Breaking Down the Costs of Selling a House in the U.S.: All the Fees You Need to Know

Marketing Alpha
May 3
5 min read

Updated: Aug 28

No matter when you sell your house, you can't just think about how much it will cost, otherwise you may not be in a good mood when facing the various expenses of selling the house. Selling a house also has costs! The cost may be over tens of thousands. Before selling a house, in addition to making a good sales strategy, you must also consider the cost of selling the house.

Generally speaking, the seller's costs in the United States account for about 10% of the transaction price. Where does this money go? Let's learn about the expenses involved in selling a house, see which costs are necessary, and which costs can be reduced.

01 Broker Commission

When you buy a house, the house has gone through a series of inspections, and you already have a general understanding of the house's condition. However, house inspections do not mean that the house will not have other problems after a few months or years. Therefore, regular inspections of your own house are the first thing you need to do to maintain your house. Regular and proactive inspections can detect many early problems, thereby avoiding more losses and expenses.

Even if the house is in good condition when we move in, we cannot assume that there will be no problems during the use of the house. Daily inspections are necessary to protect the house and life. Regular and proactive replacement and maintenance before any problems occur can better maintain the house.

Basic maintenance, such as replacing furnace filters and sealing door and window gaps, can extend the life of many appliances, and homeowners can do it themselves. Doing routine maintenance reduces home problems and reduces the amount of money and effort that needs to be spent in the future.

02 Seasonal Adjustment

Houses are subject to seasonal weather changes, and many facilities are prone to problems accordingly. For example, pipes exposed outdoors will suffer great damage after being exposed to high temperatures in the summer and frozen by frost in the winter, affecting the use of living facilities.

When encountering some foreseeable seasonal storm weather, adjusting and maintaining the house facilities in advance to prevent them from being damaged can provide good protection and reduce the occurrence of problems and unnecessary troubles.

Don’t underestimate the impact of seasonal changes on your home, especially if you live in an area with large temperature differences and are affected by the weather. Different temperature environments will inevitably cause damage. We need to take this into consideration and do a good job of seasonal maintenance of the home, which will also save maintenance costs after damage occurs.

03 Understand the status of housing systems in real time

Understand the key equipment systems in the house, including household appliances, plumbing, electrical, water conservancy, etc. It is best to record the system status updates, such as smart monitoring, to know the system status and equipment loss in the home at any time.

Only by caring about the house we live in every day can we have a space that makes life comfortable, so understanding the condition of the house is also something that needs to be paid attention to in life.

Understanding a house requires more than just recording and knowing its current status. It also requires an in-depth grasp of more of the house's background. Judging from the house's history, possible problems that may arise in various parts now and in the future, keeping in mind the house's weaknesses and increasing attention in many aspects. If you have a clear understanding of every detail of the house, you can easily avoid and solve problems, thus preventing them from becoming troubles in the future when selling the house.

04 Improve personal maintenance skills

Many buyers will first browse the house viewing website when they are looking for a house, and check out what the house looks like online. Sellers also need to upload photos of the house to the website. If the photos are good-looking, they will attract buyers' interest. The more beautiful the photos, the more buyers the house will attract.

Photos of a house are a critical factor in selling a house. Nowadays, people will first view the photos online. If the photos of a house are bad, many buyers will eliminate them directly after just one look.

Sellers must take beautiful display photos of their houses, and ask professional listing agents to give suggestions on improving the aesthetics of the house. You can also ask the real estate agent and team to help you take photos of the house . They understand better what kind of houses buyers like.

05 Neglecting layout and maintenance

Generally, buyers prefer houses that are clean and uncluttered, and a neat and uncluttered interior space appears larger visually. Usually, the decoration that needs to be completed before selling a house includes cleaning the whole house, painting old walls, renovating interior decoration, beautifying outdoor landscape, etc.

Upgrading the overall appearance significantly improves the house's appeal, effectively attracting buyers and bringing in more revenue.

According to previous Realtor data, houses that have been decorated overall sell 88% faster than houses that have not changed, and the average price is 20% higher! In addition to the basic decoration of the house, buyers also pay more attention to house maintenance.

If there are problems that need to be repaired by the buyer, the selling price will be lower. Therefore, if the seller wants to sell the house at a good price, he must repair the problems that exist in the house.

06 Buyers cannot view the property in time

After a house is listed, interested buyers will make appointments to view the house. They generally want to see the actual condition of the house as soon as possible. If the seller cannot agree on an early time with the buyer, the buyer may have to wait too long and may not consider it.

Sellers should respond to buyers in a timely manner during the house selling period, try to consider buyers' time as much as possible, and spend more time holding open houses on weekends. The more buyers come to see the house, the easier it will be to sell the house.

The above are common mistakes that sellers make when selling a house. Sellers often cannot consider all of these aspects, and the process requires sellers to invest a lot of time, so most sellers will choose a listing agent to help them sell their houses . When choosing a real estate agent, everyone should also pay more attention to screening.

Axis reminds everyone not to blindly choose an unreliable agent, which may not only affect the sale of the house but also cause unnecessary losses to yourself. Whether sellers or buyers, you must choose a reliable professional agent, a reliable real estate company with a team and high reputation, and buy and sell houses with peace of mind.

If you make house maintenance a part of your daily life, you can not only sell your house at a high price, but also live a smoother and more secure life, and the house's value-added space will continue to rise! In addition, the most convenient way is to find a professional buyer/listing agent, consult the experience of professional real estate agents, and communicate with the listing agent in advance when selling your house, so that the agent can help you sell your house smoothly!