Thinking about how much it costs to sell a house? If you want to sell yours, you’ll want to know how much it’s going to cost you.
The average cost of selling a home in the U.S. is approximately 10 – 15 percent of your home’s sale price. That includes getting the house ready to list, the cost of hiring movers, real estate agent commission and fees, and the cost of addressing any necessary repairs.
As an example, at 15 percent, the cost to sell a $250,000 house could be as much as $37,500. But, of course, every situation is unique, and your prices will vary.
This guide gives you an overview of how much it will cost to sell a house so you can be prepared and make a plan for buying your next home.
How much can I sell a house?
Before you can know how much it will cost you to sell your home, you need to determine its worth.
The housing market can vary day-to-day due to local factors such as supply and demand in your area and more prominent macro-economic factors such as how the U.S. economy is doing.
However, while this is true, you can also only sell a house for what someone else is willing to pay for it.
To quickly get an idea of what you can get for your home, we recommend obtaining a free online home-value estimate.
Once you get a sense of what your home is worth, the best way to determine what someone might be willing to pay for your home is to see what others have been willing to pay for homes in your area that are comparable to yours, known as real estate comps.
That can be done by completing a comparative market analysis (CMA) on your home.
A CMA is a beneficial tool when selling your home. They are prepared (at no charge to you) by your real estate agent. Your realtor uses the MLS to obtain information on three or four homes currently on the market or those that have recently sold in your neighborhood.
Factors they look at when making the comparison include:
- Where each of the properties is located
- How many square feet each house has
- How old the properties are
- The number of bedrooms each has
- The number of bathrooms each home has
- If there are any unique amenities on the property, like a pool
- If there have been any additions or upgrades
- What condition the interior is in (carpets, wood floors, walls)
Once your agent has all this information, they can see how your house compares to the other homes to give them a good idea of what your house might sell.
Cost of preparing your home to sell
The cost of preparing your home to sell will vary depending on multiple factors. However, there are several items you may want to spend money on as you prepare to sell a home.
Home Inspection
One of the first elements is the home inspection. Specifically, it is seen as a pre-sale or pre-listing home inspection, since it is you, as the seller, who performs it.
The presale inspection will alert you to any potential issues with your house that could cause buyers to walk away.
Though not mandatory, the presale inspection provides insight into what might need to be repaired and what may hinder a sale or cause it to fall through altogether.
The average home inspection cost runs anywhere between $200 – $500, depending on how big your house is, how old it is, and other factors.
Keep in mind, if you are in a seller’s market, you may be able to sell your home with few, if any, repairs being made.
On the other hand, if you find yourself in a buyer’s market, some of the repairs may need to be completed, or you may need to lower your sale price to offset the cost of the repairs.
Home repairs
If you opt for a pre-listing inspection, you’ll be able to work on repairing some of the issues listed in the home inspector’s report before listing your house.
For example, you’ll want to make sure the roof, electrical systems, plumbing, foundation, drainage, and windows are all in optimal condition before selling. If neglected, these are the types of things that can reveal themselves and may turn off potential buyers.
When it comes to other cosmetic upgrades or home improvements, you can quickly sell a house in a lived-in condition in some sellers’ markets.
But in traditional markets or a buyer’s market, repairs and upgrades can make or break a deal. So before making any significant changes to your home, talk to your real estate agent. They can advise you on whether or not those changes will pay off when selling.
Enhancing curb appeal
When you’re selling your house, you want to find ways to make it stand out, and enhancing your curb appeal can be a quick and cost-effective way to do so.
You don’t necessarily have to paint the exterior of your house to lure potential homebuyers. Instead, simple updates like trimming your hedges and a freshly mowed lawn can go a long way to enhancing the look of your house.
Don’t forget to stage your front porch and back patio too. Adding planters with colorful pots and pressure washing the deck will make the outside more attractive and increase your home’s value.
Decluttering and cleaning
Before listing your home, you’ll want to give it a thorough decluttering and cleaning. Then, of course, you can use your elbow grease (which will cost you time and a few dollars in cleaning supplies), or you can hire a company to do a one-time deep clean of your home.
For $150 – $250 (on average for a 2,000 square foot home), you can hire a professional cleaning service to make your home shine and free up some valuable time for you to focus on other tasks to get your home ready to sell.
Staging
There are several benefits to staging your home. Two of the most important are the potential increase in the sale price and the shortened time between listing and selling that a staged home typically provides.
Staging can be done by either hiring a professional or doing it yourself. If you’re willing to hire a professional, you can expect to spend approximately $100 – $350 for an initial home staging consultation.
After that, you will pay between $250 – $3,000 for hands-on staging using items you already own or combining your items with the staging companies.
During a home staging consultation, the home stager makes recommendations to help prepare your house to sell.
You decide what suggestions you may want to implement and whether you will be the one doing the staging or if you’ll pay to hire the home staging company to complete the project for you.
Professional photos
Research shows that hiring a professional real estate photographer can help homes sell faster and more money. The investment is typically small, but the payoff can be massive when selling.
Real estate photography usually costs between $100-$300 per shoot. However, if you’re working with an agent, their brokerage will likely cover this cost for you.
Real estate commission
When choosing a real estate agent with a proven track record, the time it takes you is another “cost” you will incur when preparing to sell your home.
While not necessarily a monetary expense, your time is valuable, and you will want to meet with several real estate agents to ensure you’re signing with the right one. Along with the buyer’s agent commission, their commission is where you’ll have to pay out of pocket.
One of the highest costs of selling a house is the agent’s commission. The typical real estate commission is between 5 – 6 percent of the home’s sale price.
For example, if your home sells for $250,000, at 6 percent, you will pay $15,000 in realtor fees. Almost always, the seller pays the total commission cost.
The real estate commission covers all the services your agent brings to help sell your house and will be detailed out in your listing agreement.
Home seller concessions
“Seller concessions” are when the seller agrees to pay certain costs for the buyer, usually as a tactic to sweeten the deal, so the buyer is more likely to close. The buyer includes their request for concessions in their initial offer and becomes part of the negotiation process.
For instance, a buyer can offer your house but ask that you pay for the inspection, their home warranty, or other closing costs.
Then, as the seller, you can agree to pay all of that amount, a portion of it, or reject it outright.
Seller concessions are often market-driven. That means you won’t find too many sellers paying benefits in a seller’s market.
However, if you’re selling during a buyer’s market, you may have to agree to deliver some of the buyer’s closing costs to get your house sold.
Closing costs for the seller
Closing costs are an assortment of fees (not including agent commission) paid by buyers and sellers at the end of a real estate transaction.
They are typically 2-4% of the home’s sale price. Here is a list of the typical closing costs for the seller:
- Lender’s title policy
- Survey cost
- Property transfer taxes
- Appraisal fee
- Recording fees
- Owner’s title policy
- Settlement fees
- Attorney costs
- Any liens or second mortgages that are on the property
- Any seller concessions
How to calculate closing costs for the seller?
An excellent way to calculate seller closing costs is utilizing a seller closing cost calculator.
This calculator allows you to plug in the sale price of your home, your current mortgage information, and your closing date to estimate your total closing cost fees.
Relocation costs
Any time you make a move, there are expenses involved. These may be as big as hiring a professional moving company to come in, pack your personal belongings, load them onto a truck, haul them across town or the country, and off-load them.
Or they could be as simple as buying cardboard moving boxes from your local hardware store, picking up your items, and borrowing a friend’s truck to move everything yourself. Regardless, the cost to relocate must be thought through and budgeted for as well.
4 Ways to reduce the cost of selling your home
There are many ways to reduce the cost of selling your home. For starters, invest in a pre-listing home inspection as mentioned earlier and carefully consider what repairs are needed.
Then, see how many of the repairs you are qualified to do yourself and research any projects you’d like to do that could boost the value of your home.
Of course, all home improvement projects are not created equal, and you don’t want to dump money into something that won’t provide a good return on your investment.
When you get to the staging portion of selling your home, do it yourself or only pay to have one or two rooms staged, like the kitchen and living room, two essential rooms in the house.
To try and save on closing costs, such as if you’re in a seller’s market, you have the upper hand and probably won’t need to offer any concessions to the buyer.
As for the actual move, do as much yourself as possible. If you don’t have the time or are otherwise unable to move, you may want to skip the professional mover and instead opt for a mobile moving storage unit.
The container is delivered to your home, you load it up, and the company takes it to your new residence.
How much does it cost to sell a house by owner?
A seller who decides to sell their house by the owner must front all the costs, and responsibilities, that a real estate agent typically handles.
One of the first things you would need to do is to determine a sale price. Since you don’t have access to a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to research comparable sales, the next best option to determine value would be to get a home appraisal. Unfortunately, that will cost you about $400.
As far as marketing your home, you will need professional photographs of your home’s exterior and every room in the house. Hiring a photographer will cost anywhere from $100 – $300, depending on where you live.
Another aspect of marketing your home yourself is getting it in front of potential buyers. You can put a “For Sale” sign in the yard, post it online, and possibly take an ad out in your local newspaper. The amount you advertise will determine how much you spend.
Remember that pre-listing home inspection? You will want to have that done when selling by the owner to see if any repairs need to be completed before listing your home. The average cost for an inspection is about $400.
Another thing to consider is all the forms you will need. While you can get free real estate forms online, you may wish to hire a real estate attorney to look over the documents. But, again, the cost will vary depending on how much time the attorney spends on your transaction.
You will be responsible for negotiating every aspect of the sale (price and any repairs) and setting up a time to close.
So, while some costs of selling a house on your own are easy enough to determine, others (like how much time you will spend on the transaction from listing to closing) can be more difficult to estimate.
How much will I make selling my house?
The amount you net on the sale of your home will depend on things like the current market conditions, how long you’ve been paying your mortgage, and whether you have a second mortgage.
To determine how much you would make by selling your house, you can use this basic equation:
Sale price – cost to sell your house + your mortgage balance = home proceeds
Or, another way is to use a home proceeds calculator to determine how much money you will make selling your home.
Though these calculators don’t consider any repairs, your home may need staging or relocating costs you might also incur.
Calculate the cost to sell a house
Before listing your home for sale, you’ll want to take time to calculate each of the costs associated with selling a home.
The more accurately you can estimate how much it will cost to sell a house, the better prepared you will be.
Most importantly, you’ll have a better idea of how much you’ll have leftover after the sale to put towards your next home.
It’s your turn to be a homeowner in New Jersey
If you are interested in acquiring your new home or selling the one you have, do not hesitate to contact our EXP Realty consultants. We guarantee quality attention and the best homes in the area, with personalized marketing strategies to achieve the most significant benefit.
You will not regret working with us because we seek your best interests. Our clients certify them.