If you have purchased or refinanced your home in the last three years, you are eligible for a significant discount on title insurance saving anywhere from $300 to thousands depending on the price of the home. The title insurance is usually always paid for by the seller and guarantees the buyers a clear title to your property. Most title companies will automatically give this discount but it is a good idea to check into this to make sure you are receiving the discount.
Homeowners who have lived in their primary residence for two of the past five years are entitled to $250,000 of a tax-free gain or $500,000 for married couples when selling the home.
Homeowners who have lived in their primary residence for two of the past five years are entitled to $250,000 of a tax-free gain or $500,000 for married couples when selling the home.
Keep track of your moving expenses and hang on to your HUD Settlement Statement for tax time.
If you are selling an investment property, you may want to consider a 1031 tax deferred exchange. Sandy can give you more information on how this works, but basically if you exchange it for another investment property, your taxes from the sale of the first property will be deferred. Subsequently, each time you sell a property in exchange for another by using a 1031 exchange, your taxes will be deferred.
Remove valuables such as jewelry, smaller fine art pieces, valuable collectibles from your home before you begin having showings and open houses. We have never had problems or heard of any in this area, but we believe this to be a good precautionary measure.
You might want to consider purchasing a Home Warranty Protection Plan when placing your home on the market. Ranging from $200 to $300, most warranties begin when the home is placed on the market for the sellers, and passed along to buyers at closing. It covers many things that can go wrong in a home up to a maximum dollar amount (plus a service call is charged.) This accomplishes three things: it gives you protection during your listing period in case of a breakdown, gives the buyers protection for one year or more, and can make your home more saleable.
In most cases, it is usually not necessary to make any expensive changes in your home at the time you are selling, such as finishing the basement, getting new windows, or adding a bathroom. The amount of money you will be able to sell your home for will not cover major renovations such as these. The changes that usually do pay for themselves in more ways than one, are replacing old or outdated carpeting and flooring, fresh paint and landscape improvements such as flowers or nice shrubbery to give more curb appeal. Updating an outdated kitchen with modest, inexpensive cosmetic changes can be very beneficial. If you can afford to add granite countertops, stainless steel appliances or hardwood floors, these are updates that usually pay for themselves. If something in your home is broken or in need of repair, this repair will probably be required after an inspection anyway, therefore, it pays to have this done before placing it on the market. Cosmetic improvements usually do not cost a great deal, but can help you sell your home faster and for more money. In order to get the most out of your home, make sure it is extremely neat and clean when having showings with a minimum of clutter. A rule of thumb is to not have functional things such as dish soap, dishcloths, scrubbers, brooms, etc. out. A lot of knick knacks in a home make it feel cluttered and smaller, it is best to have larger decorator items out instead. When moving, you will need to pack up many things, so when you put your home on the market, pack away many things to make your home appear larger. Make the home cool and inviting in the summer, warm and cozy in the winter. Open the blinds and draperies, and let the sun shine in. This is extremely important. This also makes the home appear larger and more appealing.
When selling a a condo or townhome which is part of a homeowners association, there are various fees that were charged to you when you closed on the home. One of them is working capital, and can be the equivalent of two or three months HOA dues. In most cases, this fee should be credited to the seller and debited to the buyer at closing.
If you have Sandbird Real Estate help you sell your home, they will make sure these things are taken care of, and you won’t have to remember any of this. ;-)
MONEY SAVING IDEAS WHEN SELLING A HOME
