Would you be enticed by owner offering to pay closing costs (appraised, 3%)

[pad3]

We have our home on the market on Eastern Long Island where the market is very slow. We were thinking of offering to assist w/closing costs to entice some buyers. What do you think?

[PotterGeek]

I would assume the seller always pays closing, especially if you are getting full price offer or close to. Personally as a buyer, assistance w/ closing costs would not be enticing to me as that is something normally handled by the seller anyway. (But I'm in GA so I only know my local area)

[pad3]

In New York both parties are legally responsible for paying their own closing costs associated with the sale and purchase of a home. So, in that case what do you think?

[mamamarie]

I'm in GA too but have never heard of sellers paying closing unless that is in the contract. Buyers always pay their closing costs (unless seller offers) and seller pays commission to realtor.

[mlv311]

I don't think it's always necessary to mention assistance with closing costs. When we sold our home, every offer that came in requested assistance with closing costs. What some buyers did was add the closing costs they wanted to the asking price in their offer.

[pad3]

How long ago did you sell your home? Days on market? Commission percentagte?

[WendyK]

There are closing costs and loan closing costs - depends on whether or not the buyer has cash to close or is getting a loan. Loan closing costs are the buyer's costs, but they will often ask for a seller to help with all or part of the costs. I always remind my buyers that these are THEIR costs, not the seller's and if a seller agrees to pay all or part of the costs, that they should be grateful - not expecting of a seller to cover these expenses. A cash buyer would not have these same costs and as MLV311 said, they can be added back on to the price if the seller is not willing to come down that much off their price. Of course, the house needs to appraise, too - keep that in mind. I just went through this on a transaction where the buyer amended the purchase price by $10,000 to offset their closing costs, but the home only appraised $5000 more than list price. They ended paying part of the costs out of pocket anyways...

[PghREA]

Originally Posted by leavingbyron

I would assume the seller always pays closing, especially if you are getting full price offer or close to. Personally as a buyer, assistance w/ closing costs would not be enticing to me as that is something normally handled by the seller anyway. (But I'm in GA so I only know my local area)

Wrong, get out the settlement sheet from when you purchased your home and study it carefully.

[PotterGeek]

Wrong, get out the settlement sheet from when you purchased your home and study it carefully

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I know what I paid on my last 2 homes I bought, yes there are requirements a buyer has to pay for (as there are requirements a seller must pay as well), but for the most part, the closing costs were paid by the seller on our last 2 home purchases.

[DavidS827]

I'm in Virginia and in this market it is just expected that the seller will pay 3% in closing costs whether they are offering it in their advertising or not.