What are the associated costs when you’re trying to sell a house? Many times, people just kind of wrap them all together and say the “closing costs”. Well, what are closing costs? Normally, they cost around two to three percent but that can definitely vary because there’s a lot of different things that are involved. Conveyance fees are one of the biggest ones. We live in an attorney state, here in Ohio. All transactions have to be passed through an attorney. Basically they look at the deal, they look at the deed, they look at the research of the title, and then they determine that it’s good enough to be processed and transferred to the next person.
You may have to get some things repaired or improved in order to make your house a little more sellable. Of course, this can vary widely depending on the condition of your home.
If you sell your house for more than what you paid for it, you could be subject to capital gains tax. Now there’s a lot of exemptions and things like that that could come into play with this so I would definitely advise consulting a CPA.
Before you sell your house you’ll want to make sure that you have the best possible quality pictures done and these can get kind of pricey. But…. I have a little secret if you don’t tell anybody…. I know a Realtor that’ll pay for them for you (hint, hint, it’s me 😉
Typically real estate commissions also come out of the selling side of the transaction. We try to negotiate that into the sales price so that it’s not such a hit to the seller. The commission is negotiated between the seller and the agent prior to listing the house. It can be anywhere from five to ten percent, but if it’s on a house as opposed to something commercial you’re normally looking somewhere around five or six percent.
Lastly you’re going to have moving costs. So it’s a good idea to think about that for a second. Do you need a truck? Do you need to hire people? Or is it just going to cost you a case of beer and a couple of pizzas? Food for thought. -Josh Mangini