Realtor® Fees

Let’s just start with the elephant in the room: how do agents get paid? It’s pretty simple actually, you and your agent of choice will come to an agreement on exactly how much will be paid. This number can range from a flat fee, to a flat percent based on purchase price or something that is called a “split” where the percent is based on various sale price tiers.

No matter the agreement, you need to know that REALTOR® fees are negotiable, and the buyer’s agent and seller’s agent share the commission we agree on prior to listing your home 50-50.

Potential Mortgage Penalties

Before you consider selling your home, it is important for you to contact your mortgage company. Why? It is important to know if you will be subject to penalties for paying out your mortgage sooner that the term you agreed to in your mortgage contract. If you are planning to port your mortgage to a new home, it’s also important to find out if that is allowed for your specific mortgage, and how much that may cost you.

Home Inspection

As part of our Listing preparation, we recommend that you conduct a home inspection before the buyers start walking through the front door. Why? This can be a good investment as you may discover issues upfront, allowing time to fix them before a buyer and purchase contract come into play. It is possible for a sale fail because of defects found in the home…often over things which could have been addressed upfront. Generally, these cost around $300 for a condo or $525 for an average house.

Legal Fees

Once we have an agreed deal, it’s time for the lawyers to get involved. The review of the contracts, transfer of title, lawyer’s time, adjustments to taxes, disbursements and more is a part of their service. A rough budget for this is in the range of $1,000-$1,500.

Home Appraisal

In some circumstances, you may want to have an appraisal on your home done to verify market value. Depending on the type of property, prices to do this can vary wildly.

Title Insurance

This can be used in conjunction with or in the absence of a Real Property Report, and will occasionally be recommended by your Lawyer. Generally, this costs under $500 and can cover the buyer for their entire length of ownership.

Real Property Report

Best practice is to have your RPR in hand (with compliance) before or at the time of listing your home. This legal document is required by most contracts and can seriously delay closing dates if it is not ordered on time. If you have one that is not up to date, it may be possible for the company who did the original one to simply update it. These can cost in the ball park of $800-$1,000.

Minor Repairs To Your Home

Let’s go through your home together and decide what should be fixed. If your home is generally in good condition, repairs should be minimal.

Condominium Documents (condo only)

Most likely the offer on your condo will be conditional to a condominium document inspection. Standard purchase contracts typically have a list of specific documents for you to request from your management company. We recommend ordering these documents as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the more it will cost you. A full set of documents can cost upwards of $500, even more if you have to rush the order!

Move in Policies (condo only)

Every building is different, but many condo buildings have a move in/move out policy that require people to pay a fee. This can generally cover a variety of items such as potential minor damages caused, elevator booking, security, someone to monitor the move, put up protection pads, etc. This may or may not be refundable depending on the policy and can cost approximately $100-$200. Be sure to book in with your management company to avoid any fines!