HomeBlogHome SellingUnconventional Ways to Sell a House in St. Louis Share on Like what you see? Share with a friend. Unconventional Ways to Sell a House in St. Louis Chris Kirshenboim | May 26, 2022 Last updated August 10, 2026 There are more unconventional ways to sell a house than most St. Louis owners are ever told about, and a few of them are worth real money in the right situation. Owner financing lets you carry the note, collect monthly payments and often set a higher sale price, at the cost of holding the risk if the buyer stops paying. A lease-option brings in a tenant saving toward a purchase, which suits a house you are not quite ready to let go of. Selling to the neighbor who has always wanted the lot skips the MLS entirely. Auction works when a property is unusual enough that a normal appraisal fights you. And a direct cash sale trades top-of-market price for a date you choose and a house you never have to repair. None of this is exotic. Creative home selling is simply the set of options an agent has little reason to raise, because most of them do not end in a listing. Choose by what you actually need: money now, money later, or the thing off your plate. Read how we buy houses so you know what our number covers, then set it beside a listing estimate. Take your time. The 368 Google reviews behind us are from people who did. There are many factors to consider, such as how much time you have available to realize your asking price on the market and if your home fits the preferences that buyers seek in homes today. If not, you also need to consider everything it will take to get your St. Louis home ready to put on the market. We'll discuss four unconventional ways to sell your house in St. Louis Owner Finance Owner financing is a lucrative yet unconventional way to sell your house in St. Louis. This method of home sales opens your property up to an entirely different pool of buyers with less than perfect credit who are willing to pay a higher price for the ability to enjoy homeownership while getting their creditworthiness in order. You have the driver’s seat in this deal, setting a higher sales price for providing the opportunity and taking the risk that the market rises higher, and they are buying at a great price when the option expires in two or three years. You also carry risks. If the buyers fail to gain financing, you’ll be dealing with legal battles while still paying the mortgage payments. Rent with an Option Renting the home with a contract for an option to buy at the end of a given period, typically two years is a very creative, unconventional way to sell your house in St. Louis. Sellers can charge a more significant upfront deposit towards the downpayment and add more to the rent as credit towards building a larger down payment over time. Again, you can set a premium on the final sales price as well with this method. Because the renters can leave at the end of the contract, they may damage the home or fail to take proper steps for preventative maintenance. Before you sell your home again, the house may be facing severe repair bills. FSBO One more unconventional way for you to sell your house in St. Louis is an FSBO listing or for sale by owner. This home sales method is attractive to homeowners who seek to avoid paying high real estate commissions. Regrettably, only about 10 percent of FSBO sellers are successful and have wasted valuable time with their property lingering on the St. Louis market. Often this is because of inexperience with marketing real estate and dealing with the negotiations without injecting personal emotions. Homes that have been on the market for a long time rarely sell at current market values. Direct Sale Direct sales to a company like Chris Buys Homes in St. Louis are an additional unconventional way to sell your house in St. Louis, with which most homeowners are unfamiliar. Professional buyers have the power of cash backing them, meaning that closing is only mere days or weeks away. A professional buyer will take the time to listen to your needs and will even compare what you would likely receive from a conventional sale with a real estate agent so that you can compare your options. With none of the hoops of listing to jump through, no showings, and no inspections to pass, a direct sale means your house will sell as-is. A professional buyer like those at Chris Buys Homes in St. Louis handles everything for you. You don’t even have to clean before you leave. You can even pick the closing date. The best unconventional way to sell your house in St. Louis is to sell directly to Chris Buys Homes in St. Louis! Call Chris Buys Homes in St. Louis at (314) 334-1481 or send us a message today! FAQs Frequently Asked Questions What paperwork protects me if I carry owner financing? + You want a promissory note and a recorded deed of trust drafted by a Missouri attorney, so the debt is secured by the house itself and you have a remedy if payments stop. Is a lease-option the same as renting? + Not quite. The tenant pays rent plus an option fee for the right to buy later at a set price, and you remain the owner, with the repairs, taxes and insurance that come with it. Which unconventional route pays the most? + Usually owner financing, because you earn interest across years, and it is also the slowest to turn into cash. A direct sale pays the least on paper and settles everything in weeks.
