What Should I Budget For if I Sell My House on My Own

You’ve decided to sell your house on your own, and you know there will be SOME costs involved but how much exactly???. So, you’re now asking: “What should I budget for if I sell my house on my own in Oklahoma City?”

The answer may surprise you…..

It is true that home prices are rising in quite a few markets nationwide and the value of your house has probably gone up over the years. If you aren’t familiar with the process of selling a home by yourself, there are still some hidden costs you need to be aware of. Before you count your huge profits, you’ll need to factor in some obvious and not-so-obvious costs of selling your house.

What Should I Budget for if I Sell My House on My Own in Oklahoma City

Commission Fees

Let’s get this one out of the way right from the start. A lot of home sellers think that in a very hot market they can sell a house themselves and thus avoid the real estate agent commission fees completely. But the truth is often otherwise. Even if you sell your house on your own, you likely still have to pay the agent working with the buyer a commission (3% usually). Agents typically get paid 6% to sell a home by the seller of that home. They split this 50/50 with the agent that brings the buyer. So selling your house on your own saves you 3%. Most legitimate home buyers are under contract to work with an agent though. Agents won’t show your home to their buyers if you won’t pay their commission, simple as that.

If you are still angry about this 3% deal…think of it like this. Selling your house to a buyer that is working with an agent will probably make your life easier also. Those buyers are pre-qualified by the agent and a lender, the agent knows the process of buying a home inside and out to help keep their buyers in line and to help you if needed, agents have access to all the paperwork needed and know the best title companies in town to make selling your home easier. As you can tell there is a lot of benefits to selling your home by yourself but to a buyer that is working with an agent.

Repairs

Most buyers aren’t interested in a house that has problems or needs anything more than light repairs/updates.  Most of the time, home sellers have to do some repairs before they put their house on the market. If your home maintenance has been allowed to lapse over the years, these repair costs can be fairly substantial. A new roof, for example, can set you back by as much as $20,000. Painting the inside of a 1500 square foot house will cost you $1,750 for cheap quality or as much as $4,000 for top quality work. If you are selling your home, you will end up paying for repairs one way or another. Either you do them before you sell and pay now OR you sell as-is and pay for them by selling at a lower price.

Also keep in mind that just because YOU think something is cheap and easy (like painting or replacing carpet or “updating a bathroom”)…the buyers looking at your house might see it as a huge and expensive undertaking. Most people don’t know how to replace carpet or update a bathroom. If you are wanting to sell your home without doing repairs to a normal home buyer wanting to live in your house, get some quotes on repairs so everyone can be on the same page.

Landscaping

Curb appeal is of utmost importance: it’s what gets potential buyers to stop and do a double-take on your house as they drive by or walk up for their first showing. Landscaping is the number-one improvement that most enhances your curb appeal. The cost of a thorough, full-blown landscaping job performed by a professional landscaping service runs, on average, just a little over $3,000. Your yard, front and back, will look like a golf course though.

If you want to get the best bang for your buck, some DIY tips are….trim all bushes/trees, clean up trash around your yard, plant some new flowers around the house, throw down some fresh mulch, and put a few flowers in some pots. Also, make sure your address on your curb is freshly painted and all light fixtures are in good shape and working. If you have a wooden fence that looks old, take some time to apply new stain to it making it look brand new. Clean the outside of your house also. You can rent a pressure washer for under $150 and clean it in a few hours. If you do this yourself, you might spend $750 and it will take a weekend but will help you sell your house faster and for more money. 

Staging and Photography

Many people asking themselves, “What should I budget for if I sell my house on my own in Oklahoma City?”  – often neglect to factor in the cost of professional home photos or staging. If you don’t want your house to sit on the market for months on end, you probably shouldn’t neglect staging AND professional photography. Studies show homes with professional pictures sell for more money and faster than those where you whipped out your iPhone to take some fuzzy, crooked pictures.

Buyers first fall in love with a home for sale by seeing it online. The pictures are what sells a home…or what turns potential buyers away from a home. If you have poor pictures or not enough good ones online, you are missing out on potential buyers. The difference between professional home pictures and ones from your smartphone is night and day. Invest the $300 – $1,200 and hire a professional photographer for your home so you can market your house correctly.

Staging involves setting up and arranging your home so that it appears as appealing and inviting as possible. In other words, a home stager makes sure your house decorations appeal to a wide variety of buyers and that the house is not cluttered. Well worth the few hundred dollars it might cost you. You have to remember most buyers have trouble seeing past what is already there in a home. From the paint colors, to furniture, and layout, a typical home buyer has difficultly seeing what a home COULD be and this can make buyers run away. That’s what a stager helps prevent.

Utilities

If you plan to move out of your current house into a new home before you sell the old one, you can’t just shut the utilities off in the old home the moment you leave. Buyers absolutely do not want to walk through a cold (or hot) and dark house. Buyers will question why you have the utilities off too. Is there something wrong with the electrical work they are hiding? Could there be a leak in the gas lines being covered up? When you do accept an offer from a buyer, they’ll have to inspect the house which requires utilities be turned on so save some stress and just keep them on. This will cost you some money though so don’t forget about it.

Closing costs

Whether you sell a house with a real estate agent or sell a house by yourself, you WILL pay closing costs to legally sell your house. There is no way around this cost. Typically, closing costs will run about 2% of the sales price of your house. Sell a house for $100,000 and the buyer/seller split $2,000 in closing costs. Depending on the value of your home and title work needed, these costs can get pretty expensive.

Buyers will have extra closing costs on their side related to the type of loan they get or paying for things like inspections and appraisals. In today’s market, buyers often ask the sellers to pay for some of these closing costs. These costs can be $1,500 – $7,500 on TOP of the 2% in normal closing costs. You might get a buyer that will pay your asking price but they need $6,500 in closing costs help from you.

Capital Gains Taxes

And then there are capital gains taxes. If your house has appreciated quite a bit, you may have to pay this tax (which is based on the difference between purchase and sale prices, minus the cost of documented improvements). There are, however, some pretty generous exemptions from the IRS, but just bear in mind that Uncle Sam may take a cut.

So if you’re wondering, “What should I budget for if I sell my house on my own in Oklahoma City?” you now know the answer is . . . quite a lot, actually. While you are reading this, you should know that W Properties (the company website you are on now) BUYS houses in Oklahoma City. If you are looking to sell a house in Oklahoma City and would like to see if we would be interested in making you an offer to buy it from you, call or text us at 405-673-4901.

We will make you an as-is cash offer and pay all closing costs. What do you have to lose?

Contact us by phone at (405) 673-4901 or fill out the form below to have us contact you….