Typical Fees for Selling a House
Working with a realtor to list, show, and sell your home includes a variety of fees. Realtor commissions, closing costs, and other fees can eat into your profit on the sale. This may limit your options when searching for a new home.
Before contacting a real estate brokerage, it might make sense to learn a bit more about the typical fees for selling a house.
Realtor Commission
The biggest fee associated with selling a home through a realtor is the real estate commission. The average realtor commission is about 5% to 6% of the home’s sale price. For a $200,000 home, you can expect to pay $10,000 to $12,000 in commission.
The 5% to 6% average includes commissions for the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent. Each agent receives about 2.5% to 3% commission. If you choose to skip the realtor and sell your home without an agent, you still need to pay the commission to the buyer’s agent. Without a realtor handling your end of the negotiations, you may also receive a lower offer.
A cash offer from a qualified real estate investor such as SFL Partners eliminates the realtor commissions. No real estate agents are involved in the process, which means more money in your pocket.
Seller Concessions
After receiving an offer from a prospective buyer, you need to negotiate the sale. To sweeten the deal, sellers often agree to pay some or all the closing costs. When you agree to cover certain costs, you are providing seller concessions.
The average seller concessions equal 2% to 5% of the home’s sale price. Concessions tend to cover fees typically paid by the buyer, such as:
- Appraisal costs
- Attorney fees
- Title insurance fees
- Property taxes
Most of these concessions are part of the closing costs covered by the buyer. While they are not required, the seller is often expected to offer some concessions. With an average of 2% to 5% of the sale price, concessions can easily add up to thousands of dollars in lost profits.
Pre-Sale Home Inspection
During the typical home sale, the buyer hires a professional home inspector to examine the condition of the home. Sellers also frequently hire an inspector before listing the property.
A pre-sale home inspection helps you uncover issues that require attention before showing the property to potential buyers. The average cost of an inspection is about $400. Keep in mind that if the inspector detects any major issues, you have a responsibility to take care of them or disclose them to the buyer, which may hurt your sale price.
Closing Costs
The closing process includes a wide variety of fees collectively called closing costs. While the buyer also pays some closing costs, the seller pays the bulk of the fees. Some of the most common fees associated with the closing costs include:
- Title search
- Title insurance
- Appraisal
- Credit report
- Loan payoff fees
- Transfer taxes
- Recording fees
If you have an existing mortgage on the property, you may also need to pay a prepayment penalty for paying it off early.
As mentioned, some of the closing costs are the buyer’s responsibility. However, the seller often pays more, especially when including seller concessions. Nationwide, most sellers pay 1% to 3% of the home’s sale price at closing.
In Florida, the average closing costs are 1.98% of the purchase price. You also need to pay a fee for documentary stamps and transfer taxes. After these fees, the average seller in Florida pays about $5585 in closing costs.
Home Warranty
A home warranty is typically purchased by the buyer after closing on the house. However, some sellers offer to purchase a home warranty to cover potential repairs leading up to the closing date.
The average buyer warranty costs $300 to $600. While the warranty is not required, it gives the buyers assurance that they will not need to deal with any immediate repairs. Along with seller concessions, paying for the home warranty helps you sell a listed property faster but reduces your earnings from the sale.
Home Repairs or Maintenance
To attract buyers, realtors recommend that you take care of home repairs and cosmetic issues such as chipped paint, worn siding, or poor landscaping. As with the home warranty, home repair is not a requirement to sell a home but it increases your chances of finding buyers.
Most homeowners repaint rooms and declutter the property before showing it to buyers. You may also need to handle any major repairs uncovered during a home inspection.
The average homeowner spends about $12,400 on home repairs and renovations leading up to the sale of a property. You may recoup a portion of this during the sale but most of the money spent is never recovered.
Hiring a Professional Stager
Along with home repairs and maintenance, homeowners trying to sell a property in a buyer’s market may need to properly stage their homes. Staging is the process of arranging furniture and selecting décor to make your home more appealing to potential buyers.
Based on the average rate for a professional stager, you can expect to pay $2300 to $3200 for staging. While you may stage the property yourself, you still need to deal with various expenses. For example, you may need to rent a deep cleaner to improve the appearance of the carpets or purchase new décor.
What Is the Total Cost of Selling a Home in Florida?
When you add the expenses discussed, you are looking at an average loss of 8% to 10% of the home’s sale price. For a $200,000 property, the expenses may equal $16,000 to $20,000.
Along with the cost of selling a home in Florida, you need to deal with a variety of frustrating responsibilities. The process of staging, repairing, and presenting your home can take its toll on your well-being. After listing your home, you still need to show it to interested parties.
These tasks are often stressful and inconvenient. You need to take time out of your schedule to make your home more presentable and schedule showings or open houses.
How Do You Avoid These Fees For Selling A House?
If you want to make more from the sales of your home, consider selling it to a cash buyer. Cash home buyers help you forgo many of the fees discussed. There is no commission or closing costs.
Selling your home for cash is also more convenient compared to working with a realtor. SFL Partners offers a streamlined home-selling process, providing the following advantages:
- Competitive offers in just 24 hours
- No need to deal with major repairs
- Closing date in as little as seven days
- Only one showing
SFL Partners buys homes in any condition. If your home has suffered from neglect, you can still receive a fair offer in 24 hours or less. After accepting the offer, you can set a closing date that works for you. SFL Partners can accommodate closing dates in as little as seven days, with an average timeframe of 10 days or more.
You also only need to set up a single showing for an expert from SFL Partners. With these steps complete, you get cash for your home.
The bottom line is that listing your home with a real estate agent brings a lot of unwanted stress and additional costs, so make sure you consider all factors before deciding on a path forward. If you’re thinking about selling your home fast for a fair cash offer, click here to get the process started.
