COSTS OF SELLING A HOME IN BOTHELL

Bothell, WA is booming when it comes to real estate, property values are increasing, and plenty of new construction is underway. Now is a great time to sell and make a new investment in the real estate market. But, selling your home does come with a price. We in the real estate field call these costs the closing costs, as most are paid on the close date. Closing costs are typically anywhere from 3% to 5% of the purchase price of the home.

What Exactly Are Closing Costs?

Basically, closing costs are any fees that need to be paid once the house closes. Some examples that you, as a seller, might pay are the realtor commissions, taxes on the property up until your sale date, state transfer of title taxes, a Form-1099 for the IRS, the escrow fee, the re-conveyance fee to clear the title, and the buyer’s title insurance premium. Another optional fee is the staging fee, many sellers hire a company/person to stage the home to make it easier to sell. This fee is usually paid at closing but is different than a closing cost, as most people choose to pay it at closing although it may have been due earlier and does not need to be paid for the house to close. 

Where Does the Money Come From?

Normally when I first bring up closing costs to my clients they immediately ask “How am I supposed to come up with X amount in less than 30 days?”. The biggest misconception is that you have to pay the amount out of pocket. Closing costs comes out of the cash you should receive for selling the home. If you are selling your home and for some reason you are not getting any money out of the deal, then you would need to pay the closing costs out of pocket. However, this should be addressed by your realtor way before your home goes under contract.

Part of the Negotiation

Closing costs are a pretty important part of the negotiation process. Many realtors use the closing costs as a bargaining chip as will say something along the lines of, “My buyer will pay the full asking price, but we want 3% in closing costs”.

For example, during the inspection of the last real estate transaction I was apart of,  the inspector found two pretty big issues. The roof needed to be repaired and the water heater was end of life. Fixing these issues would have cost the seller around $5,000 out of pocket. Instead I asked if they could pay 3% of the purchase price to go to my buyer's closing costs. The sellers agreed. I was able to save the deal, my buyers had to contribute very little to closing, and were able to use the money they saved to fix up the home.  Sometimes giving the buyer 3% of the purchase price later, which is normally around $15,000, is easier than paying $5,000 now. 

Closing Costs in Bothell,

In June 2018 the median sales price of a home in Bothell, WA was $637,500. Therefore, we can estimate that the median closing cost in Bothell is about $31,875 based on the 5% concept.  However, based on the housing market and how much homes have increased in value, anyone selling a home they’ve been in that is 5 years or older can be sure that they will make more money than that as long as no other loans were taken out on the home as well.

To figure out how much your home is worth, check our home valuation page: https://www.weemspropertygroup.com/home_value

Call 425-218-7674 or e-mail ron@weemspropertygroup.com if you have any questions or concerns about selling your Bothell home.