Are you tired of owning a property that you don’t want or can’t afford? Putting it on the MLS can be expensive and take up more time than you care to spend. In our latest post, we can help you learn how to sell a house in Kansas City without sinking any money into it in less time than you may think!
When most people go to sell a house, the first thing they do is search the internet or ask a friend to recommend a good agent. While some agents are great and worth their weight in gold, this isn’t always the best way for a homeowner to sell. For some homeowners who need to sell a house in Kansas City, selling as-is or a direct sale to a local home buyer can be the best way to go.
Before you decide how to sell, get the facts, and determine the selling method that will make the most sense for you. After factoring in time, money, and energy, your ideal selling method may be different than you had thought. First, let’s take a look at what listing your house in Kansas City could cost you…
What Will Listing My Kansas City House Cost?
Listing a house in Kansas City can come with a lot of costs that people aren’t always aware of. A few of these costs include…
- Costs to make repairs both before and after the inspection process, sure you can list it “as-is” with the seller making no repairs, but it will lower your price and depending on the needed repair, slow down the sales process.
- Expenses to clean and stage the home for property showings and open houses, again you can market it as dirty and as cluttered as you want, but keep in mind that will reduce your the amount you are able to ask for the house.
- Marketing expenses not included with your listing (virtual tours, professional photography, etc.), any more all of these great technical tools make it easier to get the house marketed to the masses, but a lot of times the agent will ask the seller to help pay for them.
- Holding while the house is on the market and through the escrow process. So this is going to include any mortgage payments plus taxes, insurance, utilities and basic upkeep during the time it takes to get the home ready to be marketed, the time it is being marketed and then the 45 to 60 days it may take for your buyer to get their loan. This could be at least 2 months if not longer.
- Agent commissions which are typically around 6% of your final sale price
According to NerdWallet, you should plan on spending at least 10% of the final sale price on the costs of listing your home. So if your house ends up selling for $250,000, that is $25,000 out the door. That said, your costs can be higher or lower depending on the property and situation. It is essential for home sellers to understand these costs, so they know exactly what to expect when selling a house in Kansas City.
How To Sell Your House Without Spending Money
There are a couple of ways to sell your house in Kansas City without spending any money. You can go the For Sale By Owner Route, List it As is on the MLS or or work with a direct buyer to purchase your property outright without the help of an agent. For some homeowners in Kansas City, one of these alternative options can prove to be a better way to sell your house.
For Sale By Owner Route
We see many sellers who do this successfully. The do the work to get their home ready to sell, the do some of their own online researched as to the value of their home, they take out their trusty cell phone and take a bunch of photos and then then list it for sale by owner on sites like Zillow.
But you really do need to make sure you know what you are doing here. Just yesterday we got a call from a buyer who saw a house listed for sale by owner on zillow, it was a house we had marketed for sale several years ago. And when the current owner listed it for sale by owner, they didn’t change any of the information in the text and the house is still showing our contact info from a long time ago. So not sure they are going to get a lot of calls on their house.
Listing Your Kansas City House As-Is
Some owners choose to list their houses as-is, which will make things less expensive for the sellers. While listing your house as-is in Kansas City will save you money on cleaning, repairs, and upgrades, you will still have to factor in commissions, holding expenses, and closing costs. All of these bills can add up to thousands of dollars, and that is without any promise of a return. Also, your house won’t get the same level of attention and appeal to as many buyers when listing your house as-is in Kansas City.
We quite often will list a house for sale ” as-is”, we will typically make any expensive repairs like replacing the roof or the furnace. We will also make sure the house is as clean as we can get it. And then we market it out to DIYers who want a great deal and are wiling to paint and make all the updates the house needs themselves over time. But they do want a great deal, that’s the whole point of seeking out a “fixer-upper.”
A Direct Sale To kcmoHomeBuyer
Selling your house directly to kcmoHomeBuyer will help you to avoid all of the listing costs, including repairs, marketing, holding costs, commissions, and more. You will not have to worry about spending any money at any time during the sale. You will be able to get an offer without having to worry about any deductions or hidden fees. While our price isn’t full retail, the amount you can save may more than make up the difference, and that’s not to mention all of the time you will save.
One of the main reasons sellers choose to work with us here at kcmoHomeBuyer is that they don’t want to spend the personal effort, the personal time and sometimes the money needed to go the traditional sales route or even the for sale by owner route. They want an offer today that they know will be closing in a week to 10 days or possibly a bit longer. It takes the effort and worry out of the equation.
Why Sell As-Is?
So why would somebody want to sell as-is in the first place? Wouldn’t fixing up the property add value, thus creating higher returns? In a perfect world, yes. However, when listing your house in Kansas City, you won’t have any guarantee that your repair costs will translate to a higher sales price. Fixing up your home can be a gamble. While it can add value in some cases, sinking money into a house you would rather sell can prove to be a poor use of your funds. You might fix the wrong things, get screwed by a contractor, and end up with a bigger repair bill that you really wanted to deal with. By selling as-is, the buyer assumes the risk and you will be able to put your money into your new property, not the one you want to get rid of.
Are you ready to sell your house in Kansas City? Before you hire an agent in Kansas City, find out what we can do for you! You don’t have to list your house in order to sell it!