Okay, so you’ve decided you’re going to sell your house.
Before you get started, a little math could save you a lot of grief and money.
When you have accurate numbers in hand, you can figure out the best way to sell your house in Oklahoma City.
Monthly Expenses
While your house is on the market or preparing for listing on the market, you need to add up what we call “holding costs.” Literally, this is the cost of holding your property.
These costs include:
- Mortgage payments
- Insurance
- Maintenance
Holding costs can add up pretty quickly. Worst yet, you might not even count them.
Repair Costs
Unless your house is brand new, it is highly likely that you are facing at least some repairs, even if you don’t know about them yet.
A professional inspector may find some issues during an inspection, and this is another reason you should know how to run the numbers when selling your house in Oklahoma City.
Or maybe you want to rehab the property to sell it at a higher price point. Then, you’ll have to fix up the property to at least the level of those properties that have sold in the last three months.
I’m not saying you have to channel Chip and Joanna Gaines when fixing up your property, but there are basic cosmetic fixings from paint and carpet to the mechanical things like your HVAC systems and electrical panel.
Just make sure to count every penny and fix up to what the market can afford. Remember that spending money fixing something up doesn’t mean you’ll get it back. A few examples of this are: expensive flooring, countertops, and bathroom updates.
Commissions
Great, now the property is ready to list!
Now, it is crucial to understand how much you will pay in commissions and other fees when you run the numbers. This way, you know exactly how much money to expect at closing when selling your house in Oklahoma City.
Working with a real estate agent typically means you will be paying around 6% of the total sales price in commissions. Of course, there will likely be other professional fees and expenses coming out of your pocket before the sale, such as closing costs and the like.
Closing Costs
You’ve likely heard about closing costs when you sell your property, but what are folks talking about?
Closing costs refer to all of the fees you must pay at the closing table. Depending on where you live, the fees and costs can vary.
Generally, closing costs include, but are not limited to:
- Notary fees
- Transfer costs
- Transfer taxes
- Appraisal costs
- Inspection fees
- Origination fees
- Recording fees
- Title insurance
- Underwriting fees
- Bank fees
- Courier fees
- Wire transfer fees
- Liens against the home will need to be paid to clear the title
- Credit report fees
- Attorney fees
- If applicable, the balance of your mortgage or loans against the home
- Possibly repairs or pest control if this has previously been agreed upon
Now, these can be negotiated. In a hot market like the current one, you can negotiate these costs and cut them down a bit.
Loan Amount
On average, in Oklahoma, folks carry a mortgage balance of $138,752. When selling the property, this is something you’ll have to take into account.
You’ll have to pay off whatever you owe. It might be a good idea to get the full number from your lender just to do some rough calculations.
Example (Let’s find the real profit):
Let’s put it all together with a fictitious example: A local family is selling their home for $200,000 in Oklahoma City.
They owe $165,000 on the property. So, they’ll make $35K, right? Not so fast!
Let’s walk through what we talked about earlier: monthly expenses, repair costs, commissions, and loan amount.
In this example, this is the breakdown of costs:
In this example, they’ll walk away with $13,500 in the pocket.
Now, you and this fictitious family can change up the formula to make additional profit.
The takeaway is that you have to calculate ALL the costs.
I’ve seen too many families get surprised by everything that goes into selling their home.
Now Decide
Will listing your home be worth it?
There is only one way to find out how all of the determining factors add up.
You need to have all of the data plugged in to get the correct answer when selling your house in Oklahoma City.
Working with a real estate agent may gain you much more profit, given your home’s condition and the time and finances you have available.
Working with a professional investor means no waiting, no guessing about what the inspector will find.
But we might NOT be the best fit.
One perk of working with an investor is that you don’t have to concern yourself with the headaches and all the expenses of getting ready for showings.
Once you have the facts, it’s up to you to choose what’s best for you!
The professional hybrid agent investors at McKinnon Home Buyers can offer you BOTH options. At McKinnon Home Buyers, we will run the numbers and go through everything in detail. Our goal at McKinnon Home Buyers is to inform you of every step of the process with complete transparency. Our job is to make sure you feel confident in your decision when selling your house in Oklahoma City.