Estimating Your Selling Costs
When the time comes to sell your house, you’ll want to determine roughly how much you can expect to net after the sale. To figure that out, you’ll need to know how much your house will likely sell for and the costs you will likely incur in the process.
The costs of selling vary depending on several factors. Here’s a general rundown of what to consider:
- Repairs. You want your house to look its best to buyers, so you may need to make any needed repairs before listing. You don’t want a buyer to see a dent in the wall or a dripping faucet.
- Renovations. To make the house more attractive, it might be wise to make a few improvements. For example, you may want to replace old and worn kitchen countertops.
- Legal fees. Selling a house requires a lot of legal work. You’ll need a good real estate lawyer to care for you.
- Commissions. This is usually calculated as a percentage of the sale price.
- Moving costs. Once you sell, you’ll need to move! So, factoring in this expense is a smart idea.
Although this may seem like a long list, selling costs are fairly easy to estimate. Once you have that number, you can calculate how much money you’ll have available to put towards your next home.