Have you ever given thought to the costs that are a part of selling a house? It’s easy to get so wrapped up in how much you can get for your house that you might forget about them periodically. One of the costs that often goes hand in hand with selling a house is the commission that is paid to a real estate agent who helps with the buying or selling process. Paying a commission isn’t always necessary though, so when do you have to pay it?
Buyers with a Mortgage: Probably
If you’re selling your home to a buyer who is paying with borrowed money, there’s a good chance that you’ll be paying a commission before all is said and done. Selling a home to these buyers almost always involves at least one real estate agent, though more often both the seller and the buyer will have one. If you both have a real estate agent, you’ll be paying two commissions, one for each agent. You can expect to pay between 3-6% of the sale price of your home in commissions.
Cash Buyers: Sometimes
Not every home buyer pays with a mortgage. Some buyers already have the funds to pay for a house. These buyers are called cash buyers. If you’re selling to a cash buyer, the need to pay commissions could go either way. If you’ve chosen to hire an agent to list your home and help you sell it, you’ll need to pay their commission. That’s entirely within your control. Some cash buyers will use real estate agents, while others won’t. If they don’t have one, you won’t have to pay a commission to the buyer’s agent.
Fast Home Buying Company: Never
What if you want to avoid having to pay commissions altogether? After all, that’s a few thousand dollars you could be keeping for yourself. If that’s the case, consider selling your home to a fast home buying company like Hapa Homebuyers. We never use agents, and you don’t have to either when you sell your house to us. We are real estate experts, and we’ve made it a point to make selling your home so simple and easy that there are no agents needed.
In short, the rule is that if there is a real estate agent involved in the sale, the seller will need to pay them a commission to compensate them for the work they’ve done. Not every home sale involves a real estate agent though, so there is the possibility of not having to pay one. If you absolutely want to be sure to avoid it, sell your home to a fast home buying company like Hapa Homebuyers.
Not having to pay a commission isn’t the only way Hapa Homebuyers stands out. Click here to see how selling to us compares with selling your house with a local real estate agent today.