Your Current Home: Should You Sell It Before You Buy Another Home

In some cases, it’s possible to have the seller pay all, or part, of the closing costs. Closing costs are the fees charged by the lender, government agency, or company handling the cost of closing the transaction. These fees cover the cost of the appraisal, loan origination fee, credit report, underwriting fee, attorney or title company fee, title search, title insurance, survey, recording fees and other costs.

Closing costs can range from approximately 2 percent of the sales price to 6 percent of the sales price depending on the type of financing, type of property, location of the property and optional or mandatory costs required to purchase the property.

Three Strategies

Chances are, you won’t know the seller’s marketing strategy or motivation to sell. In some cases, sellers won’t take anything less than the asking price and will not pay for closing costs. Other sellers price their property high and are willing to accept a lower offer or pay for all or part of the closing costs. And sometimes well-priced, well-located homes may sell for more than the asking price with no seller concessions.

Consult with your agent to come up with a strategy that best meets the demands of the market. If you believe you may be able to negotiate with the seller to pay closing costs, here are three strategies to consider. Depending on the situation, all or none of them may be effective.
Offer the seller their full asking price and request that the seller pay the closing costs. Include this request as part of the written purchase agreement.
Offer the seller more than their asking price and request, in writing, that they pay all or part of the closing costs. Please note that you can only use this strategy in situations where the financing and appraised value will allow it.
Offer the seller a price less than their asking price and request in writing that the seller pay all or part of the closing costs. With this strategy, you are expecting that the seller will counter offer at a higher price and, hopefully, pay for all or part of your closing costs.

Veterans who qualify for VA loans have another option as well, because VA loans allow the seller to pay 100 percent of closing costs, including prepaid items.

Depending on the situation, it is possible to get the seller to pay for all or part of your closing costs. I am an expert negotiator and I would be happy to help you purchase your next home. Please contact me via email or phone.