How Much Does It Cost to Sell Your House in Houston?

Counter-intuitive as it may seem, putting your Houston home on the market can be expensive; from prepping for a sale to paying average Houston closing costs, sellers often feel like they are hemorrhaging money left and right as they attempt to get the best possible price for their house. So, it’s in your best interest to ask yourself some questions, such as;

“How much money paid out of pocket, and how much is just seller perception?”
“How much does selling your house in Houston cost, and how much control do sellers have over those costs?”

Our experts at Selling.House have the answers to all these questions and, in this article, we will explain the facts.

SELLING.HOUSE: HOUSTON

Pre-Sale Preparations

When sellers estimate the cost of selling a home in Houston, they often overlook the costs of pre-sale prep, and unfortunately, this penchant for underestimating has worsened in the last few years, as the prices of basic building supplies have skyrocketed.

Essentials like lumber, screws, and fixtures are soaring; even minor house repairs (before putting it on the market) can get pricey fast! And buyers who cannot do the necessary work face even higher costs, as construction crews are in short supply and in high demand!

Not only does this money have to come out of sellers’ pockets, but this increase in costs also reduces the Return on Investment (ROI) that sellers can expect to receive at the time of sale.

Admittedly, this is only a small concern for sellers of properties in good repair that need little to no work. Still, even properties that need only a small amount of work can be costly to prepare for sale in today’s market!

Staging Costs

In theory, staging is optional – but most experienced realtors agree that staging is expected from today’s buyers, and that it should be considered a standard part of the cost to sell a house in Texas.

Admittedly, the cost of staging comes in, on average, around $1,000 per property. However, many factors influence the actual costs faced by any given buyer, including:

For some sellers, staging costs can balloon quickly and top out at far more than the average!

Closing Costs

Everyone knows that selling a home comes with closing costs. But what do Texas closing costs entail and just how much should a seller expect to spend on them?

The term “closing costs” is generally used to refer to a variety of expenses incurred during the processing of sale paperwork including:

Realtor Costs

When calculating the cost to sell a house in Houston, realtor commissions are another key factor.

Thanks in part to local market factors, Houston commission rates run slightly above national averages, and sellers can expect to spend between 5-6% of their property’s total value on their realtor’s commission.

For a house selling at the region’s median price of $270,000, this comes out to a total between $13,500 and $16,200.

If your sale is complicated in any way, or if you need/want additional services, such as drone fly-over videos to assist with the marketing of your home, you may face additional fees and charges on top of the base percentage.

Choosing to sell your Houston house Traditionally or to a Cash Buyer

As shown by the figures above, the average Houston home seller can expect to spend more than $23,000 on various fees and expenses when listing and selling their house on the traditional market – this is an enormous amount of money lost!

By contrast, Houston property owners who sell to a cash buyer will likely spend almost nothing. This is because most of the costs associated with selling a home in Texas on the traditional market do not apply to cash sales.

In other words, most cash buyers don’t need approval from lenders or insurers to purchase properties “as-is“; thus removing the need for staging or improving the property in any way, regardless of its condition.

Furthermore, a cash buyer doesn’t require contractual concerns about a property’s conditions. Read on for a more detailed look into real estate fees that can be avoided by choosing to sell to a cash buyer –

Avoid Realtor Commissions

Selling to a cash buyer allows homeowners to skip realtor commissions altogether. Along with avoiding closing costs, this can save homeowners more than $10,000.

It also allows them to skip extra costs that often come with working with a realtor such as advertising costs, prepping a house for showing, and the expensive photography and video services necessary to create impressive online tours and promotions.

Avoid Closing Costs

Many cash buyers are happy to pay most or all of the closing costs associated with a sale. In other words, selling to a cash buyer, alone, can save sellers thousands of dollars. Plus, the lack of repeated pre-sale inspections can also save time.

Additionally, homeowners can also avoid the hefty property maintenance and tax costs they would have to pay if they worked with a realtor, not to mention the long and exhausting months of waiting that it could take to sell their homes.