So you have listed your home for sale on the market and already spending the profits in your imagination. But have you taken an accounting of all of the possible funds you’ll need on hand before the house ever sells? Or the potential amount the time on the market could cost? It can be expensive to hold your property during the listing process. If you’re in a hurry to sell for personal or financial reasons, the wait can be excruciating. If you’re already struggling with your bills, spending money to prepare for showings by touching up the paint and updating your decor, staging the home, and marketing expenses may be out of reach. Today’s standards for online listings include hiring professionals for drone footage and high-quality digital photography. This is not the marketing of yesterday, listing a home requires money, and the time to spend that money.
There are many reasons homes may spend an extremely long time on the market. Perhaps the buyer’s financing fell through, the house is in a distressed condition, the price is too high, or the property is out of step with the type of property buyers are searching for, or it doesn’t conform with the surrounding properties and stands out like a sore thumb. However, no matter why your home is empty and lingering on the market, the longer it is listed, the less the final sales price is likely to be. Have you ever combed through Zillow and noticed the ones listed for more than 30 days? What about the homes that have been listed for months? Don’t let that be you. Read on as we explore how much your empty house in Norfolk is really costing you.
Monthly Expenses
In addition to your mortgage payments, your empty house in Norfolk is also costing you in utilities each month, and your agent wouldn’t appreciate it if they couldn’t turn on the lights during a showing. Not to mention, Hampton Roads has the unique pleasure of havin multiple water bills! The city will charge you for the sewer access and trash collection in your seperate HRSD/HRUBS bills – whether the house is vacant or not. Unfortunately, when you list with a real estate agent, the one thing they can’t provide is a closing date, so these charges could continue for several months, putting a big dent in your profits. By selling directly to Uhlman Buys Homes instead of listing, you can stop the slow leak of funds for continual monthly utilities; we offer guaranteed closing dates, usually within weeks.
Insurance and Taxes
Ongoing taxes and insurance are another way your empty house in Norfolk is really costing you. The taxes owed will be prorated and taken out at closing; you can calculate this amount by dividing the total annual bill. Naturally, you will need to keep your homeowner’s insurance in place during the listing duration. This may come as a surprise, but insurance for a vacant property is substantially more expensive, usually around 3x the amount for the same coverage! Depending on the amount still owed on an existing mortgage, 80 percent or more, you will need to add PIP private mortgage insurance to your tally of holding costs. Working with a direct buyer from Uhlman Buys Homes is another option that will allow you to pay your taxes off and end the ceaseless insurance payments is working with a direct buyer from Uhlman Buys Homes.
Repairs
If there are obvious signs of disrepair, your empty house in Norfolk is really costing you more than you could imagine. Buyers are scrolling by listings at lightning speed, and you need to catch their attention with your marketing. If you can’t afford to make necessary repairs and the home’s condition is evident in your listing photos, you aren’t likely to get many offers. In this case, any offers you receive are very likely to be far below your home’s actual market value. When it comes to starting repairs on the house, especially if it is an older home, it can be highly stressful and become very costly because you never know just what you may discover as you dig deeper into the project. At Uhlman Buys Homes, we’re ready to buy your home for cash in as-is condition. Let the direct buyers from Uhlman Buys Homes relieve you of the risks of making repairs on your property and allow you to keep more of your money in your wallet.
Maintain
Maintaining your empty house in Norfolk is another often overlooked expense. If you made a long-distance move for work or personal reasons, you might be paying to travel between residences, which is costly and stressful. Alternatively, you may be paying to have your property watched over, with regular checks for signs of trouble and care for your landscaping.
When you add up the holding costs, it makes sense to sell your empty house in Norfolk directly to Uhlman Buys Homes and keep more of your profits. You’ll save even more by working with the direct buyers at Uhlman Buys Homes, we never charge commissions, and you won’t pay any closing costs. In addition, our transactions at Uhlman Buys Homes are straightforward and fully transparent; there are never any hidden fees; we show every figure used in our offer, which you’ll agree is a fair market value. The direct buyers at Uhlman Buys Homes won’t pressure you, we are proud of our work helping our community and neighbors here in Norfolk, and we want you to feel good about the deal long after closing. Call Uhlman Buys Homes at (757) 918-9189.