Calculate net proceeds are the total amount a you make from selling your house after paying all expenses, holding costs, commissions, and fees incurred during the sales process.
Unfortunately, the sale price of your property is not the amount you actually make when selling a house. That final number is called your net proceeds. Or the amount that ends up in your bank account after you sell your house. This means you need understand the costs of selling your house. Some of these costs include hiring a real estate agent, listing the house, and paying transaction fees.
You need to calculate net proceeds on a home sale. Doing so will help you determine whether or not you should list your house with an agent selling your house to a cash buyer. If you’re thinking about selling your home, these steps will help you estimate how much money you’ll actually make from the home sale.
Make a Home Price Estimate
Start by putting together an estimate of how much you think your property will sell for. To do this you’ll need to really think about and analyze the factors that go into determining your home’s value. Luckily it’s easier than ever to determine the value of your house without the help of an agent! check sites like Zillow and Redfin for similar homes that have sold recently in your area.
These homes should be similar to your house in the following ways.
- Similar square footage
- The same number of beds/baths
- Built around the same time
- In the same neighborhood
- Similar condition
If a home in your area has sold recently and is in similar condition, and size the sale price of that home is a great place to start your estimate for your home. The more homes you find with these criteria, the easier it is to value the sale price of your house.
Understand What Are Seller Concessions
Once you have a number in mind, start jotting down expenses that could subtract from the sale price. Many of these deductions fall under a category known as “seller concessions”. A seller concession is essentially a price reduction. Seller concessions are most often given for repairs found during an inspection, not cosmetic upgrades.
These repairs often include water problems, wildlife intrusions, termites, roofing replacement, electrical risks, or foundation problems.
For construction issues, a good baseline seller concession is 1.5%.
Calculate Transaction Costs
Unfortunately, nothing is free in real estate transactions. It’s hard to sell property on the real estate market without a licensed real estate agent. The typical real estate commission fee is typically between 5-6% of the final sale price.
Beyond agent commissions, you’ll likely have to pay closing costs to title and escrow companies. Closing costs are all the administrative costs in a home sale like attorneys fees, a title search, title insurance, taxes, and lender fees. As you can imagine, these costs can add up quick and will suck up another 2-3% of your sale price. When its all said and done, you can expect these transaction costs to make up between 7-9% of your final home sale price.
Holding Costs During a Home Sale
Just because you put your home on the market doesn’t mean suddenly can stop paying your mortgage. You’ll continue making mortgage payments and other housing costs while your house listed for sale. Realistically, your home will take some time to sell. Don’t underestimate these costs when you are selling your house. Where your home is located will be a major factor on what you wind up having to pay.
In most of the country, homes take more than one month to sell. The average home spends between 65 and 93 days on the market, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
On top of your mortgage, you’ll also pay monthly utilities and HOA fees during the whole time. All of these costs you incur while the home is on the market are known as “holding costs.”
Typically, holding costs can account for 0.7% of the total home value per month.
The average house in San Diego California spends 31 days on market as of October 2021
Determining your total proceeds
With the information highlighted in this article, you will be able to calculate net proceeds from your home sale, or at least the vast majority of them. All of these factors depend on your state and city as well as the general housing market conditions in your area. Say interest rates go up, property taxes increase, or collectively, San Diego real estate agents decided to charge more. These would all affect your net proceeds.
The cost of repairs is another thing to consider. These costs are also far less easy to calculate since they can come down to the cost of supplies, and labor. This is before even diving into the difficulties behind finding a reputable contractor.
Example of Net Proceeds Calculation
Lets Say you are selling a house in the heart of San Diego. Your house is listed competitively to drive more interest and get your house sold faster. Let’s see below for your net proceeds before taxes.
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Your Asking Price $657,500.00
the median list price in San Diego (as of October 2021)
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Seller Concessions $9,862.50
Realistically ~1.5%
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Transaction Costs $52,600.00
Around 8%
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Holding Costs $3972.50
each month not sold
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Agent Commission $39,450.00
5-6%
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Net proceeds (pre tax) $551,615.00
$657,500-$105,885
Other Things That Cost You During A Home Sale
Consider other hidden factors that can drive up costs during your home sale. Be more proactive and strategic by considering various debts you owe and the implications of these debts. Understanding these forces will factor into your pricing strategy and negotiation strategy for your home sale.
You also need to consider the cost of time and stress. These are hard to truly quantify but they should also be considered as you begin your home sale process. Any added time, labor, and stress you put into selling your house is money out of your pocket. Some to keep in mind are.
- Repairs
- Staging
- Vacating the house during showings
- Negotiations
- Falling out of escrow
While you can’t plug these into a simple calculator, they can really add up all the same. Understanding these factors can also ultimately help you decide if you should partner with a real estate agent or just sell your house to a cash buyer.
Selling Your San Diego House for Cash
Selling your house for cash saves many homeowners time and money. Skip the repairs, never fall out of escrow, and close fast. While these aren’t benefits to all homeowners there are many circumstances where the process is much better and stress free to homeowners compared to selling with a real estate agent.
Acropolis Developments has been helping San Diego homeowners get great value for their property without paying commissions, holding costs, closing fees, or repairs. Selling for cash is simply more stress free. Get your offer, accept or decline, and get paid. All within as little as two weeks.
If you’re interested in learning more, get in touch with a team member today!
