Your home equity in a sale

Some home sellers think that the thing that matters most is the sale price. Nope!

What matters most to a seller

What matters most to a seller is how big a check they get at the end of it all, which is related to your home equity.

How we calculate how much you will get back in a sale

The formula for knowing how much you get back in a sale is simple – it’s the price the home sells for, minus what you owe on it, minus all the costs of selling your home. Because we create a map of your mortgage, we can figure out how much you owe on your home and subtract that from the current value of your home.

Selling your home with a real estate agent

Real estate agents generally charge on average a 5% commission fee. On a home that sells for $1,000,000, that would be $50,000.

The most common real estate fees are 6% for a single agent, or 3% for seller’s agent and 3% for a buyer’s agent where they split the 6% commission. However, there are many new models that charge 1%, 2%, 3% and so we’re using an average of 5% for our report.

Whatever the fee, it comes out of your profit.

So, is it bad to have a real estate agent? No, not necessarily. Good real estate agents know your particular market, can attract a large pool of potential buyers, price the home right so that it can sell quickly and at a high price, manage a potential bidding war and extract a good offer. They can help stage a home to appeal to more buyers and provide expertise to potential buyers that results in more overall offers.

A good real estate agent can help your home sell for a higher price than it would otherwise, making their fee completely worth paying.

A bad real estate agent who does not help you get more for your home than you would without them might not be worth the commission. Pick wisely!

What other costs should you consider when selling a home?

The costs of selling your home include things like real estate agent fees, lawyer fees, title insurance, government transfer tax, and any property-specific fees, such as a “flip tax”. Also, if your home sells for over a certain amount, you may have to pay what is called a “mansion tax” which can be as high as 1% of the sale price. Mansion taxes are determined by state laws and vary.