Plan for the empty house
Call your insurer, leave the heat and power on, and give a key and a short checklist to someone local.
If you're already gone, tell me who has a key, and we'll work out the walkthrough from there.
Set up the signing
Tell the title company where you'll be on closing day and ask which signing it will accept: in its office, by mail with a notary near you, or by video with a remote notary.
We walk you through the settlement statement line by line before anyone signs, wherever you are.
Where a sale fits
Selling is one choice among several when you move. People keep the house and rent it, list it, sell it as it is for cash, or use a home-sale program that comes with an employer's relocation package. Which fits depends on the house, your dates and whether you might come back.
- Keep it and rent it
- Rent brings in income, and you keep the house if you return. You also take on a landlord's duties and a tenant's rights if you sell later.
- List it
- A house that shows well often nets more on the open market, and the broker handles showings after you've left. Listing with Windermere Real Estate through me is one way to do it, and I'll tell you when that's the better number.
- Sell it as-is for cash
- A house that needs work, a seller who's already gone, or a move date that can't slip often points to a cash sale: one walkthrough and a closing date set around your move. It usually means a lower price than a fixed-up listing.
- An employer's program
- Some relocation packages include a home-sale program run by a relocation company. Ask your HR or relocation counselor what yours covers before you sign a listing or take another offer, since some programs have rules about that.
- Get advice first
- When the title is shared with someone who isn't moving, or a co-owner disagrees, talk to a real estate attorney before you talk to any buyer.
If the house is coming to you through an estate and you live out of state, the inherited house guide covers who signs and how probate fits in.
Questions sellers ask
Can I sell my house after I've moved out of state?
Yes. You don't have to live in Washington to sell a house here. A local person with a key handles the visits, and the closing papers can be signed by mail in front of a notary where you live or by video with a Washington remote notary, if the title company accepts it.
Do I have to come back to Washington to close?
Usually not. A Washington electronic records notary can take your signature by recorded video call, or you can sign in person before a notary near your new home. The title company decides which of those it accepts for your sale, so ask early.
Can a notary in my new state notarize Washington closing papers?
Yes. Washington treats a notarization done by a notary public in your new state as if a Washington notary had done it. The title company still sets which forms and instructions go with the papers, so follow its signing instructions to the letter.
Do I still fill out the seller disclosure if I've moved?
In most sales you do, because Washington requires the seller of a house to give the buyer the Form 17 disclosure statement unless the buyer waives it or the sale is exempt, and moving for a job isn't one of the exemptions. Fill it out from what you know about the house.
Should I leave the utilities on in a vacant house?
Leave them on until the sale closes. The buyer's inspector has to run the furnace, the taps and the outlets, a low thermostat helps keep pipes from freezing in a cold snap, and a lit, warm house shows better than a cold one. Trash and internet can usually be stopped.
Does my homeowners insurance cover an empty house?
That depends on the policy, and many policies change or limit coverage once a house is vacant for a period the policy defines. Call your insurer or agent before you move out, give them the dates, and ask what they need from you.
Can I rent my house out now and sell it later?
Yes, as long as you plan the sale from the start. To end a tenancy so you can sell a single-family house, Washington requires at least 90 days' written notice, and the house is expected to be listed in the first 30 days after the tenant leaves. You can also sell with the tenant staying.
Will selling after I move change my taxes?
It can. How long you lived in the house, and whether you rent it before you sell, can change how a gain is taxed. That turns on your own dates and numbers, so ask a CPA before you decide when to sell.
Does my employer's relocation company have to buy my house?
Only if your relocation package says so. Some packages include a home-sale program and some don't. Ask your HR or relocation counselor what yours covers, and whether it has rules about listing with an agent or taking an outside offer, before you sign anything.
Do I have to empty the house before I sell?
For a listing, buyers expect it empty and clean, which usually means movers, a hauler or a donation pickup before you go. What you leave and who clears it are terms in the purchase agreement; ask any buyer before you sign.
Sources
- RCW 42.45.040, personal appearance before the notarychecked
- RCW 42.45.090, a notarial act performed in another statechecked
- RCW 42.45.280, notarial acts for a remotely located individual (electronic records notary public)checked
- RCW 64.06.020, the seller's duty to deliver the disclosure statementchecked
- RCW 64.06.010, transfers exempt from the seller disclosure statementchecked
- RCW 59.18.060, the landlord's dutieschecked
- RCW 59.18.650, the causes for ending a tenancy, including an owner's salechecked
Tell me your moving date
Send the address and the day you need to be gone. We'll walk the house and put an offer in writing that you can weigh against a listing.
It takes about a minute, there's no obligation, and your details are never sold.
or call Jason (425) 242-4673