Are you selling your Buford home but you’re hesitant about the selling costs that come with it? While selling a home can give you money, it does come with a cost. That’s why it’s important to calculate your potential equity first and see if it’s enough to cover all the closing costs and leave you with extra money at the same time.
Also, don’t be afraid yet at least. If you did the calculations already and you found that you’ll not be left with anything, there are still ways to save money on selling costs and get more equity at the end of the day. Here are five (5) effective ways to reduce closing expenses:
Skip the Traditional Listing
Traditional listing is when you sell your home through a real estate broker who officially lists your property on the local MLS. Only agents, brokers, and realtors are allowed to list on the MLS. Traditionally, this method is considered the best because it is the only way to expand your reach and tap a wide network of buyers. However, with the opportunities provided by the World Wide Web, reaching potential buyers is no longer highly restricted to real estate professionals.
Why is listing traditionally expensive? Here are a few reasons:
- You have to pay a commission price to your broker between 5%-6% of the total purchase price (considering you got full service and not a discount broker)
- You may have to pay your buyer agent’s commission price
- You have to spend on a few repairs since damaged homes are rarely appealing online
- You may have to stage your home depending on the condition
- The longer your home stays on the market, the lower its price will become while you’re selling costs will remain the same
Remember that when you sell a home, you also have to pay your property tax in advance and capital gains tax. If you don’t qualify for the capital gains tax exemption, you can expect a pretty hefty tax value. Hence, there is much to save when you don’t go through the traditional way of selling your home on the market.
Forget Commissions
Commission rates vary per real estate broker and they usually fall within 5%-6% of the total purchase price. Due to the rising opportunities in off-market selling, brokers have become open to negotiations when it comes to their commission rate. But it would usually depend on your personal situation and the state of the local housing market.
If the market is hot — fast home sales, low inventory, and rising home values — the broker may agree to lower the commission rate since that state more or less guarantees that they get paid faster. Likewise, if your home is of high value, you can guarantee them repeat business, or you know the broker personally enough, then the broker may also say yes to reducing the commission rate.
On the other hand, if you’re not in the best position to bargain with your broker, you can still do well at selling your home even without their professional help. You can do your own digital marketing, harness the power of social media, and just look for a real estate lawyer since the State of Georgia requires that an attorney close all real estate deals.
No Marketing
Part of your broker’s services is to market your property. There are traditional marketing practices and there are also digital marketing practices. Either way, there is always a corresponding fee for marketing. Hence, if you want to save some costs, ask your broker if they can limit their marketing enough to give you a discount. Know that this rarely happens though because your broker’s main responsibility is to sell your home in the fastest time possible — even if that means exhausting all possible marketing strategies.
No Holding Costs
If you can avoid relocating before you sell your Buford home, the better. This is because if you relocate, you’ll have to spend twice for your new property and your old Buford home when it comes to maintenance, taxes, and insurance. We get that a lot of people need to relocate ASAP for work, education, and many other very important reasons and resort to transferring even the old home hasn’t been sold yet. But imagine how much savings you can get if you don’t have any holding expenses!
A Direct Sale to Spire Home Buyers
You might be wondering how you can avoid holding costs while being able to relocate right away at the same time. If you haven’t heard of it yet, professional home buyers like us at Spire buy houses directly from homeowners without the need for a real estate broker.
We buy houses as-is in Buford and we buy them for cash. You can find your buyer in us without spending on marketing and commission! And we also know an accredited real estate attorney to help us close the deal! All you have to do is message us through the form below, or call us at (678) 318 – 1801 and let’s see when we can buy your home so you can move forward with your life. Looking forward!