FAQ: When I Sell My House What Fees Do I Pay?

Seller fees are often an unexpected—and potentially expensive—part of selling a home. And, if you’re already having trouble paying the mortgage or you’ve fallen behind on keeping up with repairs, the last thing you need is the burden of owing more money for anything. Selling a home during good times and under the best of conditions can be stressful. Selling now, when paying the bills is hard, and you just want you and your family to have it a little easier, probably has you feeling hopeless or afraid—and, maybe even paralyzed.

Still, you know you need to be proactive as much as possible so that you can move on with your life as easy as possible. It’s always better to question the costs you could incur from selling your home before you put it up for sale. In fact, asking ‘When I sell my house, what fees do I pay?’ should top your selling to-do list. Providing that answer so that you can determine the best way to go about selling your home tops ours. 

When I Sell My House, What Fees Do I Pay?

The short—and, sometimes, inaccurate—answer to ‘When I sell my house, what fees do I pay?’ is roughly six to 10% of your selling price. It’s a ballpark figure to consider, but it doesn’t take into full account every expense you could face as a seller. It also doesn’t show you how you can reduce your costs—and why you might want to. 

These are just some of the typical national average costs that many sellers pay and when combined, can add up to more than 10% of the selling price:

• Commission for your real estate agent:

This fee alone may be as much as six percent of your selling price. The reason for this is that its common courtesy—and, therefore, almost always expected—for your agent to split their rate with the agent who brings in the buyer. Sometimes, the rate can be negotiated down. But, the quality of service may go down, too.

• Preparing your home to sell:

The costs for getting your home ready to sell can really add up. For example, cleaning (appliances, walls, the exterior, etc.), shampooing—or changing—the carpet, lawn care, and hauling away trash will cost you an average of $2,500 or more. If you also want to paint your house before selling it, you’re looking at spending even more money—upwards of $6,000 for a large house is possible. 

• Marketing your home:

• • Staging. Hiring someone to stage your home will cost you—somewhere between $2,300-$3,200 on average. But, to show your home in the best light so that you can get the best offers, could be a necessary expense. If new furniture or accessories, like curtains and paintings, have to be bought or rented, your staging price tag could go even higher.

• • Marketing by your agent and other miscellaneous tasks. Some real estate agents assess separate fees such as “marketing, administration, document (doc), or filing fees” and charge them to you, the seller. They may do this regardless of whether your home sells or not, too. The cost of these fees will vary but often run in excess of several hundred to a few thousand dollars. 

• Transaction fees:

Performing a title search and buying title insurance are examples of transaction fees that will have to be paid. The property deed will also have to be transferred and filed with the county recorder’s office (and all transfer taxes and filing fees paid). An escrow company will need compensation for overseeing the transaction, too—by about one to two percent of the home’s price. Though these expenses are customary and often paid for by the buyer, you could be asked to absorb them, which is also pretty common. The title search and insurance alone can cost you from a few hundred dollars to $1,000.

• Home inspection fees:

The fee for a home inspection will range from $270-$390 on average. While this cost is usually the responsibility of the buyer to pay, you may be asked to pay for all or part of it depending on the condition of the house—and how much it will cost your buyer to fix it. You could even be asked to absorb the expense of a property survey or the buyer’s loan originating and underwriting fees if they think you should dig deeper into your pockets after an inspection uncovers pricey problems. 

• Repair costs:

The request to perform repairs after an inspection is common. If done, it can also be expensive. Especially when your home needs serious work, you could be expected to provide a significant discount on the price—or follow through on the rehab. On the low end, your extra costs may equal just a few hundred dollars for a simple repair on the AC or bathroom plumbing. At the high end, however, you could find yourself responsible for several thousand dollars worth of time-consuming work—or, no buyers. 

When money is already tight, paying anything extra out of pocket—or giving credit towards the purchase—may not be an option. If you need to move fast, just negotiating with a buyer over what you will and won’t pay for might be a luxury you don’t have. It is possible, however, to reduce the fees—and the stress—you potentially face to zero. You may even be able to speed up how quickly your house sale can go through by choosing not to pay more than you have to.

The key is to find a solutions-oriented buyer who can take your home out of your hands as-is, give you fast cash, and charge you zero fees—covering all costs associated with the sale so that you can have more profit left in your pocket. If this buyer also lets you take what you want from the house and simply leave the rest, that means you can just cut ties with the past and, finally, start looking forward to your future. 

How to Sell Your Home Fast with Zero Fees

Your total costs as a seller can equal many thousands of dollars. But, with the right buyer, not only can you reduce all of your expenses, you can potentially avoid them altogether. So, the short—and best—answer to “when I sell my house, what fees do I pay?” should be zero. And, here at Sell Your House Direct, we’re happy to show you why. 

So, for every one of our clients, we create a net sheet that lists all of the potential retail costs that you will face when selling your home.

Our goal is to illustrate how much money you’ll actually walk away with after all expenses are accounted for so that you can make an informed and financially-prudent decision.

We’ll do this for you, too, by including everything from cleaning and rehab expenses to real estate agent commissions and closing fees. 

Your best option for receiving the highest return from the sale of your home may be to sell it directly to us for cash with zero fees. After all, as home-buying specialists, we can pay a fair price, close on the date that works for you, and handle all of the cleanings, rehabbing, commission, and closing costs ourselves.

If, however, it looks like selling on the open market with a real estate agent is the way to go, we’ll not only make that recommendation, we’ll make sure you’re set up with the right people. Regardless, we’ll help you find the most cost-effective way to move forward. Sometimes, for the best service, you don’t have to pay a thing!