What Is the Best Month for Selling a House

Table of contents:

• Toll of selling a firm – in a nutshell
• Preparing your home to sell
• Staging costs
• Landscaping
• Dwelling house repairs & maintenance
• Home improvements
• Negotiating the sale
• Existent manor agent commissions
• Seller concessions
• Finalizing the deal
• Endmost costs
• Buyer's home warranty
• Relocating
• Moving costs
• Dwelling house transition and overlap costs
• Takeaways
• Instance: the costs of selling a house

While the average real estate agent committee hovers around v% to six%, depending on where you live, the full toll of selling tends to be college.

When you factor in boosted costs that are mutual in most sales like repairs, closing costs, and relocating costs, your total expenses can come closer to 10% of the home's sale cost.

There can likewise exist a substantial investment of time as y'all wait for the right heir-apparent to make an offer, qualify for a mortgage, and then shut the bargain.

This guide gives you lot an overview of how much it costs to sell your dwelling then you can cull the best mode to sell that makes sense for your budget.

→ If yous're exploring different options, learn how the toll of selling to Opendoor compares to a traditional sale.

What is the cost of selling a house, in a nutshell?

Assuming you sell your house for $248,000 (the median price for a unmarried-family abode in the U.S. in 2018) you could terminate up paying $41,000 in full costs. The real estate commission will be well-nigh likely the biggest fee y'all will pay as a seller.

See out a more detailed breakdown of our estimated home selling cost in the department at the cease of this guide.

Preparing your abode to sell

Before list your home, you'll want to ensure that information technology's market-fix to attract interested buyers. There are four main costs to consider as you prep your home.

Staging costs (~1% of sale price)

When prospective buyers encounter your home for the first time, y'all desire them to focus on the habitation's all-time features while visualizing themselves living in the space. That's where staging comes in. Staging involves arranging article of furniture and decor to make a home as visually highly-seasoned to buyers as possible.

According to cost comparing site Fixr, the average cost nationally to hire a professional person stager ranges from $2,300 to $three,200. Y'all may save money staging your home yourself, but you'll have to invest the fourth dimension to set and maintain each room.

If you're going the do-it-yourself route, consider what you'll need to purchase. That might include paint, new article of furniture or light fixtures, defunction, and decorative accessories. You may likewise desire to rent a deep cleaner for carpets, which tin can cost $35 to $50 per day, or pay for professional person carpeting cleaning, which can cost $lxxx to $550 according to HomeAdvisor.

Staging can pay off when you're ready to sell. In a National Association of Realtors (NAR) survey, 29% of sellers' agents reported an increment of 1% to 5% in the dollar value offered by buyers. Twenty-one percent reported that staging increased the sellers' home value by vi% to 10%.

→ Want to skip the hassle of listing, showings, and months of incertitude? Learn how selling to Opendoor works.

Landscaping costs (~1%)

The outside of your home tin can be nigh every bit important equally the inside when information technology comes to selling. Curb entreatment can entice buyers, specially those who shop online and rely on photos to compare homes. Landscape maintenance covers things like mulching, pruning shrubs and planting flowers; standard lawn care covers weeding and fertilizing.

At the low end, landscaping tin cost just a few hundred dollars if you lot're doing something unproblematic like reseeding the lawn or sprucing upwardly your flower beds. The boilerplate toll of a more than comprehensive service—flower beds, plants, trees, etc—is around $iii,239, according to HomeAdvisor. This will of course depend on the size of your yard and the extent of the job.

Abode repairs and maintenance (varies)

Maintenance and repair issues are one of the main reasons why awaiting home sales fall through at closing. If you're selling to Opendoor, we simplify the repair procedure so you have the certainty of a competitive offer and more flexibility in how y'all can handle needed repairs. If you're selling the traditional way, ensuring your domicile is in good condition before listing tin help you lot avoid making major concessions to the buyer when an offer is on the tabular array.

As you set up to sell, audit your habitation for damaged features, broken appliances, and spaces that need to exist cleaned or refreshed. Our dwelling maintenance checklist will walk you through common repair items that can touch on your home's value and specifically what to look for every bit you inspect each surface area.

Getting a pre-inspection assessment can also help you pinpoint what needs to be fixed. The full cost of repairs will vary based on your home's condition. Every bit you lot list out necessary repairs, determine what you lot tin do yourself and where y'all'll demand to hire professional help. Compare quotes from multiple contractors so you accept a range of prices to consider.

Habitation improvements (varies)

Bated from repairs, consider whether y'all want to make whatever renovations to the dwelling house, what you might spend in both time and coin, and the potential render on investment.

For example, kitchens are the most important space for buyers, according to a NAR survey. A minor remodel could cost you nigh $21,200 on average, according to the Remodeling 2022 Toll vs. Value Report. The upside is an 81.1% recoup of the cost at the auction, but you lot're investing time and energy if you're doing a remodel yourself. Hiring professionals can save fourth dimension but you might find it inconvenient or cost-prohibitive.

Focusing on smaller renovations that add together value for buyers might make more sense if you don't have equally much time or money to spare. Instead of a complete kitchen overhaul, for instance, you lot could spend a weekend updating cabinet pulls and installing a new backsplash. Both can catch a buyer's center and heave your domicile's value.

Negotiating the sale

Once your home is fix to list, the side by side step is waiting for a buyer to make an offering. Subsequently you've accepted an offering, you lot tin move into the adjacent phase of the selling process, which usually involves some back and forth negotiation between your amanuensis and the buyer's agent. There's also another round of costs to weigh.

→ See our guide to selling your home fast

Real estate agent commissions (~5% to 6% of sale price)

Working with a real estate amanuensis means they handle the selling legwork for you, such as arranging tours, scheduling paperwork, updating your listing, and arranging things like photography of the home. This saves you time, simply these services aren't costless. On average, Bankrate estimates sellers pay 5% to half-dozen% of the sale price as commission fees. For a $300,000 home, that ways you'd pay $15,000 to $eighteen,000.

This commission is split between your agent and the buyer's agent. If yous're selling to Opendoor, our service charge currently hovers around 5%, which is similar to the five-half dozen% real estate committee that covers both the listing agent's committee and the heir-apparent'south amanuensis'southward commission in a traditional sale. Learn more virtually our pricing and how information technology compares to a traditional auction.

Yous could also fly solo and sell your home without an amanuensis, but you still might be responsible for paying commission to the buyer's agent, if the buyer is represented past an agent. Assuming that's half the average fee estimated past Bankrate, you'd pay 2.5% to 3%. Considering that 87% of buyers apply an agent, co-ordinate to the NAR, that commission is ofttimes an unavoidable expense.

→ A cash offer from Opendoor allows a faster, more certain auction. Come across what we tin can offer for your home.

Seller concessions (~i.5% to 2%)

A concession means you've agreed to pay certain costs for the buyer, usually as a means of sweetening the deal and then the heir-apparent is more likely to close. For instance, they might inquire for help with inspection fees, processing fees, or other costs. A buyer might ask for a concession if they don't have enough cash to comprehend their closing costs or if the home is older and they want to preserve greenbacks to make updates. Buyers can also use concessions equally a bargaining tool in a buyer's marketplace, or to offset the cost of having to make a college offer to compete in a seller's market.

The amount a buyer can request is express by their loan blazon. Conventional loans adhering to Fannie Mae guidelines allow for concessions of upward to 3%, 6% and ix%, based on the size of the buyer's down payment. For FHA and VA loans, which are backed by the Federal Housing Administration and the Section of Veterans Affairs, respectively, concessions are capped at 6% and 4%, according to The Mortgage Reports.

The market place you're selling in can influence what you pay in concessions. Opendoor's analysis of internal and public dwelling sale information in our markets indicates that when buyers ask for concessions, they typically inquire for about ane.5% to 2% of the dwelling house auction price.

Finalizing the deal

As yous arroyo your endmost, there are nevertheless a handful of costs to plan for.

Closing costs (~1% to iii% of sale price)

Closing costs are an assortment of fees—carve up from agent commissions—that are paid by both buyers and sellers at the close of a real estate transaction. We intermission these downwards in our blog on closing costs for the seller. According to Realtor.com, sellers typically pay between 1% and 3% on average at closing. If you're hoping to sell your home for $250,000, you could potentially pay $2,500 to $vii,500 in closing costs.

Closing costs are usually lower for the seller because there are fewer fees involved. Typically, the main costs you'll pay include the closing fee, which is paid to the closing agent, property taxes, your chaser'southward fee, recording fees, a transfer revenue enhancement, and any costs associated with paying off your original mortgage.

Transfer Taxes

Transfer taxes apply when transferring the title of a piece of real estate from ane person to another. Transfer tax tin be assessed at the state, county, and municipal levels. The amount you pay depends on where the sale takes place. According to the National Briefing of Land Legislatures, 12 states charge no real manor transfer revenue enhancement at all. Arizona charges a apartment transfer fee of $ii. The remaining states have transfer taxes that typically range from 0.01% to 5% of the auction toll.

Mortgage payoff

Before y'all can officially deem a sale finished, you'll need to pay off your mortgage. The proceeds of the sale are used to pay off your old loan, just there may be a small shortfall if the payoff amount doesn't include prorated interest. You might accept to cutting a check to the lender to brand upwards the deviation.

Additionally, you may have to pay a prepayment penalisation for paying off your loan ahead of schedule. Prepayment penalties are usually gear up at 2% to 4% of your original loan amount, according to Realtor.com.

Buyer's habitation warranty (<1%)

While your homeowners insurance ordinarily covers the structural aspects of your abode in the event of damages caused by fire or certain types of natural disasters, a home warranty has a dissimilar scope. Co-ordinate to Realtor.com, home warranties can cover repair and/or replacement costs for kitchen appliances and the washer and dryer, as well every bit the electric, plumbing, and heating and air systems.

You can offer to purchase a warranty to cover the home leading upwards to closing, so the buyer knows they're non facing repair costs as soon as they sign. Or, you could offering to pay for a twelvemonth or 2 of warranty coverage after closing. A buyer warranty tin cost between $300 and $600, according to Realtor.com. It'southward a nice perk to offer buyers, but information technology's not a requirement.

Relocate to your new home

By now, you might call up you've finished paying for all the costs of selling your home. But every bit you are preparing to relocate to your new home, remember to take the following costs into account as well.

Moving costs (~one% to 2%)

Y'all may move before the endmost or afterwards. Iii factors that influence moving costs are:

• Whether you're moving a short or long distance
• The number of household items yous're moving
• Whether you're moving yourself or hiring professional person movers

Hiring professional person movers has its advantages. A total-service mover tin handle packing your belongings, moving them to your new home, and unpacking them. Y'all may pay a flat fee or an hourly fee for that convenience.

HomeAdvisor estimates the cost of professionally moving a 3-sleeping room house locally at $760 to $1,000. Movers charge more than for longer distance moves and to ship heavy or bulky items, such as a pianoforte or your kids' swing gear up.

For a DIY move, renting a moving truck can cost as little every bit $50 or over $2,000, according to HomeAdvisor, depending on the size of the truck and the number of miles traveled. A local move could toll just a few hundred dollars when you factor in the rental fee and gas. You lot'll also need to pay for boxes, tape, and other packing materials.

If y'all accept things that need to be thrown abroad, y'all may too have to pay for either a portable dumpster that tin be picked upward, or to take someone haul those items away. Finally, you may need to pay deposits for electrical, gas, water and trash collection at your new home.

Recollect that timing matters with a move. HomeAdvisor suggests the cost of a move may be twice as high during the summer months. From May to September, demand for moving trucks and professional person moving services peaks, every bit families often move in summer while school is out, and college students move to and from campus. Higher contest for moving services often results in higher prices.

Dwelling house transition and overlap costs (~one%)

At that place's commonly a transition catamenia betwixt selling your current habitation and moving into a new 1. If yous've already closed on a new place, you might pay buying costs for two homes simultaneously. That can include both mortgages, utility costs, HOA fees, property taxes and homeowners insurance.

If you haven't closed on the new dwelling house or you're still searching for the right one, you'll need to budget for temporary living arrangements. You'll also need to pay to have your article of furniture and other property stored until y'all can settle permanently. Co-ordinate to SpareFoot, the average monthly toll of self-service storage ranges from effectually $66 to almost $135, based on the size of the unit. Keep in mind, in this scenario you may need to move twice, which aside from being fourth dimension-consuming, tin also be very expensive.

Our analysis of internal and industry data suggests that together, transition costs typically add together up to about 1% of the sale price, assuming a transition period of one and a one-half months. One of the advantages of selling to Opendoor is we requite you command of your moving timeline then you lot can avoid these housing overlap costs.

Key takeaways

At that place are typically more than costs to selling a habitation beyond real estate agent commissions—10% of the sale toll is a proficient identify to start. Take time to calculate each of the costs listed here individually, assuming they apply to your situation. The more than accurately y'all're able to approximate the total amount you'll pay, the less room in that location is for surprises. More than chiefly, you'll have a amend idea of how much you stand to walk away with, and therefore, how much yous tin can put towards your next home.

Breaking down the costs of selling a domicile

In the table below, we break down common abode selling costs, assuming an offering price of $248,000 – the median single-family home price in the U.Southward. in the quaternary quarter of 2018, co-ordinate to NAR.

You can meet that when you have all the expenses into account, the full cost of selling reaches over 16% of the sale cost. Keep in mind that these costs volition vary based on the circumstances of the sale, merely you tin can quickly come across how the toll of selling extends beyond real estate agent commissions.

Domicile sales price	$248,000
Toll item	Cost amount	% of sales price
Dwelling preparation
Staging costs	$2,480	one%
Home repairs & renovations *	$12,400	5%
Negotiating the sale
Existent estate agent commissions	$14,880	6%
Seller concessions	$3,720	1.5%
Finalizing the deal
Closing costs **	$2,480	i%
Relocation
Transition and overlap costs	$2,480	1%
Moving costs	$2,480	1%
Total costs	$40,920	16.7%
Estimated gain	$207,080

*For repair costs, we took the national average in 2022 according to homeadvisor.com.
**Includes estimated cost of championship, escrow, notary, and the transfer tax

Rebecca Lake

This article is meant for informational purposes only and is not intended to be construed as financial, tax, legal, existent estate, insurance, or investment advice. Opendoor always encourages you to achieve out to an counselor regarding your own situation.

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Source: https://www.opendoor.com/w/guides/how-much-does-it-cost-to-sell-a-house

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