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.
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. So read on as we explore how much your empty house in Fort Myers is really costing you.
Monthly Expenses
On top of your monthly mortgage payments, your vacant house in Fort Myers is also draining your wallet with utility bills. Even if you cut back by shutting off major appliances, there are still base costs associated with keeping a house minimally operational. And that’s not all – if you choose to list with a real estate agent, keeping the property show-ready adds another expense. Imagine potential buyers running through the house in the dark!
This waiting game can be particularly frustrating because a traditional agent can’t guarantee a closing date. This means you could be on the hook for utilities and other holding costs for months, significantly reducing your profits. By selling directly to Core Real Estate Properties, you can avoid these ongoing expenses. We streamline the selling process and offer guaranteed closing dates, often within weeks of accepting your offer. This allows you to stop the financial drain much faster and move on to your next chapter.
Insurance and Taxes
On top of ongoing taxes and insurance, your empty house in Fort Myers incurs additional costs that can drain your wallet. At closing, you’ll be responsible for prorated property taxes, which is a portion of the year’s taxes owed based on the time you owned the house that year. To estimate this amount, simply divide your total annual property tax bill by twelve and multiply by the number of months you’ve owned the house in the current year.
Another ongoing expense is homeowner’s insurance. Most standard policies require the house to be occupied, but there are vacant or unoccupied dwelling policies available that provide coverage for empty houses. However, these policies typically come with limitations and may have higher premiums than a standard homeowner’s policy. Additionally, if you have a mortgage with a loan-to-value ratio of more than 80%, you might be required to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) while your house sits empty. PMI protects the lender in case of foreclosure, but it’s an extra cost you’ll shoulder while the house remains vacant.
Repairs
If there are obvious signs of disrepair, your empty house in Fort Myers 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 Core Real Estate Properties, we’re ready to buy your home for cash in as-is condition. Let the direct buyers from Core Real Estate Properties 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 an empty house in Fort Myers can become a hidden cost that adds up quickly. Beyond the mortgage or property taxes, there’s the ongoing expense of keeping the house in good shape. This can include regular lawn maintenance to avoid an overgrown, neglected appearance that might attract unwanted attention. You might also need to have someone check on the property internally to ensure there are no leaks, plumbing issues, or signs of potential break-ins. If the house sits vacant for an extended period, some utility companies may require minimal service levels to maintain functioning systems and prevent frozen pipes in colder climates. All these costs add up, and depending on the distance to your current location, they might be compounded by the travel expenses or fees associated with hiring a house sitter or property management company.
When you add up the holding costs, it makes sense to sell your empty house in Fort Myers directly to Core Real Estate Properties and keep more of your profits. You’ll save even more by working with the direct buyers at Core Real Estate Properties, we never charge commissions, and you won’t pay any closing costs. In addition, our transactions at Core Real Estate Properties 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 Core Real Estate Properties won’t pressure you, we are proud of our work helping our community and neighbors here in Fort Myers, and we want you to feel good about the deal long after closing. Call Core Real Estate Properties at 239-360-3176.