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

What Should I Budget for if I Sell My House on My Own in StocktonYou’ve decided to sell your house on your own, and you realize there will be some costs involved. So, you need to ask: “What should I budget for if I sell my house on my own in Stockton?”

The answer may surprise you.

It is true that home prices are rising in quite a few markets nationwide. It may also be the case that your home has appreciated considerably over the years. But before you count your profits, you’ll need to factor in these obvious and not-so-obvious costs of selling your house.

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

Commission Fees

Let’s get this one out of the way. A lot of sellers think that in a sellers market they can sell a house themselves and thus avoid the standard commission and fees. But the truth is otherwise. Even if you sell your house on your own, you still have to pay the buyer’s agent’s brokerage fees.

[Related Story: Stockton Real Estate Agents Need to Earn the Listing]

Repairs

Most buyers aren’t interested in a house that has problems – and most houses have many issues. Most of the time, sellers have to do a lot of repairs before they put their house on the market. And if the maintenance has been somewhat haphazard over the years, these deferred maintenance repair costs can be substantial. A new roof, for example, can cost you as much as $20,000.00.

Also know that most buyers, will want the house inspected. At a minimum there will be three inspections… the roof, a termite and a general home inspection. In each case it is the buyers responsibility to pay for them, but as the seller you have no access to the reports as they technically belong to the buyer. Often is the case buyers just disappear after an inspection, leaving the seller to wonder what happened.

The truth be told, buyers want houses that are move in ready and if the buyer suspects that the seller is unwilling to make repairs they just move on to the next house.

Landscaping

When everything else is suspect, curb appeal is important: it’s what gets potential buyers to stop and then come in the door. And landscaping is the number-one improvement that most enhances curb appeal. The cost of a thorough, landscaping job performed by a professional landscaping service runs, on average, just a little over $8,000.

Staging and Photography

Many people – when asking, “What should I budget for if I sell my house on my own in Stockton?”  – often neglect to factor in this expense. But 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.

Staging involves setting up and arranging your home so that it appears as appealing and inviting as possible. And then to display the staging in online listings, which is where a large percentage of buyers begin their search, you will likely need some professional photos, ranging in cost from $500 to $1,000.

Utilities

If you plan to move out of your current house into a new home, you can’t just shut the utilities off in the home you vacate and intend to sell. Buyers absolutely do not want to walk through a cold (or sweltering) and dark house. (Also keep in mind that if you turn off the electricity and air conditioning during the summer, you run a high risk of developing a mold problem.) So, at the least, you will need to keep the electricity on and probably the gas as well in the wintertime. If the house is one you’ve been living in, then you already know what it will cost you to keep the utilities on.

Capital Gains Taxes

Finally, there are capital gains taxes. If your house has appreciated in value, you may have to pay this tax (which is based on the difference between the original purchase and the current sale prices, minus the cost of documented improvements). There are, however, exemptions that you may qualify for, just understand the potential is there.

[Related Story: Should I Trust the Home Values Shown on Zillow?]

So if you’re asking, “What should I budget for if I sell my house on my own in Stockton?” you now know the answer is . . . quite a bit.

But we can offer a fast, easy solution that may allow you to keep more of the sale price. Contact us by phone at (209) 481-7780 or fill out the form to discover more.

Sell My Home in Stockton

Peter Westbrook

Peter Westbrook is a local Cash Home Buyer / Real Estate Investor in Stockton, Sacramento and Modesto CA and Tulsa Oklahoma. He has written numerous real estate articles that have been published here and by other blog and news outlets. Peter has appeared on several local and national news reports regarding the state of the Stockton and Sacramento Real Estate Markets.

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