Have you recently woken up thinking thinking, “I want to sell my home in Billerica fast“?
Well before you take that big step it’s important you understand all the listing expenses you will incur as a result of the property sale. There are other options available to you when selling your home that quite possibly can save you a significant amount of money.
The normal “go-to” method of selling a house in Billerica is to list it on the MLS—either through a real estate agent or on your own as an FSBO (For Sale By Owner) on a website like Zillow. What you may not know is that you could end up paying much more out-of-pocket expenses when you choose to do either of these methods. Our blog post today is going to talk about some of the listing costs to expect when you sell your Billerica property and maybe offer some options to avoid those costs. Read on to learn more and see if an alternative sale could net you the same amount of cash but leave all the stress far behind.
The Big One—Before and After Inspections
When looking at who is ready to buy your home in Billerica, you have to realize today’s home buyer is really sophisticated. Studies show that more than 90% of homebuyers begin their searches by looking online. As a result, they get to see a lot of houses in your neighborhood that are in pristine showroom condition.
As a result, prepping your Billerica home so that it is in “move-in-ready” condition is without a doubt one of the largest upfront costs you should expect. To compete with all of the other homes for sale in Billerica you must pour money into the house to fix up any obvious problems, to clean up by painting walls and ceilings, sprucing up windows and doors even the shrubbery and lawn in your yard.
Any buyer you find for your home will want to conduct a property inspection using a certified and experienced home inspector. These inspections can sometimes deliver the worst of news, especially in older homes. If for some reason you have structural problems in your foundation or plumbing problems these honestly run into thousands of dollars in almost every case. In order to stay within the local, state, and federal laws governing real estate sales, any issues that you know about in the home that would devalue the property must be disclosed to any potential buyer. Otherwise, you could end up facing legal problems with fees and penalties in the making.
If you’d want to avoid this scenario, you could opt for a direct sale. For example at Summit Buys Houses, when we purchase a house we take on all the risks of any problems you have because we buy your home “as-is”. This means you have no concerns over the cost of any repairs that should be done because we plan to do them after we buy the house from you.
Prepping your home so it is in “showroom” condition may be one of the largest of listing costs to expect when selling your house in Billerica. Sadly, sellers find they must pour money into repairs and maintenance of the house, after having listed the home with an agent or on their own.
How Much Did You Say? Commissions and Agent Fees
Although most people understand that they’ll have to pay a commission in the end if a real estate agent sells their house, we often find people have simply not done the math regarding how high agent commissions really are. Here’s a very simple example; you list your house with a real estate agent and agree in their contract to pay them 6% of the sale price when the house sale closes. When you accept an offer for $400,000 and the house is sold, you have to pay $24,000 in real estate commissions before any money comes back to you!
You may want to carefully consider the benefits of accepting a cash offer from a professional buyer like Summit Buys Houses. This way you avoid all the commission expenses and closing costs and of course all the built-in frustrations of listing and showing your house all throughout the week to buyers. If you sell to Summit Buys Houses there’s never a need to worry about keeping your house spotless, scheduling showings, or paying high commissions. The price we give you in our Profit-Lock offer is the guaranteed amount you will receive for the sale of your Billerica property at the closing table.
Don’t Forget About Marketing Costs
Again the competition to attract the right buyer for your house is high in Billerica. Virtually all the houses you see will be in showroom condition with professional photography showing the highest and best use of a house. Your real estate agent will normally ex[pect that you get professional photography done after you’ve cleaned and prepped the property. Normally they will suggest you remove most of your personal touches in the house in order for potential buyers to look at the home’s potential more easily. Once your house is in order, your listing on the MLS will require the highest quality photographs made by a professional photographer. These days this may also include the services of a professional drone pilot so that they can fly over your house and the area surrounding it. Again, one of the best ways to avoid this behind-the-scenes type of expense that comes with traditional listings is to sell directly to a professional home buyer like Summit Buys Houses.
When you first meet with a real estate agent they may give you an average time it takes for a house in Billerica to be on the market before it is sold. But this is only the average amount of time because they can never predict how long it will take for your house to sell and they could never tell you when a specific closing date would occur. Another important pitfall to avoid after all your listings and how showings and all of the work you’ve done the buyer of your house may be denied financing if their credit falls through.
Are There Holding Costs During The Sale Process?
When you first meet with a real estate agent they may give you an average time it takes for a house in Billerica to be on the market before it is sold. But this is only the average amount of time because they obviously could never predict how long it will take for your house to sell and they would never tell you when a specific closing date would occur. Another important pitfall to avoid is the buyer of your house may be denied financing if their credit falls through. This scenario would only show up 6-8 weeks into the sale process. So even after all buyer visits and all of the work you’ve done the deal you’ve accepted may fall through and you are back to square one.
Now if you’ve made plans and already moved or are ready to move, you may no longer afford to hold onto this existing house and begin paying for a new house. This squeeze play is much more common than you may expect! This is when you’re holding your old property while moving to a new one. Paying for 2 houses at the same time will greatly reduce the amount of money you will realize from the sale of your house. Alternatively to sell your home quickly with a definite closing date that is set by you, together with a firm cash offer you could sell your house to an experienced and highly rated home buyer like Summit Buys Houses
Do I Pay Closing Costs Also?
We sometimes refer to closing costs as the “hidden money drain.” This is because very few home sellers except for the most experienced ones realize how many fees and costs they must pay when they arrive at the closing table to finalize the sale of their Billerica house. Now it is possible that some of these costs can be negotiated in your contract but you’ll always be responsible for items such as transfer taxes, escrow and closing fees, prorated property tax, and many others.
Sometimes your buyer may ask that you sweeten the deal by giving them a credit towards their closing costs. Again this is another expense that chews away at the final amount of money you receive when you cash your sale check.
Conclusion
Selling your house in Billerica MA can cost a small fortune! All of the costs we’ve listed above and even others will chip away at your profit and you could sadly find yourself walking away from the closing table with thousands of dollars less than you originally expected.
Before you head down that road to list your property on the MLS, why not give Summit Buys Houses a call now? We can give you a free Profit-Lock offer that’s guaranteed never to change. And we will commit to a closing date that you decide on! want. The best part is there’s never any pressure from us—no high-pressure sales and no obligation to ever accept our offer.
It’s free of charge, so why not take advantage of it and see if just maybe you can make more money and have less stress by selling your Billerica house for cash to Summit Buys Houses.
THE HIGHEST RATING FROM
THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU
MAYBE WE’RE
“OLD-FASHIONED”?
We’re Dawn & Jack. It may sound “corny” or
“old-fashioned” but we actually live
in your neighborhood and we treat all of our
clients as neighbors. If we meet you a year
after you sell your house to us—our goal is to make
sure you’re happy to see us and you’re
satisfied for the work we’ve done for you!
WHAT AN “A+”
RATING MEANS
You’re so much more than a number.
We’re not giving you an offer from a computer
while calling from California. We’re around the corner
and truly understand how much your house is worth.
LOCAL MEANS WE KNOW
YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
How far is the nearest highway?
What About Jobs? Or Schools?
All these questions have local answers that change
the market value of your house. That’s exactly
why we can pay more when
you sell your house to us.
LOCAL MEANS
THE BEST SERVICE
Do you need help moving? What about rentals?
Who should you call?
Relax! We’ve got you covered. Being in the area
gives us the best contacts to help you out. That’s
why our concierge-level service
make the transition for you so smooth.
Call The Local Guys—We’re In Your Neighborhood
Get a No Obligation, Profit-Lock Offer.
We are trusted and experienced home buyers in Billerica, Massachusetts home with happy clients in Nutting Lake, The Pines, and North Billerica. We also buy houses in places like Lowell, Woburn, Fitchburg, Burlington, and Chelmsford to name just a few.
So if you’re interested in selling your home anywhere in the Middlesex, Essex, and Worcester counties of Massachusetts—contact us for a quick, confidential, no-obligation cash offer and the best, no-pressure advice. “Summit Buys Houses” is incorporated as Summit RE Group LLC and is duly registered to operate in the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Nevada.