Sell Your House Fast in the Affordable and Vibrant City of McAllen, Texas

The people of McAllen, Texas, get so much out of this vibrant city at a fraction of the cost you’d see elsewhere — a fact that should make it more than feasible to sell your house fast. The unmatched warmth and enthusiasm of this bicultural community, not to mention its role as a center for retail, international trade, and healthcare, put McAllen in the category of an undiscovered gem.

“When the buyers come from other states and cities, they just appreciate the price,” says Monica Acevedo, a top real estate agent in McAllen. “Yes, our prices have gone up but you can still get a cute house for $85,000. You can get an amazing house for $350,000. So when people come from California or Washington, $400,000 is amazing.”

Your job when selling a home in McAllen is to let people in on the secret. By moving in, not only could a buyer live a great life in one of the most affordable metros in the nation, they will get to do so in a property that is everything they could have dreamed of. Our guide to selling a house fast in McAllen goes beyond your typical sale tips to focus on the features buyers seek most in this part of the Rio Grande Valley.

1. Sell to a cash buyer in McAllen

McAllen remains incredibly affordable, but the local housing market’s steady rise in home values and a population increase of over 11% since 2020 has also caught the eye of real estate investors, particularly those seeking out single-family properties to rent out. Selling to an investor rather than to a financed buyer will help you move faster, especially if your home requires some repairs. To seek out a cash offer on your McAllen home and close in as little as 10 days, try HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform. With Simple Sale, HomeLight’s provides full cash offers for homes in almost any condition while offering flexible move-out options.

2. Hire a top McAllen real estate agent

If you want a fast sale, partner with a top McAllen real estate agent who intimately understands McAllen’s market conditions, history, and current buyer pool. On average, McAllen real estate agents can sell your home 51.04 days faster than the local average, according to HomeLight’s internal transaction data.

A great place to start your agent search is with HomeLight’s agent-matching platform. Whether you’re in North McAllen or close to the golf course, HomeLight will match you with the top three agents in your specific area based on transaction stats like average days on market, list-to-sale price, and average client reviews.

3. Highlight top McAllen location features in your listing

If your home boasts any of the following conveniences or location perks in McAllen, be sure to mention them in your listing:

• Zoned in a good school district such as Gonzalez Elementary/ McAllen ISD School District
• Location within a subdivision (name the specific subdivision and whether it’s gated)
• Location in North McAllen close to restaurants, shopping, schools, parks
• Easy access to recreation like 2nd Street Walking Trail
• Golf cart accessibility to McAllen Country Club

Another big draw will always be access to the beach.

In case you forgot: “We are an hour and fifteen minutes away from South Padre Island which is honestly the nicest beach in Texas,” says Acevedo. “Everybody’s always on the Fourth of July going to the island; there’s always a concert out there. It is so close, it can be a day trip or you can spend the night out there.”

4. Play up your pool

Pools nationwide are having a moment, with buyers shelling out over $27,000 extra for homes with backyard pools on average. But sweltering and oppressive McAllen summers mean a pool is one of the hottest (or should we say coolest?) features your McAllen home can have.

Check almost any current house listing in McAllen and you’ll see that if the house has a pool, it’s mentioned right away in the description. If a house doesn’t have a pool but comes with a flat backyard where you could build one, says that in the listing.

Be sure to clean your pool and consider poolside landscaping with a bright green lawn and a nearby garden. If your pool needs some TLC, check out our guide on the steps you can take to maintain it. Pool furniture such as lounge chairs and a snack area or bistro table will also create an inviting environment showing your buyer where they can relax after a long day.

5. Stage your McAllen home, but keep it simple

Staging is definitely recommended to help your McAllen home faster, but that doesn’t mean you have to go to extremes to do so.

“One of the first things I feel is really important is curb appeal,” says Rebecca Castillo, Interior Designer at Rebecca Castillo Interiors shares. “Get rid of any dead plants, anything that’s not attractive, and freshen up with seasonal flowers and a seasonal doormat.”

Acevedo likes to help her sellers personally stage the house with her top go-to tips. “Make sure everything looks nice and fresh and ready to go. I always recommend the white comforter on the primary bedroom bed. I always make sure they have fresh paint on their baseboard and fresh paint in the entryway.”

Other tips to stage your McAllen home suggested by the experts include:

• Install fresh mulch around the home where appropriate.
• Remove small kitchen appliances from countertops.
• Pack up personal medications and toiletries from bathroom surfaces.
• Remove personal pictures from walls.

6. Inspect before you sell

With 14 years of industry experience, professional McAllen home inspector Rolando Arriaga shares that the most common issues to come up in local home inspections include damaged roof shingles, improper stucco installation, electrical issues, and the A/C not cooling properly. Let’s review how to handle each.

Damaged roof

“Many of the damaged roof shingles are due to the hot and humid climate in the Rio Grande Valley, tree limbs touching the shingles, and walking on roofs when temperatures are above 100 degrees,” Arriaga shares. “We recommend that buyers and sellers have their roof periodically inspected, trim tree limbs away from the structure, and avoid walking on roofs.”

Improper stucco installation

If you have stucco, as many McAllen homes do, some area installations have not been done correctly due to improper clearance where the home’s foundation meets the ground. There needs to be at least two inches of clearance to allow stucco to properly drain otherwise damage occurs as a result of moisture absorption.

“Another issue we see a lot is the lack of weep screeds underneath the wall,”  says Arriaga. The weep screed serves as a vent and allows moisture to escape the stucco wall finish,” Weep screed is a requirement of The International Building Code.

Hire a trusted contractor in McAllen to handle any stucco installation and repair.

Electrical Issues

When it comes to your electrical system, check to see if you have Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) protection that’s required in the kitchen, garage, laundry rooms, bathrooms, and exterior receptacles. In addition, make sure you have installed enough smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to be compliant.

AC system

Additionally, tune-up your HVAC system annually and have it serviced prior to selling your McAllen home. The heat of the Rio Grande Valley really puts a strain on the AC.

If you’re not sure your home is up to par,  hire a professional real estate inspector who you can verify on the Texas Real Estate Commission’s (TREC) website.

Ready to sell your house fast in McAllen?

A listing in McAllen that features a well-staged home with top features called out should get attention from buyers who recognize what a deal it is to live here. Keep your maintenance in check especially with culprits like the roof and AC, and you shouldn’t have many issues to worry about during closing either.

Whether you have a refreshing backyard pool, a two-minute walk to the trail, golf-cart access to the country club, or fantastic school district, just make sure buyers know everything to love about your McAllen home and work with a top real estate agent to polish up your marketing.

You always have the option to request a cash offer from a McAllen real estate investor as well. Whatever your choice, you have options to sell your McAllen house fast and retire in South Padre Island or move to Austin and experience a different part of the Lone Star State.

Header Image Source: (Ernest Brillo / Unsplash)