Understanding the Costs of Selling Real Estate in Oklahoma City

Do you know about the costs of selling real estate in the Oklahoma City area? Learn what to expect before putting your house on the MLS, selling on your own, or working with a direct buyer. You might be surprised at how the costs of selling can eat away at your profits! 

Selling your house can be expensive. There are a number of things to pay for both before and after the sale. If these costs are particularly high, a direct sale will be a far better choice. In our latest post, we will dive into the costs of selling your Oklahoma City house using the three most popular methods. Compare all of your options before selling your house in Oklahoma City!

Costs Of Listing

Agent Costs

This will vary based on the agent you choose to hire. You will typically be paying about 6% of the final sale price to the agents involved in the deal. With some agents, you will also face costs for marketing and administrative services. Be sure you know what’s included before signing a listing agreement.

The real estate commission is typically the highest fee the purchaser pays — 6% of the selling price. Yeah, if you’re selling your house for $250,000, you might end up spending $15,000 in fees. The commission is divided between the real estate agent of the seller and the agent of the purchaser.

Many homeowners are seeking to escape these high fees by selling their home as for-sale-by-owner (FSBO). If you do so, be prepared to perform the responsibilities of the real estate agent, including showing the area to potential customers, negotiation, hiring a lawyer to draft the deal, and taking care of the transfer of ownership.
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Marketing Costs

Whether or not your agent includes marketing services in their rate, there are a few marketing costs you consider adding. For example, many sellers will hire a professional photographer to take pictures of their home. Some will utilize videographers or even drone service companies to get aerial shots of the property. You might also want to upgrade your online listings to “premium” so they show up at the top when people are browsing through houses in your area.

The real estate market is changing rapidly. Keep up on what’s going on, because you spend your resources on the most successful campaign strategies.

Don’t jump on every bandwagon. There is more flimsy, inefficient marketing available to businesses than excellent marketing that delivers results. Research the claims of each selling strategy and the resources of each organization, follow the outcomes, and don’t get stuck into long-term commitments.

Repair Costs

Most houses will require at least a few repairs before going on the MLS. Once a buyer has been found, there will likely be negotiations as to who makes the repairs found during the inspection. You can negotiate to either make some of these repairs or discount the sale price of the home.

Repair and maintenance problems are one of the primary reasons why pending home sales fall through at closing. When you plan for sale, search your house for damaged features, broken devices, and spaces that need to be cleaned or refreshed. The actual cost of repairs will vary depending on the condition of your house. When you list the required fixes, determine what you can handle yourself and when you need to seek expert support.

Cleaning And Staging Costs

Most sellers will have their homes professionally cleaned before putting it on the market. Many will remove personal belongings and clutter, storing all unnecessary things elsewhere. Some will even hire a professional stager to come in to make the house look as if it came out of the pages of a magazine.

It’s smart to invest in the services of a professional home stager. Home staging is a form of decoration that basically sets the scene such that your prospective customers can picture themselves living in your house. Home staging, when performed right, highlights the strengths of your house and plays down its more unusual components.

Some home quotes are as little as a few hundred dollars, but other sources say they’re going to run into thousands. Then which one is it?

In order to really break down the costs, we need to look at the two key categories of home staging projects: vacant houses and owner-occupied properties.

Closing Costs

In a typical home sale, the seller will need to pay about 2% of the final sale price in closing costs. This can be negotiated up or down between the buyer and seller, but 2% is typically what you can expect to pay.

When home owners head out to determine how much money they ‘re going to make off their selling, they sometimes forget about closing costs. It’s difficult not to be blindsided by these prices.

Closing is the step of the home sale process where funds and paperwork are passed to the seller of order to transfer the title of the house. In the effective completion of the deal, both the buyer and the seller shall comply with the arrangements reached in the deal.

The seller will settle off all the debt on the property for plain ownership, and the buyer and the developer will pass the funds to fund the amount due on the deal. Closing is handled by a third party called an escrow company, who guarantees that all the money, paperwork and other things required to close the deal are transferred properly.

Continued Ownership Costs

Listing your house with a Oklahoma City real estate agent can take a few months. During this time, you will still be responsible for the property taxes, utility bills, homeowners insurance, maintenance, landscaping, and possibly a mortgage. When you add up all the expenses of owning the house each month, it can amount to thousands of dollars!

Costs of An FSBO (For Sale By Owner) Listing

While trying to sell your house on your own will help you avoid commissions and agent costs, there are other costs to consider. In addition to many of the costs above, here are some additional costs to expect when selling your house in the Oklahoma City area.

You can also choose not to hire an agent if you’re selling your home. How much money will you going to save? Let’s assume that you would have hired an agent and paid a 6% commission for a $200,000 home. That’s a huge $12,000.

Selling the house without an agent has its difficulties, including the time invested and the experience required to negotiate real estate processes and contracts. And if you have an odd house, or the market is slow, you may be in for a long time to wait.

Heightened Marketing Costs

When listing your house, the addition of extra marking is at your discretion. However, when you are selling on your own, 100% of the marketing is up to you. You will have to pay for all online listings, printed materials, signage, and open house costs. You will likely want a professional photographer to come in to help you present the house in the best light. You can also opt to add things such as virtual tours or videos of your property.

House Preparation Costs

Getting a house ready for a sale can take a lot of work. As with a listing, there are a number of things that will need to be done before the house is advertised for sale. You will need to thoroughly clean the house from top to bottom. You should make any needed repairs, and be prepared to make more after the inspection process. Many sellers will also face storage fees for their unnecessary items, as well as the cost of a professional stager or decorator.

The Price Of Your Time

The major cost to a homeowner is their time.. You might hear the statement that the agent doesn’t take too long to sell a home. And frankly, with the technologies at our hands, that’s true — to a certain degree.

When you choose to sell the property on your own via an FSBO listing, you will find yourself spending an excessive amount of time dealing with the sale. You will need to be available for showings, create listings and marketing materials, respond to questions, process paperwork, handle negotiations and more.

If the seller does not know anyone who wants to purchase a house, FSBOs can take longer to sell than the homes listed by an agent. They can’t get the right selling price for the same reasons.

But it’s going to take a homeowner a lot longer. They have no experience or access to the resources of the agents. What is their time worth to them? How much time would the seller waste studying the market and contracts? Is the seller going to leave job to unlock the house each time there’s a showing?

Costs of Selling Directly

None

When you opt to sell your Oklahoma City house to a buyer such as Local House Buyers , you will be able to avoid all of the selling costs mentioned above. There are no fees, repair costs, or even closing costs. We buy directly, as-is, potentially saving you thousands of dollars along the way.

Do you want to avoid the costs of selling real estate in the traditional way? We are here to help! Contact us today to learn more! 405-395-2085

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