Selling your home is a process, and one that isn’t without costs. You need to know these costs well so you aren’t left with less money than you anticipated. To sell your home with the optimal amount of profit, make sure you have prepared yourself and your finances in the following ways!
Set Money Aside for Closing Costs
Selling your home comes with additional costs you need to prepare for. When making agreements to sell your home, you may agree to pay closing costs to the buyer. Closing costs include cost for transferring the property, title insurance, escrow company fees, among others. These costs can be around 2-5% of the price of your home. If you and your buyer are working with real estate agents you will also need to pay a commission, which will be due to your agent and the buyer’s agent.
Save for Moving Costs
The action of moving will also have costs associated with it, and will change depending on the time of year. During peak seasons, moving is more expensive. Peak seasons are more expensive because there is higher demand for things like rentals for moving trucks. More demand and less supply means prices become elevated. Moving trucks are a main thing you will need for your move and will have varying costs depending on how far you move and the season. You also need to think about having your home cleaned and the costs associated with hiring a cleaning crew.
Set Money Aside for Repairs and Maintenance
As you are preparing to sell your home, you may have routine maintenance or repairs to make on your home. This will help you get the most money for your home or can prevent delays in inspections and closing. You should set aside a budget of around 1% for home repairs which will help you get the most value out of your home. Make a list of what you need to do and start making repairs or doing maintenance before you list your home. A home inspection before closing will also show necessary repairs if you don’t make any in advance. In this case you may need to lower the price of your home.
When you are preparing to sell your home, prepare yourself financially. Preparation financially means preparing for things like closing costs, moving costs, and repairs or maintenance. When you are prepared financially, no costs will come as a surprise.
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