How much does it cost to list a house?

LittleD8081

I know you have to pay the realtor commission...but, how much does it actually cost to have a contract with an agency for say 3 months or 6 months or whatever?  Ballpark...  do they do it by a set rate, or is it based on the list price of the home, etc.? 

Jcubed2003

It is a percentage of the sale price. 6 or 7 percent usually. And that isn't paid until closing. No upfront costs involved with our sale that I remember.

AmandaJLewis

We didn't pay anything to list, but the agent got a % of the sale price which was a pretty standard percentage across the industry. I want to say it was 3%, but I could be remembering wrong.

Jcubed2003

The amount that I mentioned was split between the seller and buyer agents.

LittleD8081

So, if you list it and it doesn't sell, then you don't pay anything?

AmandaJLewis

LittleD8081 said:

So, if you list it and it doesn't sell, then you don't pay anything?

Right, though there may be some clause that if you had a buyer but you backed out you still owe the agent something.  But I don't remember, your agent would go over all of that when you sign an agreement.

WhitneyAnne

We sold our house last Spring.  Our agent's commission (Howard Hanna) was 6% (which was a %age of the final sales price), and then she split that with the buyer's agent.

northhillsbride

WhitneyAnne said:

We sold our house last Spring.  Our agent's commission (Howard Hanna) was 6% (which was a %age of the final sales price), and then she split that with the buyer's agent.

We sold last Spring as well. We went with a close family friend with Northwood. Normally it's 7% - she charged us for 6%, which she split with the other agent.

The two agents really wanted the sale to go through and they ended up splitting a $1K difference of the negotiation and I am pretty sure our agent paid for a new door (failed in inspection) out of her own pocket. (She swore that she was getting paid for it by the seller, but she gave us a personal check.)