How to Sell a House Without Closing Costs
One of the biggest mistakes most sellers make, when deciding whether or not to sell their house, is not considering closing costs. When the house is sold , the seller’s profit is often less than what was originally anticipated because they failed to account for closing costs.
All real estate transactions vary, but most of them involve these pesky closing costs or fees. It is an unavoidable part of selling properties. However, with knowledge and foresight, you can possibly reduce the effect they may have on your bottom line.
But first, you must fully recognize and understand them in order to take proper account when it comes to budgeting and listing your home on the market.
Let’s take a closer look at a seller’s predicted closing costs. More importantly, we will share the best way to avoid them, ultimately, putting more money in the seller’s pocket.
Anticipated Closing Costs When Selling a Home
There are significant closing costs when selling a house on both the buyer and seller sides. Even if you decide to sell your home by yourself, the closing costs without realtors are still considerable.
The closing costs on a house can, and are usually bartered during the negotiations between the buyer and seller. Both parties can use it as leverage when arranging a better deal. In a buyer’s market, for example, buyers may force the seller to take on more closing costs. Since the market is not favorable for the seller, they are more inclined to agree.
Note that, as a seller, there are some closing costs that are inevitably your responsibility, despite negotiations. Some of these, such as transfer and mortgage taxes, are unavoidable and typically non-negotiable.
The biggest among these costs to consider are realtor commissions fees, both yours and the buyer’s. While realtor commission fees can be negotiable, sellers are more likely to take this on. As a matter of fact, according to the National Association of Realtors, 70% of commissions are paid by the seller.
So how much are realtor fees for sellers? Between 5% - 6% of the total sales price, split between the buyer and seller agent.
One workaround is to sell a house yourself. Aside from the difficulty, selling a house without a realtor typically won’t eliminate all commission costs. Because you are also paying the buyer’s agent commission too.
Think this is all that is involved in buying and selling a home without a realtor? Think again. There are “hidden fees” that you should be aware of. Account for them now so you can be more prepared later:
Unexpected Repair Costs
When selling your home by yourself, you may come across unexpected repair costs. Home inspections are usually thorough, which may reveal undisclosed property issues. What may seem like a minor stain, could be a symptom of a costly underlying problem.
Before the home buyer decides to move forward with the purchase, do not be surprised if they require you to resolve the issue at your expense.
Home Staging Fees
Home staging is the process of designing the house for sale to make it more appealing to prospective buyers. It’s like interior design, but with real estate tactics in mind. It’s an effective extra step that can increase your house’s sale price by as much as 20%
As expected, staging will cost you money upfront as a seller. It will also be more expensive if you hire a professional to do it for you.
Realtor Administration Fees
If you hired a realtor to help, you might find that they’re charging you an “administration fee” once you’ve successfully sold your house. They vary anywhere from $150 up to $700, on top of your agent’s commissions.
Real Estate Commissions
The biggest chunk of any seller’s closing cost will be in the form of commissions. It’s basically a percentage fee paid to your realtor and the buyer’s realtor as compensation for helping you close the deal.
Real estate commissions are normally in the 3% - 6% range. They can be sizable, and the only way to avoid them is if you sell your house on your own without the help of a realtor.
Photographer Fees
Getting a good photograph of your house is an important step to help it get noticed among the thousands of listings online. However, unless you have the skills, it’s not as easy as taking a photo from your camera phone.
It’s advisable that you get the services of a professional photographer. Of course, the downside is that this will add even more to your costs.
Brochures and Other Marketing Fees
If you’re selling your house the old-fashioned way, brochures are still the way to go. You can spread the word faster and get prospective buyers in with flattering photos and descriptions of your property.
Printing brochures costs money and that is on top of any other marketing activities you think of.
How to Sell a House Without Closing Costs
While it is unlikely to sell a house with no fees upon closing, you can reduce those costs drastically.
For one, you can do away with hiring a realtor. This move alone cuts down on your commission payouts which immediately saves you money.
But the best way to sell a house without closing costs is through the House Buyers of America. We buy houses for cash and without any hidden fees.
With House Buyers of America, you sell your house fast as-is without hiring any realtors, renovating your home, or negotiating with buyers. And because of this, you can reduce your closing costs dramatically – almost to zero!
The way we work is simple. Once you contact us, we’ll give you a fair cash offer on your property. If the offer is sufficient, we schedule an in-person meeting to discuss the details of our offer to you. Upon acceptance, you will get paid in a matter of days. Since we use cash in real estate closing, you will get paid in a matter of days!
No need to waste your time with title companies, commission rates, and even repair costs. We’ll give you a fair, competitive price so you can sell your house for cash effortlessly and hassle-free!
Are you interested in selling your home? Put off by expensive closing costs? We understand. With House Buyers of America, you’ll get to sell your house fast as with minimal closing fees. Contact us today at 855-659-3289 or use our online form to get your fair cash offer in 10 minutes or less!
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Cities and Counties in Maryland Where We Buy Houses Aberdeen Adelphi Annapolis Baltimore Bel-Air Beltsville Bowie Burtonsville Bushwood Catonsville Chesapeake Beach Chevy Chase Chillum Clinton Colesville College Park Columbia Crofton Darnestown Edgewater Eldersburg Elkton Essex Fells Point Fort Washington Frederick Gaithersburg Glen Burnie Greenbelt Gwynn Oak Halethorpe Havre De Grace Hyattsville Indian Head Lanham Leonardtown Lexington Park Lochearn Marlow Heights Mechanicsville Milford Mill Monkton Monrovia Montgomery County Mount Rainier Nanjemoy Olney Oxon Hill Pikesville Potomac Prince George's County Randallstown Rockville Rosedale Walkersville West River White Plains And more! We’ve worked hard to establish the best platform for quickly selling your home in Maryland. With our “We Buy Maryland Houses” program, you can quickly get your home off your hands, all for a very fair price. We’d love to chat more about finding ways to sell your Maryland property and help you achieve your long-term financial goals. Why You Should Use House Buyers of America Selling a house is stressful enough, even if you live in a very competitive state for housing like Maryland. When you add in the trials of trying to sell your house during a personal financial emergency or the emotions of an estate sale, it can be overwhelming. Let House Buyers of America buy your house; as suggested, we buy houses in Maryland and we put a lot of pride into our work. Here are just a few ways House Buyers of America can make a real difference: No Commission Yes, you read that right. House Buyers of America takes no commission when buying your home. This frees up at least 6% in the value of your home, significant savings that you can apply to your next home. With Maryland’s high real estate values, that means you could potentially save tens of thousands of dollars. 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Whatever your job transfer needs are, we offer cash for your home and we can close quickly. Buying a New House Perhaps the thought of juggling the sale of your current home and purchasing a new one at the same time in the same local market might be creating a lot of stress. Have you considered having to have your home staged and then factor in coordinating where to live after you sell? What should you do? Put a home sale contingency in an offer to purchase a new house and risk making your offer much less competitive. Or should you buy a house first and then risk not being able to sell your current house, leaving you stuck with two mortgages? This is the age-old real estate dilemma. If you’re in this situation, you’ve come to the right place! With House Buyers of America, you get a guaranteed sale of your house and we’re flexible on the closing date (and no closing costs). After the purchase agreement is signed, your home sale is covered and you can start looking for a new home without worrying about selling your existing home. Divorce Divorce can be a huge disruptor, emotionally and financially. In most cases, the divorced couple needs to sell their house fast so they can divvy up the assets and make a clean break. Many in a divorce situation look for a “sell my house fast Maryland” company so they can sell their house without having to go through the arduous process of a traditional sale. Finding a real estate agent, renovating, cleaning, and staging the house, agreeing on a list price, negotiating the terms of the contract, etc. This is normally a stressful enough task, but if you add divorce into the mix, it feels impossible. Why not pick up the phone and get an offer in 10 minutes? Or simply fill out our online form and get an offer quickly. No need to renovate, stage, select a Realtor, and deal with people traipsing through your house and losing all of your privacy for 6-12 months. Real solutions are well within reach. There is an alternative: House Buyers of America! Financial Distress Are you in a financial bind with thousands of dollars locked away in your home? Most people do not realize they can directly access the accumulated equity of their home in their hands in as little as 7 days until they contact House Buyers of America. We offer fair prices for when you need an immediate cash infusion to stave off foreclosure, bankruptcy, or whatever life throws at you. Medical Emergency, Retired, Downsizing Some of our clients are elderly and have stayed in their homes for years, but have stumbled into a medical emergency and need the equity in their homes to pay for hospital bills. When this is the case, whether you are a homeowner or a care provider, you might need to sell your Maryland home quite quickly. Others simply want a hassle-free solution for downsizing into a smaller home and want equity in their legacy home. Estate Sales House Buyers of America have also helped thousands of people who have suddenly inherited an unwanted or unneeded property. When dealing with an estate, many heirs can’t decide or agree on when to sell the house or who will take care of the paperwork, so the house is left sitting vacant and deteriorating for months or years. Estate sales can bring out the worst in people and families often get torn apart in the process. The traditional real estate process can be complicated and often doesn’t work well for estate sales. The unique estate laws that apply in Maryland can also create some additional complications. So why not try a simple, fast, and hassle-free solution that all of your family members can agree on? Get an all-cash offer in as little as 10 minutes by contacting House Buyers of America. A Fresh Start We’ve talked about several reasons you might want to sell your Maryland house to a cash buyer. Then there are those unfortunate circumstances in life that require a complete and total liquidation of your assets when you need a speedy exit from your current home and town. By getting an all-cash, guaranteed offer from House Buyers of America and getting your house sold in as little as 7 days, you get that fresh start without waiting. That’s why we continue to be the choice of people looking to “sell house fast in Maryland,” as well as other nearby states.