Home Selling Costs in Massachusetts

When selling a home there are costs that a home seller will incur.  Following is a quick guideline of what the home sellers costs will be.  The mandatory costs and costs estimates are specific to Massachusetts home sellers.  If you are selling in another state consult a local real estate agent.

Mandatory Costs

• Title V Cetificate- If your home is on a septic system it will be expected that you have a Title V Certificate verifying your septic system is in proper working order. The cost of a Title V certificate will be approx. $400-$800.
• Tax Stamps or Transfer Tax- The transfer tax in Massachusetts is $4.56 for every $1000 in Massachusetts.  This is typically expected to be paind by the seller.  So if your house is sold for $300,000 your tax stamp liability would be 300x 4.56 which would = $1,358.
• Deed Preparation- It is the sellers responsibility to prepare the new deed to transfer the property. The cost to have a deed prepared by most attorneys is between $125 to $200.
• Smoke Certification- A smoke certificate is required on the transfer of property.  Most towns charge $25 to $100 to have the fire department come and check your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
• Misc. Fees- will include any discharge fees and over-nighting a bank payoff. figure up to $200 in miscellaneous fee.

Optional fees

• Real Estate Commission- If you are using a real estate agent of some sorts fees can run between 2-6% of the purchase price.  2-4% would be for limited service listings and 4-6% would be for a full service real estate commission. 
• Real Estate Attorney-  It is highly advised that home sellers hire a real estate attorney to represent their interest in a real estate transaction. the cost of a real estate attorney will run any where from $400 to $1200 depending on what you require them to do for you during the home selling process.
• Moving Costs- Don't forget the cost of moving when you sell your home.  Even if you are doing the move yourself you have moving supplies that can cost a minimum of a couple hundred dollars to several thousand dollars for movers to handle the move.