costs of selling your home

How Much Does It Cost To Sell Your House Yourself?

Powder Springs / By

If you are thinking of selling your home you may be wondering “how much does it cost to sell my house myself”. You may ask a few of your friends or family members and some may know how much it actually cost them and others may not, or the actual cost may vary greatly from one person to the next. In this short write up we will go over what some of your expenses might be.

Commissions

So we are talking about selling your home yourself, but, most homeowners that try to sell “By Owner” eventually end up listing with an agent. So for that reason we think it’s important to add this info.

If you sell your house using an agent, well that’s going to be one of the biggest expenses. A listing agent’s fees can be anywhere between 5 to 7 percent. Dimitria Willams has some more insight on this:

Subject to negotiations, the commission fluctuates between 5% and 6% of the closing price, and carries the stakes of both the seller’s and the buyer’s agents. It is the seller, though, who pays it.

The higher the closing price, the higher the commission, which is often the largest cost in a real estate transaction. In some of the country’s most prohibitive housing markets, excluding the luxury segment, it can reach over $70,000 – as is the case in San Jose. The average for the country is a bit over $13,500.

Read The Full Article Here

If you are able to sell your property yourself without an agent you will undoubtedly save yourself a large chunk of change. Like we mentioned previously, not everyone is able to do the job themselves. Agents can be worth the money, especially when it comes to contracts and negotiations. A good agent can help protect you from legal problems ranging from misinformation and just getting all of the paper work done period.

Home Inspection

This is something that you may be able to skip, depending on the age of your home. If your house is only a few years old, you probably don’t need it. However, if your house is 30 years old you may want to have an inspection done yourself prior to a buyer’s inspection:

A presale home inspection is strictly optional, and it could cost around $400 or more. So why would you pay for one? Some sellers make the investment because they want to find out about any structural or mechanical problems with the house before a potential buyer comes in with his or her home inspector.

Getting a pre-sale inspection allows you to make major repairs ahead of time, removing any possibility of a buyer demanding them later or asking you to lower the price. Discuss with your real estate agent whether a pre-sale home inspection is recommended. Keep in mind that if your inspection reveals material defects with your home, you’ll have a responsibility to disclose them to a buyer, depending on your state’s laws for disclosure requirements.

Read The Full Article Here

Typically in Georgia we see these inspections cost around $600. If your home has some age on it, this may be something that you want to consider just to give you some peace of mind.

Closing Costs

These are costs that are customary for the seller to pay for the buyer. It can range from just a few hundred dollars to thousands, or in most cases 3% of your selling price. Karin Carr explains more:

In the Georgia market it’s very common that buyers ask you to pay their closing costs or at least a portion of it. We have a lot of first time buyers and nobody puts 20% down anymore. I mean, people don’t have $100,000 just sitting in the bank waiting to buy a house as a general rule. They may ask you, hey can you chip in $3,000 towards my closing costs? They will probably also ask you for either a home warranty, a termite bond or both.

Read The Full Article Here

This is also something that you can negotiate. Just remember that if you don’t offer any incentive for the buyer they may purchase another house from someone that will.

Miscellaneous Costs

There are actually quite a few more things that can add up. You may need to spend money on landscaping, staging the home, home repairs or home improvements and the list can go on and on.

A Great Alternative

If you are really wanting to sell your house, you need to contact us. We will buy your house just the way it is – no repairs, updates or staging. We will even pay all of the normal closing costs! In short, whatever number we agree on is what you will get at closing, less any outstanding mortgage balance.

Sell your house fast, easy and for all cash. We buy houses in any condition and in any price range in Powder Springs and all of the surrounding areas. Just call us at (770) 756-8680 or click here to visit our website and complete a short form and we will contact you soon.

How Much Does It Cost To Sell Your House

Mableton / By

Many times when someone is attempting to sell their first house mistakenly assume that they will receive the full amount of their selling price less what is owed on the mortgage. If you are selling the traditional method through an agent, the cost of selling your property may surprise you.

Costs Of Selling Your Home Through An Agent

A lot of times when first time home sellers go to the closing table, they are surprised at how much it costs them to sell their property. When you sell your house the regular way through an agent, the costs can add up quickly, and then depending on your market and condition of your home, there maybe some additional costs as well.

First, what the largest amount of money spent on closing is what goes to the agents. Kate Ashford has this to say about it on Forbes:

The biggest chunk of sales costs is made up of agent commissions and transfer or sales taxes ($13,357). “Your biggest ticket items are going to be that estimated closing costs column,” Olsen says. In terms of agent’s fees, typical costs include 3% of the sale price to the seller’s agent and another 3% to the buyer’s agent. As your home increases in value, so do your agent’s fees.

Read The Full Article “Selling Your Home May Be Pricier Than You Expect” Here

6 percent is a lot of money. On a 200k home that’s $12,000 alone gone to just realtor commissions. In our opinion, it is well earned though. You have to stop and think what your listing agent does for you (at least the good ones). There is all of the marketing that they do, showings of the property when you aren’t there, set up and handle open houses and negotiations with buyers agents. If they don’t sell your house, those are their expenses that are not recouped.

It doesn’t stop there,  there is also closing costs that the seller is expected to pay as well:

Some of these costs may include HOA (or homeowners association) fees, property taxes, attorney fees, transfer taxes and title insurance. You also may be asked to pay an escrow fee, a brokerage fee and a courier fee. Altogether, closing costs can range from 2 percent to 4 percent of the selling price.

Read the Full Article “How much does it cost to sell a house?” Here

Here in Georgia we typically see these additional closing costs at an average of 3%. Depending on where you live and the condition of your market will cause that number to vary.

So now we are at 9% of your selling price, but hold on, we are not done yet. There are still more things that you may have to pay for, some of them maybe even before closing:

Home repairs: Your buyer will probably order a home inspection before closing. If the report reveals problems, you may be asked to pay for repairs.

Moving costs: Whether you buy boxes, pack and move them yourself or hire a company, you’ll want to budget money for the actual move.

Read The Full Article “How Much Does It Cost to Sell a House?” Here

The home repairs that need to be made that are noted from a home inspection are often times something the seller never saw coming.  If you are considering selling your home with an agent it may be in your best interest to have your own home inspection preformed so you don’t have any last minute surprises.

Unfortunately, we still aren’t done with what it could cost you when selling your home. Watch this video that explains other possible additional costs, again depending on the area in which you live:

As you can see, it can add up to be quite costly when selling your home.

There Is An Alternative When Selling Your Home

There are really 2 alternatives to selling your home with an agent. The first is to sell your home yourself. However it is likely that if you properly market your property yourself the buyer will have an agent, and you will have to negotiate their commission. In this case you will also probably still have to pay some of the additional closing costs. The amount that you are required to pay will depend on your negotiation skills, or the amount of money you are willing to pay vs. not making a sale.

Your 2nd option is to sell to an investor, or a “house buying company”. This option isn’t for everyone though. If your house is newer and doesn’t need any repairs and you have all the time in the world to wait on a buyer, then your better off either using an agent or selling yourself. If your house is in need of repairs, or you need to sell quickly, this might be a viable option for you.

The reason an investor or a company that buys houses is an option is because they usually pay closing costs. That means no realtor commissions (as long as you haven’t hired one already) and no closing fees. Learn more about how home buying companies work here “How We Buy Houses For Cash Works“.

Our company, Mandich Property Group is a house buying company in the Metro Atlanta area. In most instances we pay all of the closing costs. That means at closing you will get the full amount that we agree upon, less your mortgage. It’s a great alternative for people that are in a hurry to sell, or for whatever reason can’t or don’t want to use an agent. You can learn more by visiting our site, or call us at 770-756-8680.

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