Do you know how much it costs to sell a house in Florida? You might be surprised to find out just how many costs there are when selling a Florida house on the open market. Let’s face it, when most people think about selling a house, they don’t stop to think about all the fees and costs that are involved in the process. That goes for whether they’re selling on their own (For Sale By Owner), through a real estate agent, or selling to a real estate investment company like Florida Cash Home Buyers. The most that some people think about is the commission fee that your real estate agent will take for helping you sell your house, but that’s just the beginning. There are a lot more costs you’ll need to consider.
According to Bankrate, real estate commissions can add up to as much as ten percent of your Florida home’s sale price. And that’s not including the many pre-listing costs, marketing costs, and closing costs involved with a market sale. The only way to sell your house and avoid paying all these fees and costs is to sell your Florida house as-is to a home buying company.
So if you are thinking of selling your Florida house on the housing market, let’s run through all of the potential costs you could have ahead of you. You might not need to pay all of these costs but you’ll almost certainly have to consider all of them. And once you have a better understanding of how much it costs to sell a house in Florida, you’ll be better prepared to make the right decision for your situation.
Pre-Listing
Before your Florida house even gets listed on the housing market, you have to take a step back and consider if your house is in the condition it needs to be in to sell fast. You might be under the impression that your house is ready to sell, but market buyers have a lot of expectations and a lot of choices, so you have to consider all the costs involved with getting your house market-ready.
Staging
Whatever your style might be, that might not be the right style for the housing market. You need buyers to walk into your house and feel as though they can easily picture themselves living here. That’s pretty hard with your memorabilia and family photos everywhere. That’s why it might make sense to hire a home staging company that can help remake your living situation into something more palatable for everyone. That could mean moving out furniture and altering the look and feel of your rooms. It’s also not cheap to hire a stager, often running between two and three thousand dollars. But a lot of real estate experts will tell you it’s worth it. Per a National Association of Realtors survey, half of the real estate agents said they thought home staging had a legitimate impact on getting a higher sale price.
Landscaping
It’s not just about making the interiors of the house look good, you also have to consider how the exterior looks first. Buyers won’t even show up to take a look at the inside of the house if it doesn’t have good curb appeal. These are things you can certainly take care of yourself if you have the time, including weekly lawn mows, landscaping refreshes, new paint on fences, and keeping the garage clean. But it can be a lot to keep up on, which is why many sellers hire landscapers or professionals to do the work for them. The cost will depend on how long you do it and what you need to be done, but curb appeal is critical when it comes to market buyers.
Repairs
Even the most well-maintained houses are going to have repair needs eventually. It’s one thing to put these issues off while you live there, but market buyers won’t have sympathy if they notice that your house has broken tiles, busted pipes, and damage throughout. A pre-inspection report will identify any potential repairs or damage that you’ll need to deal with. That’ll cost a few hundred dollars but there’s also all the costs you’ll have to consider to make the repairs. The more you can afford to fix, the more likely you are to get a better sale price and sell your Florida house faster.
The Listing Stage
Now that you’ve sorted out the pre-listing costs, it’s time to list your house on the Florida housing market. You might start to see some interest and you may even get a few offers. That’s good news, but the bad news is that you’ve got a lot of costs waiting for you before you can close the deal.
Agent Commission Cost
If you’re using a real estate agent to represent you in the Florida home sale, you are going to be paying them a commission fee for their services. The exact amount varies but it usually ends up being between five and six percent of the final sale price. The difference depends on where you live, the type of agency you use, and whatever the specific agent may have negotiated for. So if you end up selling your house for $300,000, your real estate agent is going to take a commission fee of around $15,000 to $18,000. They will then split that amount with the buyer’s agent. That’s a huge chunk of cash that goes right out the window as soon as you sell your house with a real estate agent, even if you sell your house for less than that.
Think that’s too high of a cost when selling your Florida house? Ask for a competitive cash offer from Florida Cash Home Buyers. You’ll avoid all of the commission fees that come with a real estate agent sale and you’ll avoid paying any other fees to middlemen like lenders or banks. We don’t involve middlemen in our real estate solutions process. It’s just us and you, which means we can keep you from paying fees and we end up giving you cash for your Florida home fast.
Concessions
Technically, a concession isn’t a hard cost, but it’s certainly money that you are forfeiting as part of the market sale process. As part of negotiations when selling your house to a market buyer, there is going to be a back and forth that includes the potential that you’ll have to make concessions to get them to agree to the sale. This is especially true if it’s a buyers’ market. There are all kinds of concessions you can end up making but they include paying for all inspections, covering title costs, waiving various fees, and lowering the sale price to grease the wheels. You’ll find out real quick just how low you’re willing to go when it comes to concessions as the buyer will likely want to try to bring the price down as much as possible.
The Closing Stage
You’ve made it this far. The market buyer has agreed to purchase your Florida house. However, that doesn’t mean the costs are over just yet.
Closing Costs
Closing costs vary, depending on state and local laws. According to Finder, average Florida closing costs come out to around 1.98% of the sale price. Maybe that doesn’t sound like too much, but that can still be a decent chunk of money at any price point. For instance, that’s almost $4,000 on a $200,000 home sale. Nothing to sneeze at.
Florida also requires a fee for documentary stamps, which ends up being a percentage of the overall home sale price. And this is all before you get into property and transfer taxes. And by the time you’ve paid all of that on top of the initial closing costs, you’re looking at something closer to $6,000-$7,000 on the $200,000 sale.
Make The Best Decision For You
Selling your house is a stressful process that can cost thousands if you’re not prepared. Review your options and make a decision that’s best for you and your family.