If you have ever sold a house before, you were probably disappointed to find out that the sale price of your home wasn’t actually the money you made from the sale. If you are in the process of selling another house, or you are selling your first house, it is important to know what your net proceeds will be for the home.
There are additional costs that come into play when you sell your house. These costs include the real estate agent fees, listing the house on an MLS (Multiple Listing Service) database, and transaction fees. Calculating won’t likely give you an exact number, but it will help you determine what costs you will be paying.
To determine your net proceeds for your home, you can use a Home Sale Proceeds Calculator to do the math for you. There are just a few things you need to be able to use this calculator.
Estimate
When trying to calculate your net proceeds, you will need to have an estimate handy. This estimate should not be a guess or what you hope your home will sell for. You should have an informed estimate based on data of houses in your area that have recently sold.
To come up with an estimate, you need to know the approximate square footage of your home, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms you have, and what year your home was built so you can compare to similar houses in your same neighborhood.
When you find a home that is similar to yours, make sure you check the sales date. The market is constantly changing, so you want to be sure that it was sold within the past 3 months.
Consider Seller Concessions
Once you have determined a reasonable estimate for your house, you will need to consider a potential seller concessions. A seller concession is a possible price reduction and they are most commonly given to cover repairs that are found during an inspection, not any cosmetic upgrades.
Some issues that can require a seller concession are wildlife intrusions, water problems, termites, roof replacement, foundation repair, and electrical defects. A good baseline for a seller concession is 1.5%.
Transaction Costs
Real estate transactions are definitely pricey. It is really difficult to sell your home on the market without the help of a licensed real estate agent, and they are not cheap to work with. Real estate commission is usually between five and six percent of the sale price, but it can vary.
You will also likely be responsible for closing costs and escrow fees. All of the transaction costs together usually add up to somewhere between seven and nine percent of the sale price.
Holding Costs
Even though your house is listed on the market, that doesn’t mean you get to stop paying your mortgage. You will still need to pay this as well as other regular housing costs you normally pay. You will need to estimate how much it will cost you to keep your home running between 65 and 93 days depending on where you live.
Net Proceeds Calculator
Once you have determined all of the above necessary information, you can use a home sale proceeds calculator and input all of the information. You will then be able to determine how much you will actually make from selling your home.
Using this process won’t give you a definite answer of how much you will make from your sale, but it will give you a very close estimate on what you can expect to have left after all the fees have been paid.
