When you decide it’s time to sell your home in Lower Alabama, it’s important to know the required and optional expenses that will go along with it. The big picture is that you can expect to spend around 10% of your home’s sale price to sell your house quickly. Thankfully, you may find a way to cut that percentage down. We’ll help you sort out which expenses are necessary versus optional so you can get the biggest payout.
When listing a home in Lower Alabama, many home sellers end up with far less than they had anticipated. If you’re serious about selling your house, we are ready to make you a fair cash-only offer at Purple Egg Real Estate. Best of all, when we buy your house directly from you, we buy it as-is, and we will pay all closing costs, no fees, no commissions, and we can close fast.
How to Get the Highest Profit!
Some key factors that impact Lower Alabama home sale timelines include market conditions, time of the year, type and condition of the property, agent’s listing strategy, and the buyer’s financing situation. Leveraging these factors can help you cut expenses while selling your home.
- Timing the Market
Being able to watch market trends is a crucial tool that can significantly impact the price at which you sell your house and the length of time it remains on the market. While you can sell your house quickly in the summer, you’ll generally see higher prices in the Spring, allowing you to walk away with the highest profit. - Your Home’s Value
Pricing your home competitively will help you sell your house quickly. There will probably be a lot of competition because the spring and summer are traditionally seller’s markets. If you want to get a lot of offers quickly, a good strategy that I’ve seen work is to list the house 10-15% below market and you’ll see a rush to put in an offer. - Whether or Not to Stage Your House
I have bought and sold plenty of houses without staging them. If the house’s interior is in good shape, my approach is to save this money and let it be shown while completely empty. This allows the buyers to picture their own setup and decorations.
Costs that come with Closing a Home Sale
You’ll likely be spending a bit of cash when it comes to the preparations for selling your house. The expenses associated with preparing your home for sale can vary quite a bit. It’s best to remember that your typical home buyer (versus an investor) is looking for a ready-to-move-in home.
Whether you’re looking to list your Lower Alabama home immediately or 6-12 months from now, it’s never too early to start looking for an agent, getting advice, and making a plan.
Some major costs associated with selling with a real estate agent include:
- Local Agent Commission: If you choose to deal with a real estate agent, you will be required to pay a commission of between 5% and 6%, which will be shared between your agent and the buyer’s agent. In Alabama, buyer agent commissions range from 2.5% to 3%.
- Title Insurance: It helps sellers/buyers from any legalities if there is a flaw in the ownership of the property. The insurance fee can be paid by either seller or buyer based on the negotiations. Or a backend way of asking the sellers to pay is to ask the sellers to set aside some money, for example, $5,000, for closing costs.
- Transfer Tax: This tax is paid as part of the closing cost that will transfer the home from the seller to the buyer and is charged at the rate of $0.50 for each $500 or 0.1% of the property value. While this transfer tax is usually paid by the buyer, as noted above, the buyer can ask the seller to pay some/all of the closing costs.
- Attorney Fee: Only a few states, like Alabama, demand that real attorneys with real estate licenses draft all housing documentation. A real estate attorney serves as the closing agent whether you sell through a local estate agent or on your own (FSBO).
- Capital Gains Tax: Most home sales in Lower Alabama will have no capital gains to claim. Individuals can exempt the first $250,000 in profit, while married couples filing jointly can deduct the first $500,000 of their profit. With a median home value far below these levels, you won’t need to worry about deductions in the first place. However, if you do, such as you’re selling before the 2-year stay in the residency, then a real estate investor may be able to work with you such as a master lease agreement that delays the sale but yet allows you to move on with your life. After the 2-year period is met, the real estate investor can convert the lease to a purchase.
- Moving costs: Asking your friends with pickup trucks to help can save you some cash, but it could take a lot more time and you may end up with a few more dings in your stuff. Sometimes it’s worth paying for the deluxe treatment, where the company packs your boxes for you, transports them to the new location, and unpacks them at the other end.
- Mortgage Balance: In most cases, you’ll be able to pay the mortgage balance off from the sale of the house and use any extra cash for a down payment on your new home.
- Fixing the House Up: This can range as little as $2000 for painting a small house, to $20-40K for major repairs. If you have structural repairs, the price will go even higher. Structural repairs are required if you’re selling to the public, but optional if you’re selling to a real estate agent.
Selling As Is
Listing a house “as is” means the homeowner wishes to sell the home in its current condition and will make no repairs or improvements. This would indicate that some repair, usually significant, is needed, as move-in-ready homes don’t need this disclaimer.
The house will have a relatively low list price to start with, and the seller might entertain lower offers. A real estate agent may even list houses as “cash offers only” if the house’s problems could prevent it from qualifying for a mortgage. In hindsight, sellers can avoid large expenses on repair while selling their house.
You’ll need to find a buyer who is up for the challenge if you wish to sell your house “as-is” with no repairs. Purple Egg Real Estate can assist you by making a hassle-free, outright purchase of your property. When you sell your house to us, you will be able to avoid commissions, repair costs, and many other expenses homeowners face when selling their houses. Plus we’ll be able to purchase your home quickly.
A Quick Note for Buyers in Alabama
Alabama is one of the few states that employ a Caveat Emptor law (“let the buyer beware”) when selling a residential property. This means the seller has no actual duty to disclose to a prospective buyer a negative issue with the property. So if the seller refuses to provide this, it should be treated as a warning and extra due diligence is needed in the purchase.
Caveat emptor imposes additional obligations on the real estate agents who are representing the buyer to assist in looking for any potential issues that may exist or could arise after the sale has been finalized. The buyer is highly encouraged to conduct a thorough inspection of the property before closing the sale. This can lower your repair and home renovation costs.