The REAL Cost of Selling Your House: With an Investor vs. Through a Realtor

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There are many different ways to sell a house. Here we detail the benefits of selling with an investor vs. a realtor. In general, the amount an investor offers to you for your house is the same amount you will receive a check (or wire to your bank) at the time of closing. As you will see below, selling via a realtor has many hidden costs.  

No demands for repairs or renovations 
Generally, the first thing and sometimes last thing you need to do in order to sell your home with a realtor is fix any existing problems with the house. This can be big problems - such as age of the roof or central air, or little things - such as a new paint job, yard clean up or touch ups to damaged walls, carpets etc. If you are expecting to get the full market value for your house, most buyers are only going to be willing to pay that if the house is in excellent and updated condition. A buyer and their mortgage lender always require an inspection before the sale is finalized. The buyer may require you to fix any problems that are detected, before closing. An investor will take into account repairs and updates that need to be made and buy your house as-is. You won’t need to do a thing.  

The cost of waiting for your house to sell 
Selling through a realtor, you can expect to be paying your monthly mortgage payments and all the other costs of keeping up your house such as, utilities, insurance, and HOA fees, until you find a buyer and make it to closing. This can go on for anywhere between 3 – 12 months. Currently the average in most markets is around 6 months. When you sell to a Real Estate Investor, the sale of your house is usually completed within 14 days or sooner, saving you both time and money.
  
No realtor commissions come out of your pocket 
Once you get a buyer for your house, the biggest expense (unless the buyer turned up some repairs during the inspection period) is going to be the realtors’ commission. As the seller you are responsible for not just your agent’s commission, but also the buyer’s agent. This is usually around 5% - 6% altogether. The price that you negotiated with the buyer may sound great, but a big chunk of that will be going to the real estate agents. When you work with an investor, you get to keep all of the sales proceeds! 

You won’t have to pay any closing costs 
With a realtor, the seller is commonly requested to pay for many of the closing costs. These can include fees related to escrow, recording and transfer of title, title abstract, title insurance and more! You can typically expect to give up 2% - 4% of the selling price in standard closing costs. After the realtor commissions, closing costs, time spent keeping up your house, making costly repairs and/or updates in order to sell, a healthy chunk of your profits are gone. An investor pays all closing costs; not only saving you money, but also time and hassles.  With an investor, there are absolutely no hidden fees you will have to pay for. 

Please contact us to learn more about selling your house through a real estate investor!  
For Louisiana: www.ibuylouisianahomes.com 225-800-4445 
For Texas: www.yoursouldtexas.com/houston832-956-0444  

Real Estate SOULutions – Where the Soul of Real Estate Meets Integrity & Experience 

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