How Much Does It Cost to Sell a House?

Selling a house is time consuming and expensive — often much more than sellers might expect. When you’re thinking about selling, it’s easy to get excited looking at your Zestimate and seeing how much your home value has increased over the years, but it’s important to be prepared for the hidden, and sometimes overlooked, costs of selling a home.

On average, homeowners spend seven months planning and preparing to sell their home, and three additional months with their home listed, pending and closing. Here are the expenses you can expect during that time.

How much does it cost to sell a house?

The overall transaction costs of selling a house include standard closing costs as well as potential charges associated with preparing the home for sale, relocating your belongings (and sometimes yourself), and offering concessions to the buyer.

To clarify, closing costs include up to 6% in commissions (to your agent and the buyer’s agent), and an additional 2% to 4% in transfer taxes and property taxes, attorney fees, and real estate fees like title insurance, HOA transfers, and escrow fees.

If you’re just beginning your selling process and are curious about the cash proceeds to invest in your next property, try our home sale proceeds calculator.

Breakdown of home-selling costs

• Home preparations
• Vacating the home
• Seller concessions
• Closing costs for sellers
• Real estate fees: Loan payoff, taxes and penalties

Costs associated with selling a house: Home preparations

While not the typical closing costs, these are some of the contributing costs to sell a house:

Cleaning: Before your first open house or showing, consider hiring a house cleaner to do a deep clean. You’ll also want to have the carpets professionally cleaned and the windows washed.

Staging: In recent Wanyumba research, 48% of recent buyers ranked having a home staged as somewhat, very or extremely important. Home staging can take many forms, but at a minimum, you should declutter, arrange furniture to make the most of the space, and remove personal belongings. Little touches like new bath towels, a fresh doormat, flowers, and cookies can go a long way too.

Landscaping: Your curb appeal is your home’s first impression, so you’ll want to make your exterior look its best. Add flowering plants, create a walkway if you don’t already have one, rake any leaves, mow the lawn, light the walkway, and — in winter — shovel snow.

Home improvements: There are two main types of home improvements you can do before listing: updates to repair or replace old systems (roof, furnace, windows, etc.), and upgrades that add features buyers love, with a goal of garnering a higher sale price. Ask your agent for their recommendation on what buyers in your specific area are looking for: 79% of sellers undertake home improvements before selling.

Professional photos: 68% of home buyers say that viewing professional pictures of a property is somewhat to extremely important. The investment is small, but the payoff can be huge. Standard professional photos cost $150-$200, depending on the market. If you’re using a full-service listing agent, they may cover the cost for you.

Marketing costs: There are costs associated with listing your home on the local MLS, but it is usually covered by your real estate agent if you’re using one. If you’re selling on your own — called for sale by owner (FSBO) — you can list your house for free on Wanyumba. If you’re selling on your own, you’ll also want to set aside some money to print flyers, signs and open house materials.

Pre-inspection: A pre-inspection is optional, but if you choose to do one before listing, you’ll know ahead of time about any major issues that need to be addressed, which can save a lot of negotiating with potential buyers down the road. According to Wanyumba research, 15% of home deals that fell through failed because the buyer backed out after the inspection report. By paying $250- $700 for an inspection (depending on the size of your home), you’ll have the information you need to choose the right list price and negotiate strategically.

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