How Much Does It Cost To Sell A $150,000 House By Owner?

How Much Does It Cost To Sell A $150k Home?

Our Short Answer:

Expect to spend up to $15,000 if you are selling a house by owner in Maryland.  

If you want to learn more about making the most return for your property after this, check out our other article, Sell My House: How To Sell A House Fast And Get The Most Money.

List Of Likely Costs When Selling Your Own Home:

  • Taxes 
  • Neighborhood Fees
  • Advertising Costs
  • Title Insurance for the buyer
  • Mortgage or reverse mortgage
  • Home repairs
  • Closing Costs
  • Moving Costs

Optional Extra Costs When You Sell Your Own Home:

  • Staging
  • MLS Listing
  • Professional Photographer

Details About How Much It Costs To Sell a $150,00 House

The cost of selling a $150,000 house involves required costs like transfer taxes (0.01% – 2% of your home’s value) and repairs (around $6649) and optional extras like hiring a professional photographer ($80-$225) or staging your home ($500 -$600 per month to stage each room).The main rule of thumb is that these selling costs should roughly be 10% of your home’s price;it should not be more than $15,000.

If you are planning to sell your home, you’ll want to know the costs involved. Other than your mortgage, it’s advisable to spend roughly 10% of your home’s price on selling costs. That’s $15,000 if your home’s value is $150,000. That’s often the tip of the iceberg. As long as you know the cost, you have an edge on what might take less to fix up.

What Are The Common Costs Of Selling Your Home Yourself?

The advantage of For Sale By Owner (FSBO) is saving the commission a real estate agent would cost. This is usually between 5-6% of a home’s value.  For many homeowners selling through a realtor, the commission is their biggest expense. Often, seller’s agents split costs of the commission with buyer’s agents. 

Taxes And Other Fees (Required)

As a home seller, you’ll need to pay your quota of prorated taxes. But if you’re one of the lucky ones and have recently paid your property taxes, this will be a small amount. On the other hand, if you expect a bill to be delivered through your mailbox, this could be thousands of dollars.

Depending on what state you live in, you’ll need to pay transfer tax. This is to exchange the title of a property from one person to another. How much this is depends on where you live. Expect to pay between 0.01% to 2% of your home’s value.

If you make a more than $250K profit you’ll need to pay capital gains tax (if you’re married this is $500K profit because you share the same tax return with your partner)  

In some neighborhoods, there is a homeowners association (HOA), with prorated membership fees that the home seller needs to pay. They also need to pay the HOA transfer fee. This refers to the cost the Homeowner’s  Association incurs to update new homeowner’s information and to send them the necessary HOA documents.   

Your Mortgage (Required)

No matter how you sell your home, you’ll need to pay off your mortgage. Make sure to clarify how much you need to pay off. It could be that the current amount to pay off is different to the amount listed on your last statement. 

This can be explained as interest charges. You’ll also want to know about any prepayment penalties which will all add to what’s owed.  According to Realtor.com “Repayment penalties are usually set at 2% to 4% of your original loan amount”.

Bottom-line Costs for Mortgage: check if there are any repayment penalties on your mortgage. These are usually set at 2% to 4% of your original loan amount.

Title Insurance (Required)

The purpose of title insurance is to protect the buyer from any issues during the history of home ownership. Usually, the person that sells their home purchases a separate policy for whoever buys it. Normally, this costs between $500 and $1000.  

The title company typically runs a title search throughout the selling process. If they discover that there’s lien on your home, you’ll need to pay that off before you can sell your property.

Title Insurance Bottom-line Costs: normally costs between $500 and $1000

Home Repairs (Some Are Required)

If you are planning to sell your home, there are things that you can do that increases your home’s value. If you’re holding off polishing up the exterior of your home, repairing a staircase or a leaking pipe now is the time to do it. Preparing your home may just need minor cosmetic work like decluttering or another coat of paint to your inside or outside. 

You may not need to do anything major. Why spend money on a new bathroom that new owners will enjoy (which can cost up to 15K)? By adding new towels and updated draw pulls, you can make it look like new. And for only a fraction of the cost.

You also need to make sure everything is in good working order some of which take longer than others. If a buyer’s inspector finds any big repairs like a leaky roof or worse, you’ll need to pay for that before you can sell your house.  

In many states, home sellers have a legal obligation to repair or disclose things that need to be repaired. If a home inspector finds any major issuers – that you know about – you are responsible for it. 

Bottom-line Costs Of Common Home Repairs:
  • Foundational repairs: if you notice that your home has uneven or sloping floors, cracks in interior or exterior brick work, or cracks in your walls, you need foundational repairs. Costs: from $450 to $11,000 (costs can be as high as $40,000 depending on what needs repairing).
  • Electrical repairs: these can be minor things like broken light switches and simple short circuits to frequently tripping breakers and warm outlets or switches. Costs: Basic repairs are normally $318, whereas rewiring your home can cost $15,000.
  • Roof repairs: if you have an issue with your roof, you need to fit it before the buyer inspector arrives. Key signs to look out for are leaks or missing shingles. Costs: $650 for partial repairs to $10,000.
  • Water damage: These problems can be as minor as a holey pipe to major issues like a leaky roof. Costs: average costs for water damage are $2,330.
(For more information see https://www.sofi.com/learn/content/most-common-home-repair-costs/)

Closing Fees And Additional Costs (Required)

While a lot of closing costs are the buyer’s responsibility, there are a fair amount of costs that a seller needs to pay. These could be some we already mentioned like property taxes, Homeowner association fees, but there are also attorney fees too. In addition to that are escrow fees and brokerage fees. 

Bottom-line Costs for Closing Fees and Additional Costs: these can amount up to 2% to 4% of a homes selling price. If your home’s value is $150K, this costs you between $3000 and $6000.

Moving Costs

Whether you hire a local moving company or pack and move yourself, you’ll need to make sure you have enough in your budget to pay for moving costs.

Factors involved in moving costs include:

  • Packing services: You may be hiring because it means it saves you having to pack yourself, which can be time consuming and frustrating. Hiring movers to pack your stuff for you can be a few hundred dollars.
  • Moving date: When you move is just as important as deciding how you’ll move. For example if you move in peak season or on a weekend, it will cost you more than moving during a weekday or offseason. 
  • Moving add-ons: Add-on services include things like disassembling and assembling furniture, moving specialty items. Movers will also charge extra for supplies like mattress bags and stretch wrap. 
  • Size of your move: If you are moving a lot of stuff, it will take movers longer. It will also add weight to your shipment making it extra heavy to move. Remember the rule: Mo’ Stuff – Mo’ Problems. 

For other factors affecting your move click here:

Bottom-line Costs for Moving:The American Moving and Storage Association states that an interstate housing move costs about $4000 (distance of 1225 miles). Moving intrastate costs $2300. With four movers it costs you $200 per hour. 

Optional Costs For Selling Your Home

Staging Your Home

Making your home attractive on the inside and outside may help to sell you home quicker. Staging can be very expensive. The price depends on your home’s size, the extent of work that needs doing, and the length of time that your home has been on the market. 

Professional stagers now how to accentuate your homes attractive features, while minimizing things that don’t draw the eye. They typically de-clutter your home of unsightly bulky furniture, and depersonalize it by storing generic family photographs (buyers want to imagine themselves living in your home and personal items are a distraction) 

Bottom-line Costs for Staging your home:
  • $150-$600 for an initial 2 hour consultation: this can be a stand-alone cost if you are just looking for advice or can be included in an invoice. 
  • $500 -$600 per month to stage each room
  • Rearranging and de-cluttering will be $800 (flat fee)

Advertising Your Home On MLS 

Showcasing your home on your local multi-listing site. It used to be that only a licensed real estate agent could list your home. Now you can pay a multi listing service to list your home on your behalf. Listingspark.com charges $7 a day which may sound a little pricey, but it could be worth it in the end because more people will see it. Think of how many realtors will view your listing. It’s much better than hanging up an attractive poster of your home on a lamppost and hoping for the best.

Bottom-line Costs for Advertising Your Home: Some firms like Listingspark.com charge $7 a day for advertising your home on their MLS service. Realtyna says the average cost to advertise your home on MLS is $20 to $50 per month.

Hire A Professional Photographer 

Today, having your home listing online, you’ll need professional photos to go with it. According to the Zillow Group Report,76% of buyers who bought homes in the last 12 months said that viewing professional photos was extremely, very, or somewhat critical in making a buying  decision. The amount they charge depends on the size of your home. It’s a good idea to shop around because prices can vary a lot:

For example: a real estate photographer in Georgia charges only $80, someone from the same State in Atlanta could charge $295 for photos. In Maine, some photographers charge $225 for properties that are over 3000 square feet, and $190 for homes under 3000 square feet For a more of an idea on pricing see the link below: 

https://improvephotography.com/36433/real-estate-photography-pricing-how-much-should-you-charge/

Bottom-line Costs For A Professional Photographer: costs for a professional photographer differ depending on state and location. Some charge only $80 (flat fee), others charge based on your home’s size. In Maine, some professionals charge $225 for homes that are over 3000 square feet, and $190 for homes under 3000 square feet.

The Final Bottom-line:

There are both required costs and optional extras when selling a $150,000 home. Expect to spend up to $15,000 if you are selling a house by owner. 

The bottom line to bare in mind is that your selling costs should not exceed 10% of your home’s value