You want to sell your Pittsburgh house and you’re looking forward to putting some money in your pocket. But did you realize that selling your house may mean you have to PAY money? In this blog post, we break down the different fees paid to agents versus paid to investors when selling your Pittsburgh house.
It’s true: selling your house can sometimes mean that you have to pay. (This isn’t always the case but it often is.) If you’re thinking about selling your Pittsburgh house, we want you to understand the different fees that are involved, because it may make the decision to list with an agent versus sell it directly to an investor a much easier one.
How much does it cost to sell your Pittsburgh house the “traditional” way?
Agent Fees
A real estate agent is a salesperson who will try to find a buyer for your house. In order to do this, they will create a “listing” for your house – very similar to an advertisement – and use various marketing efforts to find an interested buyer.
As compensation for these marketing efforts, real estate agents make a commission, which is usually some percentage of the final sales price of your Pittsburgh home. This is usually the largest expense you’ll have to pay. In Pittsburgh, it’s very common for this commission to equal between 5% – 6% of the sales price of the house (e.g., $5,000 – $6,000 for a $100,000 home).
Closing Costs
While an agent’s fee is typically the largest fee when selling your Pittsburgh house, it’s not the only one. Other costs when listing your house and selling the traditional way can include, property taxes, attorney fees, transfer taxes and title insurance. When you add all of these up, it could be another 2% – 4% subtracted from your sales price.
Two other hidden “fees” you may not be thinking of
There are two other costs that home sellers rarely consider when listing their house with a real estate agent. One of these “fees” is the cost to fix up your house before getting pictures taken and showing it to potential home buyers. Many agents strongly encourage minor (and sometimes major) repairs to make the house look nicer for potential buyers, which in turn makes it easier to sell. It’s very rare that home sellers get all of this money back when they sell their house.
The other hidden cost of selling your house to a traditional buyer is a reduction in the sales price due to issues that arise during a home inspection. Most real estate offers come with what’s known as an “inspection contingency”. This means that after you and the buyer agree on a price, they have the right to hire someone to go through the house with a fine-toothed comb and look for issues. Sometimes these issues can be quite expensive (i.e. a cracked sewer line usually has a minimum cost of $6,000). The buyer can then come back to you (or your agent) and demand a reduction in the price that you’ve already agreed to. This puts you, the home seller, in a difficult position because it looks bad to disagree and have your home go back on the market.
When working with an investor, this problem doesn’t arise because the offers we make are “as-is”, meaning there is no inspection contingency. We will buy your house in exactly the condition that it’s in – no questions asked.
How much does it cost to sell your Pittsburgh house to an investor?
The thing we like most about working directly with Pittsburgh home sellers is telling them the following: the price we offer is the price you get. There are no extra fees, commissions, or other hidden costs associated with selling your house. Most, but not all, investors do things this way so if you are thinking about working with an investor make sure you ask what they pay for vs. what you are responsible for. We like to pay for all the closing costs because it makes it much easier for the homeowner to understand exactly what they will receive when they sell their Pittsburgh house.
Should you sell your Pittsburgh house to an investor?
So what’s right for you? If you have a newer house in great condition, and you aren’t in a hurry to sell it – working with an agent might be your best option. However if you have an older house with deferred maintenance that you just want to get rid of – you may be surprised to find out that an investor can make things much easier for you.
If you want to talk further about what makes the most sense for you, please get in touch with us by filling out our form below or giving us a call. We’d be happy to speak with you and give you a completely free, no-obligation offer on your Pittsburgh house. You may be surprised to find out just how easy it is!