Closing costs in seller's market? (feedback, appraisal, 2%, agent)

[trogdor76]

We live in north Fort Worth (Keller area) and will be putting our house on the market very soon and moving to Collin County. As with most of DFW, houses sell quickly in our area these days. With that in mind, I have a general question re. closing costs. In a seller's market such as this, can most (if not all) of the closing costs be pushed to the buyer, or should the seller still expect to pay some of them?

Any feedback would be appreciated, particularly if you've sold/bought recently in the area. Thanks in advance...

[ChristieP]

If your buyer uses a VA mortgage, there are some closing costs that must be paid by the seller.

[TeamLynn]

It depends on where you are in a competitive market.....best house on the block in a hot neighborhood and under $300K, the buyer might pick up some of the traditional seller costs to make their bids more competitive. For example they might not ask for home warranty, they might offer to pay title insurance, and they might offer to pay for survey if you don't have one. Seller still typically pays realtor fees which is the big chunk of the closing costs for the seller.....there are some other fees the seller will typically pay like 1/2 of escrow fee...about $400....and some other small fees. We see this in about 20% of the transactions. If you are not competitively priced or if some other factors are at play you might see offers without this and the buyer paying their costs and seller paying their closing costs. Every transaction is different....so it just depends on how desperate the buyers are to have your home.

[frisco19542]

At the end of the day the buyer pays the closing cost. what you should care about is the net price to you the seller. I would not think the costs for closing will vary that much and you will always pay for title insurance and commissions as a seller. Those are fixed transaction costs to close real estate. Who pays for them on paper is just moving numbers around to make someone happy to do a deal. The end price should be all you care about. Buyers will structure deals that make sense to them and if they need closing costs it should be above your net price your willing to accept. The only difference is in a sellers market you may have more then one offer. Make sure you negotiate commissions on a net price if closing costs are involved. (Brokers will do that to increase commission and this can be easily negotiate down at the time of acceptance).


Trying to sell outside the MLS is not a good move that means for MLS listings you will pay at least 3% sales for the buyers broker and 3% for the tour agent you might be able to save on some on your agent but that may or may a good idea. If your able to market and show the property you can in theory save a few percent. A good sellers agent will get more then the few percent. Concentrate on find a good real estate broker to sell your property many of them are really not that good but there are goods ones out there. Bottom line don't save a $1000 and have it cost you 10k or 20k by trying to save on commission and not get exposure and offers mls will Bring.

The biggest thing is to know the market before you sell. Redfin.com is great because you can see what has sold and has active contracts in your area. Do this before you get a broker and then shop around for one that has a good marketing plan.

[Rakin]

What is your price range? You think Buyers will have the extra money to pay your closing costs (plus theirs) or cover if they house does not appraise ?

Most buyers don't have the extra money unless you're talking an expensive home and wealthy Buyers.

[turf3]

There is only one person bringing money to the table in selling a house, and that's the buyer. Whether you call it "closing costs", "adjustments/allowances", or "selling price", in the end it's all the same thing. Get an advance copy of the standard closing worksheet and you will see what I mean. A big long list of costs. Down at the bottom they add it all up, then subtract the earnest money, and the remainder is the money the buyer brings, both as loan and as down payment.

[wannabeaTexan]

I bought my house last July. Paid seller's closing costs as part of the offer. A lot of deals around here have to be sweetened up. I couldn't pay a ton over ask (and likely appraisal), so that was one thing I was ok with doing just to buy a house. I don't think I'd ask for the buyer to pay seller's closing costs. I'd be annoyed by that stipulation as a buyer. But you might get offers that are willing to pay. As someone else noted, that doesn't seem to be a major cost, compared to what sellers pay the agents.

[bankingdom]

Originally Posted by trogdor76

We live in north Fort Worth (Keller area) and will be putting our house on the market very soon and moving to Collin County. As with most of DFW, houses sell quickly in our area these days. With that in mind, I have a general question re. closing costs. In a seller's market such as this, can most (if not all) of the closing costs be pushed to the buyer, or should the seller still expect to pay some of them?

Any feedback would be appreciated, particularly if you've sold/bought recently in the area. Thanks in advance...

Like others have said final price should matter. Divide between closing costs or home purchase price won't matter much unless buyer needs to finance closing costs because they can't afford it.

If your somewhat knowledgeable put it fsbo (for sale by owner). You will save 6% just like that!

Now, don't be dumb about it. Research comps on redfin and zillow like others have mentioned. If it's a decent home and priced right it will sell and you just saved a crap load of $. Don't listen to the realtors! Price it right, take good pictures, declutter and it will sell.

If you want u can also use a mls service that will post it for you for a flat fee. You can decide if you want to pay the 3% buyer agent fee, or set it at 2% or whatever. If you put zero buyer agent fee you will **** off the agents and not get as many showings, but if it's priced right in a good area it will sell. May take a bit longer though.

I know realtors hate me, but I think paying 6% as a seller is just nuts. It's really not that much work. Forms are standard TREC you can fill out on your own. If anything pay a flat fee to an agent to help you vs giving them 3%.

Again, just my opinion. In some cases if you really have no clue a realtor may be worth it, but at least try and negotiate to maybe 5%.

I still can't belive in almost 2017 we still pay realtors 6% of purchase price on avg regardless! It does not take that much more work to sell a million $ home as it does a $150k home.

[frisco19542]

Originally Posted by bankingdom

Like others have said final price should matter. Divide between closing costs or home purchase price won't matter much unless buyer needs to finance closing costs because they can't afford it.

If your somewhat knowledgeable put it fsbo (for sale by owner). You will save 6% just like that!

Now, don't be dumb about it. Research comps on redfin and zillow like others have mentioned. If it's a decent home and priced right it will sell and you just saved a crap load of $. Don't listen to the realtors! Price it right, take good pictures, declutter and it will sell.

If you want u can also use a mls service that will post it for you for a flat fee. You can decide if you want to pay the 3% buyer agent fee, or set it at 2% or whatever. If you put zero buyer agent fee you will **** off the agents and not get as many showings, but if it's priced right in a good area it will sell. May take a bit longer though.

I know realtors hate me, but I think paying 6% as a seller is just nuts. It's really not that much work. Forms are standard TREC you can fill out on your own. If anything pay a flat fee to an agent to help you vs giving them 3%.

Again, just my opinion. In some cases if you really have no clue a realtor may be worth it, but at least try and negotiate to maybe 5%.

I still can't belive in almost 2017 we still pay realtors 6% of purchase price on avg regardless! It does not take that much more work to sell a million $ home as it does a $150k home.

I agreed Real estate agents are the worst as group and most of them do nothing for the buyer or seller. There are very few honest ones who actually work there money. The only thing is buyers use them and those buyers agents want 3%. Those same buyer agents ignore houses that don't use agents. If you have a smart buyer they will shop themselves and demand to see the houses they find.

The problem is a lot relo buyers and others let the realtors choose 5 or 6 homes and then buy from that list. I think that is crazy but it very common. At the end of the day those buyers also are the ones who may pay the most. Tried to sell a house by myself and got no decent offers listed with an agent and it was sold in a few days. I wish buyers would shop around more but they do not.

[Aceraceae]

Originally Posted by bankingdom

Like others have said final price should matter. Divide between closing costs or home purchase price won't matter much unless buyer needs to finance closing costs because they can't afford it.

If your somewhat knowledgeable put it fsbo (for sale by owner). You will save 6% just like that!

Now, don't be dumb about it. Research comps on redfin and zillow like others have mentioned. If it's a decent home and priced right it will sell and you just saved a crap load of $. Don't listen to the realtors! Price it right, take good pictures, declutter and it will sell.

If you want u can also use a mls service that will post it for you for a flat fee. You can decide if you want to pay the 3% buyer agent fee, or set it at 2% or whatever. If you put zero buyer agent fee you will **** off the agents and not get as many showings, but if it's priced right in a good area it will sell. May take a bit longer though.

I know realtors hate me, but I think paying 6% as a seller is just nuts. It's really not that much work. Forms are standard TREC you can fill out on your own. If anything pay a flat fee to an agent to help you vs giving them 3%.

Again, just my opinion. In some cases if you really have no clue a realtor may be worth it, but at least try and negotiate to maybe 5%.

I still can't belive in almost 2017 we still pay realtors 6% of purchase price on avg regardless! It does not take that much more work to sell a million $ home as it does a $150k home.

Yes, that 6% seems like robbery to me. Oh you want to to see this house? Cmon I'll unlock it for you. That'll be 3%. Wth.