The Average Cost to Sell a Home: An Informative Guide
If you’re like most homeowners, the idea of selling your home inspires a veritable cocktail of emotions. If you’re ready to move on to bigger and better things, you’re probably excited about the concept of this next chapter of your life. Yet, our homes carry a lot of sentimental value, which will make it difficult to say goodbye.
On top of that, there’s the stress of the actual home selling process. You need to figure out what steps you need to take to prepare your house for the market. Incidentally, do you know the true cost to sell a home?
Most homeowners don’t know much about common home selling fees. However, these are important costs to factor into your budget if you want to maximize your sale price and walk away on top.
We’re here to help. Keep reading for everything you need to know about the average cost of selling a home.
Realtor Fees
Hiring a realtor is paramount to getting the most money for your home possible. Did you know that homes sold by realtors typically go for $25K more than homes sold by the owner?
Just as importantly, realtors have the experience and expertise necessary to sell your house quickly and efficiently. They can list your home on MLS sites that you might not have access to. They also have various marketing platforms to maximize the visibility of your listing.
Furthermore, local realtors collaborate together to get things done faster. Your realtor will be in contact with other agents who have buyers looking for homes like yours. Realtors also have valuable insight about how the home selling process is changing, which they can use to your benefit.
Of course, these services won’t be rendered for free. Most agents charge a commission rate of 3% based on what your home sells for. Therefore, if you sell your home for $300,000, you can expect to pay $9,000 in realtor fees.
Home Inspections
The cost to sell a home often depends on the property’s current condition. However, before you can decide what repairs or renovations to make, you need to schedule an official home inspection.
A certified home inspector will come to your home to assess its condition. This service usually costs between $250 and $400.
It’s also a requirement for most buyers and their lenders. They’ll want a third-party verification of the home’s condition before investing.
Repairs and Renovations
Learning how to sell a house quickly means learning how to make it more appealing to buyers. Most buyers are looking for homes in pristine condition. They’re also looking for updates like modern kitchens, remodeled bathrooms, etc.
Depending on the types of renovations you invest in, you could spend anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars. And remember, not all renovations will increase the value of your home enough to help you recoup your costs.
Updates and renovations are largely optional. However, if you’re home inspection report came back with a number of damages or issues, you’ll probably need to invest in repairs if you don’t want to turn away the majority of buyers. In some cases, a buyer’s lender won’t approve an offer if the home has serious damages or major issues.
Home Appraisals
Like home inspections, home appraisals can cost upwards of $400. These are used to determine the current market value of a home. As such, they’re often non-negotiable for both buyers and their lenders.
If your asking price is above the market value, the buyer will immediately lose money on the transaction. Therefore, most lenders won’t approve an offer on a home that’s worth less than the asking price. In a bidding war, however, you’ll be able to get offers above market value.
Professional Cleaning
Getting your home professionally cleaned is one of the best real estate tips. When giving private tours or hosting open houses, presentation is everything.
A clean home makes a good impression. It feels warm, welcoming, healthy, bright, and fresh.
Conversely, if your home is full of dirt, clutter, stains, and mysterious odors, you’ll scare buyers right out the door. If you don’t have the time, energy, or equipment to clean your home by yourself, you’ll need to hire a company to do it for you.
This won’t add much to the cost to sell a home. The average price of a one-time deep cleaning is between $200 and $400.
Home Staging
Staging homes is one of the most effective real estate trends. Staged homes spend 73% less time on the market on average than non-staged homes. If you want to sell your house fast, this is one of the best ways to do it.
However, staging a home isn’t cheap. Depending on what home staging company you use, it can cost a few hundred dollars per room every week. If your house doesn’t sell quickly, your home staging bill can increase your cost to sell a home by several thousand dollars.
Closing Costs
Closing costs are one of the most common home selling fees. These are the processing fees paid to the buyer’s lender.
While the rule is not set in stone, the seller often pays the closing costs (or at least a portion of them). How much you pay will be hashed out during negotiations with the buyer.
Traditional closing costs average between 3% and 6% of your home’s sale price. Using the same example from above, if you sell your home for $300,000, this would increase the cost to sell a home by $9,000 to $18,000.
Do You Know the Cost to Sell a Home?
As you can imagine, home selling prices vary greatly. You can save a lot of money by doing as much work as possible on your own. This includes repairs, renovations, cleaning, etc. Of course, you shouldn’t do anything you’re not qualified to do.
And remember, everything is a trade-off. For example, you can avoid realtor fees by selling the home by yourself, but you probably won’t get as much money for it. You could also skip repairs and renovations, but would have to compromise on your selling price.
We hope this guide on the cost to sell a home helps you decide on a path forward. For more homeowner tips or real estate advice, read through some of our other blog articles before you go.
