Your mind is made up.
You’re tired of worrying about repairs. You’re not interested in being a landlord. There’s only one thought that keeps popping up in your head.
“I want to sell my house.”
If you’re confident it’s time to move on, selling your home will lift a burden and give you peace of mind. However, there are some questions you need to ask yourself prior to putting your house on the market.
Here are the five things you need to consider before listing your home.
Who Do I Need on My Team to Sell My House?
If you’re selling your home the traditional way, you’ll need to build a team of several people before your house officially goes up for sale.
- Realtor: A real estate agent can take care of marketing your home to potential buyers.
- Attorney: An attorney will help in the legal process of closing the deal after the sale is made.
- Inspector: A home inspector can evaluate the home to see if any repairs are needed.
- Landscaper: A landscaper will tidy up the look of your yard and give you instant curb appeal.
- Photographer: A photographer can take good pictures and display your home in the best light.
- Handyman: A handyman (or woman) will do any home repairs necessary to help with the sale.
- Home stager: A home stager can declutter and do other house staging activities to entice buyers.
- Painter: A painter will freshen the walls and make the interior look new again.
There’s one more team member who could actually take the place of all of the above. A cash buyer will purchase your home, close the deal quickly, and eliminate the need for landscaping, staging, painting, repairing, etc.
What Does the Competition Look Like?
Take a look at the world of real estate in your area. How many houses are on the market? How many days have they been listed? This will give you an idea about how fast or slow you can expect the process to be.
You should also look at comparable homes with similar features in your neighborhood and find out their selling prices and property values. You can use sources like the National Association of Realtors and the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
With a cash buyer, there’s no need to do research on the competition. You’ll get a fair offer for your home without having to waste time analyzing the market.
What Is a Reasonable Asking Price?
Of course, you’d like to make money by selling your house, and you may have an emotional attachment to it that makes it more valuable to you. But you should avoid focusing on the previous value of the house and making a sentimental decision.
It’s all about the market.
In a hot market, where buyers outnumber sellers, you can get away with pricing your home more aggressively. In a cold market, where buyers have more houses to choose from, you should stick to at or below market value.
The market doesn’t matter with a cash buyer. Whether the current climate is in favor of the buyer or seller, a cash buyer will pay you what your home is worth.
What Expenses Will Come Out of My Sales Price?
Whatever the asking price for your home ends up being, be aware that a significant amount of money will come out of it in a traditional transaction:
- Real estate sales commissions
- Closing fees
- Title charges
- Government recording and transfer charges
- Any additional settlement charges
- Debt obligations to pay off existing mortgage(s)
- Home repairs in sales contract or repair work done before house was for sale
- Preparations to get house ready for sale
When you sell your home to a cash buyer, all the money is yours. No fees are taken out; no deductions are made. What you see on the check is what you get.
What Taxes Are Involved with Selling a House?
Here’s a plus of the home-selling process.
Homeowners get tax breaks from the IRS. Your house must have been your primary residence for two of the last five years. If that’s the case, up to $250,000 of profit is tax-free for single taxpayers. That amount doubles for married couples filing jointly.
Am I Ready to List My Home?
Now you know how much work needs to be done before you list your home for sale.
You need to build your team, scope out the competition, come up with an asking price, take expenses into account, and study tax laws before your house can go on the market.
The time of year can also play a role in whether your home moves quickly or stalls. And if you want to buy another home while selling your current one, you’ll likely need a realtor, attorney, inspector, and lender to go through that process.
There is a way to cut to the chase and just offload the home altogether. You can sell the home directly to a cash buyer like New Again Houses® and close the deal in as little as a week.
No research. No repairs. Just hand us the keys and we’ll hand you the cash.