What is the cost to sell a house?
If you are considering selling your house, you may wonder how much it’s going to cost to sell it. It may be more than you think. According to Joanne McCoy, a real estate agent in Lincoln, Nebraska, “Depending on the price range of the home, I tell my clients that they need to be ready to spend 9%–10% of the sale price on selling costs, including the real estate agent commission and closing costs.” What fees do sellers pay when selling a house?
Real estate agent commissions
The money spent on real estate commissions is generally around 6%. The seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent split the commission 60/40. A lot of people don’t realize that the commission is further broken down to pay the brokers, or real estate companies, that the agents work for. Generally, 40% of both the seller’s and buyer’s commission goes to their respective real estate offices.
To put this in perspective, if your house sells for $200,000, $12,000 of your profits goes toward real estate agent commissions:
- $7200 to the seller’s agent
- $4800 to the buyer’s agent
- $1920 to the buyer’s broker
- $2880 to the seller’s broker
Real estate agent commissions are also known as “listing agreements.” You can try to negotiate the percentage of the commission for your own agent, but this is rarely a possibility. Chances are better in a fast seller’s market. Even if you can negotiate a lower rate with your own agent, you’ll still have to pay the full commission to the buyer’s agent.
Decluttering your house in preparation for sale
If you’ve lived in your house for any length of time, you’ll need to go through every inch of it for items that you no longer need or want. Storage areas such as closets, drawers, and cabinets fill up fast with jumbles of odds and ends.
Children’s outgrown toys accumulate in their rooms. Kitchen cabinets fill up with junk and yard sale finds that at one moment in time seemed like a great buy. All of the clutter that has accumulated in your house has to be removed.
Use boxes or plastic garbage bags to separate the smaller items that you want to get rid of. Some items can be donated or given away. Others can be recycled; the rest will have to be disposed of. If you have a lot of items to throw in the trash, or if you have large possessions to get rid of, you may have to rent a dumpster. Possessions you wish to keep will need to be stored somewhere temporarily while your house is on the market. According to Move.com, “Average storage unit costs are about $180 per month. Our analysis of more than 3,500 quotes shows that prices from the best self-storage companies range from around $70 to $300, depending on size, type, and availability.” You may need to move twice, once to a storage unit and then again to your new home.
Old, worn-out furniture and large odds and ends from the garage and outbuildings can be eliminated this way. The cost of renting a dumpster varies according to size and location, but renting even the smallest dumpster costs several hundred dollars. According to Angi’s List, renting a dumpster costs $381 per week on average, but prices range from $293 to $479, depending on the size and type.
Staging costs when you sell a house
“On average, staged homes sell 88% faster and for 20% more than nonstaged homes,” according to Realtor.com. But are you really increasing your profits?
Crystal Leigh Hemphill, a real estate professional, explains “…staging a 2,000-square-foot home would cost around $2,000 to $2,400 a month.” However, even if you sell your house on the first day, most professional home stagers have a three-month contract, and you’ll have to pay for their services for that length of time.
All these costs can quickly exceed any profit you may make by staging your house, and in fact may cut deeply into your total gains.
Seller concessions and home inspections
Forbes describes seller concessions as “…certain costs associated with homebuying that the seller agrees to pay. These can include costs related to home improvements or repairs that are needed…”
According to HUD, inspection “costs vary dramatically, depending on the region, size and age of the house, scope of services and other factors. A typical range might be $300–$500 but consider the value of the home inspection in terms of the investment being made.”
Sometimes, inspections turn up unknown problems and defects in a house. In this case, you can either repair the problem, or negotiate with the buyer and lower the price of the house to cover the cost of the work needed. This would be a concession.
Costs for preparing the house for listing
Unless your house is in excellent shape, at the very least you should freshen things up for selling. This includes refurbishing floors, putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls, and working on your curb appeal.
According to HomeAdvisor.com, “The cost of an interior painting project ranges between $952 and $2972, with a national average of $1,960.”
The charges to replace dingy carpeting or refinish hardwood floors varies depending on your square footage, your location, and the cost of materials. Sprucing up the front yard and the entrance to your house would include buying and potting flowers, killing weeds, mowing, planting shrubs, etc. A deep cleaning of your house usually runs several hundred dollars. If your house needs repairs, the costs could run into thousands of dollars, depending on what needs to be fixed or replaced.
Is there a way to avoid the expensive costs of selling a house?
The answer to, “How much does it cost to sell a house the traditional way?” is “a lot!” Thankfully, there is a way to avoid all these expenses. When you sell to a reputable cash house buyer, you don’t have to pay for deep cleaning, painting, inspection, decluttering, or making house repairs.
HomeVestors® is a highly reputable cash house-buying company with a 95%* satisfaction rating from our clients. Our great reviews are due to our fair cash offers and personalized service. We value people more than the transaction and enjoy leaving our customers satisfied and happy by providing top-notch customer service. We’ve been in business since 1996, and our experience has taught us how to navigate around all sorts of house-selling hurdles.
We’d love to talk to you if you are selling a house. HomeVestors pays typical closing costs and doesn’t charge commissions. Simply contact us on our online form or call us to set up a free, no-obligation consultation. One of our friendly, local property specialists will meet you at your house, take a tour of your property, and answer your questions. We can often give you a fair cash offer on the spot. If you accept the offer, you are on your way to a fast closing—often in as little as 3 weeks.
Call us today at 866-200-6475 to save money when you sell your house.