How much does it cost to sell a house?

Before the For Sale sign hits the front yard, you want to know “How much does it cost to sell my house in Spring TX?”

There are fixed costs and variable costs associated with selling your house. The fixed costs are attorney fee, tax certificate fee, escrow fee, and the hoa fee. The variable costs are foundation/cap fee, owners title policy, and the brokerage fee / commission. A couple of other costs to consider when selling your house are repair costs and the cost of a buyer home warranty.

Fixed costs:

Attorneys fee: Attorney’s fee is typically between $100 – $200. The attorney fees goes for the preparation of the closing documents.

Tax certificate: The fee runs between $80 to $125. The tax certificate fee goes
to the company that’s coordinating with either Harris County or Montgomery County for the pulling of the most recent tax documents. The title company needs the tax documents to accurately prorate the taxes between the parties on closing day.

Escrow fee: The escrow fee is charged by the title company and this is what the title company gets for handling the closing.The escrow fee is between $400 – $500.

HOA fee: A charge from the home owners association that manages your neighborhood. The charge is for your statement of account. The title company needs to know the HOA’s one time transfer fees, annual fees, and if you are up to date on the payment of your HOA fees. The HOA statement of account is between $65 to $250.

Variable costs: 

Foundation fee: Some master planned communities including The Falls at Imperial Oaks and Harmony charge a foundation fee / capitalization fee on the sale of a home. The fee ranges from 0.25% to 0.5% of the sales price.  The foundation fee / capitalization fee funds community events and the enhancement and improvement of the community. How do you know if your community
charges a foundation fee? You can find out by either talking with an agent who’s very familiar with your community or contacting your HOA management company.

Owners Title Policy: The Owners Title Policy also referred to as the OTP costs approximately 0.7% (7/10th of 1%) The rate is set by the State of Texas so it doesn’t matter which title
company you close at they are all going to have the same rate for the owners title policy. Although it is a negotiated term, the owners title policy is considered to be a sellers expense. The owners title
policy is for the benefit of the buyer. The policy protects the buyer in the event something happened to title before they owned the property.

Brokerage fee / real estate commission: The brokerage fee pays the agents and their brokers that are involved with the sale of the property. The brokerage fee is split and shared between the 4 parties of the listing agent and the listing agent’s broker and the buyer’s agent and the buyer’s agent broker. The listing agent is responsible for the marketing of your house, negotiating the terms of its sale and repairs, and coordinating the sale through the process to closing.

Other fees / costs to be considered:

Home Warranty: You are not required to provide the buyer with a home warranty. It is a negotiated term. But since 95% of buyers are going to ask you to provide them with a home warranty its good to know upfront what the cost is. A basic home warranty runs about $450. Pool coverage is another $150 – $200. The home warranty is for 1 year. In exchange for a service call of $95, it will provide the buyer with a basic level of repair coverage.

Repairs: Repairs are negotiated between you and the buyer. Just because the buyer requests a repair to be made doesn’t mean you have to agree to perform the repair. Watch: Who handles repairs?  Watch: What are common problems on a home inspection The cost of hte repairs is dependent upon the age of your house and its components such as the roof, A/C, water heater. The repairs could be very minor or substantial.

Attorney fee, tax certificate fee, escrow fee, HOA fee, foundation/cap fee, owners title policy, brokerage fee, home warranty, and repairs are the costs associated with selling a Spring TX house.

Call / text me at 281.804.8626 for a private consultation on selling your home. I’ll prepare a Comparative Market Analysis and an estimated net proceed sheet for you.

Read also:

• How to choose a listing agent to sell your home