It seems counterintuitive but selling your New Jersey house can actually cost you money. Between administrative fees, maintenance, repair and renovation costs, and commission for the agent, you’ll be spending a lot just to sell your house.
Selling your New Jersey house can be quite the costly process. Listing it will cost you money up-front, considering all the prep work you may want to do to get it ready and appealing in the eyes of buyers. Closing also doesn’t come for free, as you’ll soon learn. It’s imperative that you know these costs when selling your house so you know exactly just how much you’ll sell it for.
1. Agent Commission and Fees
Expect to pay around 6% of the final sale price for the services of an agent, although this most likely will be split between the buyer’s and seller’s agent, so it’s going to be 3% each. If it’s any consolation, you don’t have to pay the money upfront, but you are legally obligated to pay your agent. Not only that, but depending on the agreement, you might have to pay your agent additional fees as well, like marketing and listing fees. Before you sign an agreement with an agent or agency, make sure that you give it a thorough read first so you know what you’ll be paying for when it’s all over.
2. Closing Costs
Transfer fees, insurance, search fees, recording fees, and a bunch of other fees are all included in the closing costs and non-negotiable. Although they shouldn’t add up to more than the commission, prepare at least 2-3% of the final sale price so you’re not caught off-guard.
3. Taxes
There are two things that are permanent in this world: death and taxes. Or at least, that’s how it goes.
Until the deal is closed and your property is no longer yours, paying for the property taxes, utilities and homeowners insurance will be your responsibility. If you take too long to sell your house, you’ll end up spending thousands of dollars. This is why you’ll want to sell your house as fast as possible.
Selling to property buyers like Cash Buyer New Jersey is a great way to avoid having to pay for taxes. We buy houses New Jersey using cash and it won’t take longer than a few days for us to close the deal.
4. Prep Work
Unless you’re selling your house to a cash buyer or are willing to accept a drastically lower sale price, you’re going to have to do some serious prep work to get buyers interested.
Repairing any damages, making a few renovations, painting walls, cleaning or even replacing carpets, and improve your house’s curb appeal all will not come cheap. You also have to consider the costs of storing some of your items and staging the house to make it look more attractive.
5. Home Inspections
Hiring a home inspector isn’t necessary, but it helps. It ties in with the prep work you need to do with your house. By having someone check your house out to see what needs repairing and fixing, you can take care of it, or be honest with the buyers, once you meet with them and reduce the likelihood of receiving a lower offer.
If your house is good and in tip-top shape, you’ll have more leverage during the negotiating process, so hiring a home inspector might be worth it.
6. Moving
Most sellers forget to take this large expense into account, so make sure you avoid making that mistake.
Other than moving costs, you’ll also want to include the cost of storing your items while you’re waiting for your house to sell. While unnecessary, packing up some of your stuff in advance might just be worth it as it makes your house look cleaner in the eyes of buyers and allow you to move out faster when the time comes.
If you want to skip all the trouble of having to pay so much just to get your house sold, you can always contact professional home buyers like Cash Buyer New Jersey. We buy houses NJ for cash, so the only thing you need to worry about is accepting our offer and when you want to close the deal.
