Fees and Costs Associated With Selling a House in 2024

Inspections and repairs (varies)

If you’ve sold a home before, you know the home inspection can be one of the more stressful parts of the transaction process. While the buyer is on the hook for most inspection fees, the inspection process can impact your bottom line.

Pre-listing inspection ($340)

Before your home even goes on the market, you may opt for a pre-listing inspection to identify potential issues or necessary repairs ahead of time. The process is the same as any standard inspection, except you conduct it before your home is listed and are responsible for the cost.

Unless you have a larger home, most home inspectors will charge a flat fee for the inspection, and, typically, you’ll have to pay somewhere between $281 and $403 on average.

Cost of repairs (varies)

Once you and the buyer both sign the purchase offer, the buyer may schedule their own home inspection to determine whether the home has any underlying issues that could impact its value or safety. You shouldn’t have to pay any fees for the inspection itself. However, the inspection does open the door for further negotiations before closing.

The buyer may make requests based on the findings laid out in the inspection report. According to a study by Porch.com, inspections save buyers $14,000 on average. However, how much buyers ask for and what you need to cover to keep the deal going will depend on your home’s condition and your negotiating position. With every request, you have essentially three options: make the repair before closing, negotiate which repairs to do, or push back and tell the buyer no.

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Closing costs (1%-3%)

The act of transferring ownership of your home to someone costs money, and as the seller, you’ll be on the hook to pay some of these associated fees.

Title fees (0.5%-1%)

Title fees go toward covering insurance policies that offer protection to both the lender and buyer if a costly title issue crops up with a home after it’s purchased. A title search prior to closing is meant to surface problems, but instances of forgeries or filing errors do rarely crop up and create problems for an owner down the road.

Title fees are typically negotiable in a real estate transaction, though most commonly the seller covers the new owner’s title policy, while the buyer covers their lender’s policy. These policies together usually cost around 0.5% and 1% of the purchase price.

Settlement fees (1%)

The title company, escrow company, or attorney that orchestrates the closing will also charge what are called settlement or escrow fees for handling the final paperwork and distributing funds to the appropriate parties.

The settlement fees are generally divided between the buyer and seller depending on what the purpose of the specific settlement fee is and what is customary in the market where the property is located, but who pays these fees can be a matter for negotiation in many instances.

Transfer tax or excise tax (0.1%-3%)

Depending on where you live, you may need to pay a non-deductible transfer tax on the sale of your house to complete the transaction. The tax will be calculated based on the value of your property and may be imposed by your state, county, or city. The tax covers the costs of transferring the deed to new owners and is typically your responsibility as the seller to pay. However, several states don’t charge these fees at all. Refer to this table to see how your state handles transfer taxes.

Reconveyance fees (varies)

When your mortgage loan is paid off during the sale, you will receive a reconveyance deed releasing you from the debt. The mortgage company has to record the deed with the county, and there are fees associated with this.

Recording fees (varies)

Once your sale is finalized, the new deed and other paperwork, such as change of title and bill of sale, must be recorded with your county. Typically, the buyer will pay whatever fees are levied, and the cost can vary county-to-county. However, a seller might be responsible for part of this cost in some cases.

Attorney fees ($150-$350 per hour)

Sellers may opt to hire a real estate attorney to represent their interests and some states consider licensed attorneys to be “essential” for closing. A real estate attorney may draft and review closing documents, transfer property title, resolve legal barriers, and mediate contract disputes. The average cost of a real estate attorney is usually between $150 to $350 per hour.

Property taxes (prorated)

During closing, you and the buyer will also settle up on property taxes. The seller will pay for any taxes owed through their final day of ownership. And likewise, the buyer will be responsible for paying any taxes accrued starting from the day they take possession. Some municipalities pay taxes in arrears — i.e., when the bill comes, you’re actually paying for the previous six or 12 months of taxes owed.

Mortgage payoff (varies)

The day you sell your home is also the day your outstanding mortgage balance is due. Anything you owe will be subtracted from your home sale price. Contact your lender or servicer and request your payoff amount. The payoff amount is the total you’ll have to pay to satisfy the terms of your mortgage loan, including any interest you owe until the day you plan to pay your loan in full. Review our guide on how to sell a house with a mortgage for more details.

Seller concessions (2%-6%)

Sellers sometimes “gift” money or offer other incentives to buyers at closing to sweeten the pot. This may not be necessary if your home generates a lot of interest from buyers right away and your property is in high demand.

However, if you’re struggling to attract an offer or are in a slow market, offering concessions can help you negotiate a deal.

Fannie Mae guidelines cap seller concessions — also called “interested party contributions“ — for conventional loans. For example, if a buyer puts less than 10% down, then the concession max is 3%. If the buyer puts down 10%-25%, then there is a 6% maximum. Any seller costs that exceed these limits would require a corresponding reduction in the loan amount.

How can I see the fees for my transaction?

You will get a chance to review all of these costs and fees in your seller’s settlement statement, a comprehensive list of fees and credits that shows your net profits as the seller and summarizes the finances of the entire transaction. If you want an estimation before closing, your real estate agent can provide a seller’s net sheet. Other helpful tools include HomeLight’s Home Value Estimator and our Net Proceeds Calculator.

Other costs associated with the sale

Relocation costs (1%)

After closing your sale comes everyone’s favorite part: moving! And depending on the timing of your home sale and how you orchestrate it with your next move, you may need to pay transition costs.

Overlap costs (1%-2%)

If you bought a new house before selling your existing home, you’ll have to cover the principal, interest, taxes, utilities, and insurance on two properties for several months. Alternatively, you might need to rent a storage unit, put a deposit on a transitional short-term rental, or pay for a partial move in order to stage the home.

Moving and relocation costs ($1,600)

There’s no way around it: Moving is expensive. It should be part of your budget as you look to sell your home. On average, it’ll cost you $1,704 for a local move. The cost of your move will vary based on factors including how much stuff you have, the distance of your move, the time of year, and which types of moving services you opt for.

Capital gains taxes (varies)

Profits made from the sale of appreciable assets — including your home — are often considered capital gains and subject to tax. However, it’s possible to exclude the profit, or capital gains, you made from selling your home when tax time rolls around if you meet certain criteria.

Under the capital gains tax exclusion, in the sale of a primary residence, the first $250,000 of profits are typically not taxed if you file your taxes as single (or $500,000 if you and your spouse file jointly) — and if you meet additional requirements. The IRS refers to this as the Section 121 exclusion. If you don’t qualify for capital gains tax exclusions, your home sale will be reported to the IRS through a 1099-S form. For more details, we always recommend talking to your tax advisor.

Example fees when selling a home

Now that you know what fees go into selling a home, let’s look at a potential example. Let’s say a seller in Massachusetts is selling a paid-off home for $500,000 in fairly good condition and only light updates needed. The seller streamlines the pre-listing process to the most essential tasks, installs a new front door for a great first impression, and does a few minor repairs based on the results of a pre-sale inspection.

In negotiations, the seller makes no concessions because it is a strong seller’s market, but they will have to pay transfer taxes for Massachusetts of 0.46%. Here’s a look at how that could potentially break down:

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Is it possible to avoid closing costs?

Closing costs are a part of every real estate transaction. But sellers can reduce their selling fees by working with a property investor or house buying company rather than listing. Many We Buy Houses for Cash companies offer to cover a seller’s closing costs in full.

By not listing the home, sellers can also eliminate home prep costs and sell their house “as is”. Selling for cash also usually eliminates the cost of real estate agent commission. However, selling for cash usually means accepting a lower offer amount.

It’s all about weighing the trade-offs for your situation. If you need to sell your house fast and would prefer to reduce prep costs and fees, consider an avenue such as HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform.

With Simple Sale, HomeLight provides an all-cash offer for homes in almost any condition. Our platform enables you to sell your home in as quickly as 10 days rather than what can be weeks or months.

You can skip staging and repairs, and sell without agent commissions or upfront selling costs. All you need to do is answer a few basic questions about your home’s condition, how much work it needs, and your selling timeline to get started.

How to save on fees in today’s market

After seeing the example above, you may be thinking 9.7% of the sale price is a high percentage, but as the housing market heats up again, sellers are regaining some leverage, with the potential to save on some of those fees.

Additionally, much of the increase in home value from the pandemic housing boom has been holding strong (though not in all markets). Depending on when you bought, the increase in home value alone can help soften the blow of fees associated with selling a house.

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