Cost of Selling Real Estate.

Selling a house is undoubtedly a major life event. But, while the idea of new beginnings should leave sellers excited for their next chapter, moving can sometimes be a challenging and emotional process.

This is, in part, caused by the unavoidable and seemingly hidden costs of selling a property. To make your journey less stressful, understanding these costs beforehand is essential. This way you are not blindsided by any extra or unexpected expenses.

Maintenance costs

Before selling a property, it is very important to make sure that your property is in the best possible condition. This often means performing maintenance tasks around the property, if your property is tenanted your current property manager should have kept you up to date with any maintenance requests and inspection pictures so you should have an idea of what condition your property is in at time of selling. Best to avoid these issues under the seller warranty in the sales contract and also to achieve the optimum sale price.

Legal costs

There are legal costs associated with selling. Namely, engaging a conveyancer or solicitor to legally transfer ownership of the property from the seller to the buyer. The sellers nominated conveyancer or solicitor will manage everything from the conditions in your sales contract, strata and Council searches and mortgage discharge documents. A Licensed Solicitor/Conveyancers will charge for this work. However, if you don't have one, we can recommend a few competant ones you should expect to pay $800.00 approx for selling a unit/apartment in a strata title on the Gold Coast

Agents commission

When it comes to selling a house, the agent's commission makes up a key component of the overall cost of selling. A real estate agent is hired to provide their industry expertise and exclusive contacts to help you sell your property.

If you are dealing with the right negotiator the commission should refelct in the selling price. We may ask for a flat fee or operate off a tiered commission. These methods will be discussed and agreed upon before any contracts are signed.

Marketing costs

While there are always costs for a service there are many marketing techniques, I will not employ every single one. In most cases we can effectively market your property for sale by Private Treaty for less than $1500.00.

Digital marketing can include:

Digital brochures
Real estate portal listings
Social media posts
Professional photography
Drone footage

Print marketing can involve:

Signage
Property brochures

Marketing costs are separate from an agent’s commission. With this in mind, in the modern-day, marketing campaigns encompass both digital and print media in order to be successful.

An appropriate marketing campaign will be tailored to your specific property.

However @realty has an advertise now pay later plan that you can use this to make it affordable.

Moving fees

Moving costs can easily be forgotten. However, it is worth mentioning that they will almost always be incurred. This is because sellers will need help moving furniture and boxes from their old p;roperty into their new property. Moving costs can be a fixed or hourly rate. When it comes to booking a moving company please beware under the new clause in the Sales Contract from Real Estate Queensland Institute. The Seller or the Buyer may, at any time up to 4pm on the Settlement Date, extend the Date by giving a notice under this clause nominating a new date for settlement which must be no later than 5 Business Days after the Scheduled Settlement Date.

Miscellaneous expenses

When selling a home, there are many different miscellaneous expenses to consider. While these costs might not apply to everyone who sells their property, they are expenses that are worth mentioning.

Styling your property

Before putting your property on the market, I may recommend property styling. This could be because the property is vacant or tenanted.

Capital gains tax

For those selling a rental property, holiday house or vacant land, Capital Gains Tax is an added expense. In essence, Capital Gains Tax is the tax you pay on the profits garnered from selling assets whether they be property or stock.

Strata and/or council fees

When selling a property, there may be outstanding council rates and strata fees that require payment. These fees are usually paid every quarter or so. Therefore, it could be possible that you have a month or two outstanding by the time the property sells.