Selling costs are an important factor in any home transaction, but they’re often overlooked until they come up. Which can be a bit of a nasty surprise, especially if you haven’t accounted for them in your budget. Aside from how much you can expect your home to sell for, you’ll want to factor in selling costs you are likely to incur in the process to have the most accurate picture possible of your budget and how much you can afford for your new home. In this post we’re breaking down a list of common selling costs you should consider when planning to sell your home.
Repairs
First you’ll want to consider any necessary repairs to your home. You want your house to look its best to buyers, but more importantly, you don’t want any issues to cause a potential buyer to turn away during the home inspection. Take care of any needed repairs first, such as leaks, plumbing and heating, electrical, doors and windows, etc.
Renovations
Once you’re satisfied that no more maintenance or repairs are needed, a few small or maybe even a large renovation may make sense. If undertaking a larger renovation, this could be combined with repairs that you are doing on the home to save costs. If something needs to be replaced, it may make financial sense to update it at the same time.
Other small renovations like new paint on the walls or hardware upgrades come at a small cost but may make your overall home much more appealing to buyers, and could even up the price you can fetch for it. See our recent blog post for a list of cost-effective upgrades you can make to increase the value of your home.
Legal Fees
Any real estate transaction involves legal work, which comes at a cost. Ensure to factor these costs into your budget, and speak with your Real Estate Professional to get a better picture of how much they normally cost.
Commissions
The commission that goes to your Real Estate Professional pays for their time and services in helping to market and sell your home. This is usually calculated as a percentage of the sale price, and your agent should discuss their commission structure upfront with you when listing your home for sale.
Moving Costs
Finally, moving costs are another important piece of the financial puzzle when it comes to selling your home. Especially if you are moving long distance, movers and shipments can come at a large expense, so you’ll want to make sure you factor this into your overall budget.
Selling costs are fairly easy to estimate, and an important step in understanding how much money you’ll have to put towards a new home. If you’re not sure how to estimate any of the above costs, reach out to your dedicated Real Estate Professional and they can help you. And if you have any questions or need advice when it comes to real estate, we’d be happy to help – we’re only a call away at 250-864-HOME.
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Featured photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash