What is included in closing costs for Atlanta home sellers?
What are closing costs?
So, you’ve gotten pretty far in the process of selling your house, and now it’s time for the good part—the closing. Soon enough, you’ll have your home sale behind you and your whole life in front of you. But first, who pays closing costs on a house? When you sell a house, both the buyer and the seller are responsible for closing costs, which can include taxes, fees, lender charges and insurance, among other things. Sellers in Atlanta pay around 5% to 9% of the total sales price of the house in total closing fees. That can really put a dent in what you expect to get for your house.
How much are closing costs for a seller?
According to ClosingCorp, average closing costs in Georgia, without including agent commission fees, cost home sellers around $2,700 in 2021. But real estate values have risen dramatically, and now these costs can easily be anywhere from $7,000–$10,000. Closing costs for sellers can vary based on the type of loan you’re getting and the lender. Without including agent commissions, you can expect to pay around 3.13% of your house's final sale price. For instance, if you have a house valued at the median price of $323,026, you can anticipate closing costs of around $10,111. And that’s not including agent commissions. That’s why it’s important to get a breakdown of what goes into the closing costs you pay when you sell your house.
What is included in closing costs?
When you’re selling a house in Atlanta, Georgia, typical seller closing costs include:
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Real estate agent commission fees. These are one of the largest expenses for sellers. Commission fees generally amount to around 5.76% of the final sale price, although the specific percentage can vary depending on your agent and your sale. The cost of your commission fees will also depend on the value of your house.
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Title service fees. Title service fees cover the costs of conducting a title search and transferring the title to the buyer. These fees ensure that there are no outstanding claims or liens on the property.
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Owner's title insurance. This is insurance that protects the buyer in case any issues with the property title arise. In Georgia, it is common for the seller to pay for this insurance, which usually amounts to around 0.28% of the home's final sale price.
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Transfer tax. Georgia imposes a transfer tax, equivalent to approximately 0.1% of the home's sale price, to facilitate the transfer of the title to the new owner.
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Georgia recording fees. Recording fees are charged by the city or county to legally record the property's deed and mortgage information. In Georgia, recording fees are around $25.
How to save on seller closing costs
When it comes time to pay your closing costs, you’ll probably want to reduce costs as much as you possibly can. To do that, you could:
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Avoid concessions. When you sell a house, offering incentives to buyers in the form of seller concessions is a popular way to close the deal faster. Seller credit, or the seller offering money to the buyer upon closing, is one method. Unfortunately, an equivalent “buyer credit” doesn’t exist, and since concessions tend to favor the buyer anyway, you should try to avoid them if you can. Offering concessions can add as much as 2% of your total home value to your final closing costs.
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Sell to We Buy Ugly Houses®. Another option is to sell your home to a cash home buyer like We Buy Ugly Houses. We specialize in simplifying home sale transactions and minimizing seller costs. When you sell a house to us, you don’t need an agent, which saves you about 5%. On top of that, we pay all typical closing costs—which saves you from paying anything.
Skip seller closing costs!
Why should you pay for your house when you’re selling it? Isn’t that the buyer’s job? When you want to save on seller closing costs without crunching numbers into a closing costs calculator, you can sell your house to We Buy Ugly Houses. It works like this:
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You get a free consultation so we can assess your house.
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We can provide an all-cash, no-obligation offer.
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If you accept our offer, we can move straight on to the closing process.
That’s it! Our simple 3-step process puts you, the seller, first. All you need to do is give us a call.
Contact us at 866-200-6475 to learn more about how we can help you save on closing costs.
