Are you familiar with the costs of selling your house in the Indianapolis area? It’s crucial to understand what to expect before deciding whether to list your house on the MLS, sell it on your own as a For Sale By Owner, or work with a Indianapolis cash home buyer. You might be surprised at how these costs associated with some of these methods can eat into your profits!
Selling your house will definitely incur various expenses, both before you list and at the closing of the sale. If these costs seem particularly burdensome, opting for a direct sale could be a much better choice. In my latest post, I’ll delve into the costs of selling your house using the three most popular methods. Make sure to compare all your options before proceeding with selling your house in Indianapolis!
Costs Of Listing with an Agent
Agent Costs
The costs associated with hiring an agent can vary depending on the agent you choose. You can expect to pay somewhere between 5-7% of the final sale price to the agents involved in the transaction. Some agents may also charge additional fees for marketing and administrative services. It’s important to clarify what’s included in the services before signing a listing agreement so you understand exactly what you’re getting because this is one of the most significant costs of selling your house.
Repair Costs
Many houses will need a few repairs before being listed on the MLS. That could range anywhere from a simple freshening up of your landscaping or interior painting to a full on kitchen or bathroom renovation. After a buyer is found, they’ll most likely pay for a professional home inspection would could – and many times does – reveal even more issues with your home that need to be repaired. In these cases, negotiations often arise regarding who will address the repairs identified during the inspection. You can negotiate to either complete some of these repairs or reduce the sale price of the home instead. Regardless, you can always count on repairs of some type being part of the costs of selling your house in Indianapolis.
Cleaning, Staging and Photography Costs
Before listing their homes, it’s wise to hire professional cleaning services to ensure your property shines. During the cleaning process it’s also a good idea to declutter by removing personal belongings and storing unnecessary items elsewhere even if it means an additional cost of renting a storage unit. Some sellers go the extra mile by hiring professional stagers to enhance the visual appeal of their homes, aiming for a magazine-worthy look. If you’re lucky and hired a good agent, they’ll pay for professional photography of your home too – so you can maximize the value of the cleaning and staging that you already paid for. However, if your agent shows up on photo day with their cell phone in hand, you should either consider hiring a different agent or hire your own professional photographer.
Closing Costs
In a typical home sale, sellers usually incur between 3-5% of the final sale price in closing costs. This covers all sorts of costs ranging from title search fees to title insurance and other administrative fees. This could also include paying some of your buyer’s closing costs, which will be negotiated early on in your deal.
Continued Ownership or Holding Costs
When you list your house with a Indianapolis real estate agent, the process can take several months. Throughout this period, you’ll still be accountable for various expenses such as property taxes, utility bills, homeowners insurance, maintenance, landscaping, and potentially a mortgage. When you tally up these monthly homeownership costs, they can easily amount to thousands of dollars.
Costs of A For Sale By Owner or FSBO Listing
While attempting to sell your house on your own can help you avoid the hard costs of selling your house such as commissions and agent fees, there are other expenses to factor in. Here are some additional expenses to anticipate when selling your house as a FSBO in the Indianapolis area.
Heightened Marketing Costs
When you list your house For Sale By Owner, the decision of which marketing avenues you utilize is entirely yours. You’ll be responsible for covering all costs related to online listings, printed materials and mailing costs, signage, and open houses. Additionally, you’ll want to factor in the cost of your time for these tasks. Many people don’t understand how much time it truly takes to conduct marketing in order to sell a house but I’m here to tell you – it can be significant. How much do you value your time?
Speaking of the Cost of Your Time…
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. As stated above, the marketing tasks alone are quite time consuming. Additionally, you will need to be available for showings, respond to questions via phone or email, processing paperwork, handling negotiations and more. While the cost of your time isn’t one of the hard costs of selling your house, it certainly is a cost that you’ll need to consider strongly before deciding to sell For Sale By Owner.
Costs of Selling Directly
None
If you want to avoid all the costs of selling your house, then there’s one way to do that: sell your house to a Indianapolis cash home buyer like 317 Home Buyers. There are no fees, repair expenses, or closing costs to worry about – making this the simplest and fastest way to sell your house. We buy houses in Indianapolis, as-is, and we close quickly. Our proven process will help you avoid all the stress and chaos of a typical on-market sale and potentially help you save thousands in the process.