The Hidden Costs Selling a House the Conventional Way
Have you thought of selling your house the conventional way? If so, have you considered whether you can really afford it? As a smart seller you should know why selling to me makes more $ense than selling conventionally.
Most people have gotten used to the idea that there are only two ways to sell their house. One is hiring a real estate agent, or if they are really brave, going at it alone in order to save on expensive commissions.
Typically, folks that try to sell on their own usually give up after only a few weeks and end up calling their sister’s friend, who happens to have a real estate license… However, what a lot of people seem to forget, is, that the real estate agent’s commission is only one of many costs which will eat up any equity they may have in the property.
Unfortunately, a great number of people today have no equity, so they will have to bring money to the closing table, or just not be able to sell at all.
Here are some facts to help you sort it out.
Let’s say you have a house you think is worth around $200,000 dollars.
- If priced correctly for the area and condition, houses typically sell for about 3% less than the asking price, so in our example it could sell for about $194,000.
- Realtor commissions would eat up 6% or $11,640.
- Title insurance will be approximately 0.36% of sales price, so subtract $698.
- Documentary transfer tax, $0.55 for every $500, means another $213.
- Termite/pest inspection, $175-$250. Depends on size of the house. Let’s say only $175.
- 1/2 of escrow fee, half of ~$300-$500 (Buyer pays other half) Let’s say that is only about $150.
- Document preparation fee, ~$75-$150 We’ll say $75.
- Recording fees, $50-$100. Depends on county/city. Okay, Let’s say only $50.
- Overnight/courier fees, another $50.
________________________________________________________________
So far, in this best-case scenario with a house in pretty good condition, you have already spent over $13,000 in order to sell.
In our present economy, buyers are being much more demanding, many times insisting that sellers pay their closing costs too, those can run between 2 and 4% of the purchase price. So even at just 2% per cent, that’s another $3,880 reduction to your bottom line.
- Next, is the money you spent sprucing up the house in order to sell it. And, don’t forget all the additional repairs buyers will demand once they thoroughly inspect the house and find more things you weren’t even aware of.
- Lastly, don’t forget about the extra mortgage payments you had to make during all of those months it took for you to find a buyer. Those payments amount to many more thousands of dollars coming right out of your pocket.
Okay, we don’t want to be all negative about this, but the fact is that your realtor likely promised you a certain price that he or she could sell your house for; however, as the months dragged on, that original price was repeatedly reduced in hopes of finally getting that first offer.
Those price reductions will absolutely chew up another 5 to 10 thousand dollars from your original $200,000.
So, it’s clear to see that you could easily be on your way to spending up to $25,000 in order to sell your house the conventional way.
And, we haven’t even started to talk about the hassle, the stress, buyers not qualifying for the loan, and everything else that will surely come with this long, and tiresome process.
________________________________________________________________
Fortunately, there is a better way!
Sell Your House Fast
To find if you can sell your house the fast and hassle free way,
Call Eric now at (801) 896-7521