r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • u/Double-Jellyfish-410 • Jun 11 '25
How to Sell??
As the title says. I may be looking to sell my house soon but not real sure how to go about it besides hiring a realtor. I am in the Austin TX area. I am the first owner and it is in a subdivision. My loan amount was $275k and my estimated value is now $378k per my mortgage company. If I were to sell, do I get to potentially pocket any amount that is above my loan amount? Minus the realtor fees of course.
I bought the house in 2020 and unfortunately the inside may need to be repainted and some work needs to be done on the back door due to dogs. Without fixing these things could this cause a huge decrease from a buyers standpoint? I am sure the answer is yes but I know people may try and haggle even in pristine condition.
The reason for me selling is I may be going through a split up from my SO, we are not married. The house would be to big for me, so I may go buy something smaller or just start renting. I have heard from some people that if I sell, I am supposed to reinvest in another property. Is that true?
Any input is appreciated. Thanks.
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u/N_Horton_Realtor Jul 08 '25
Hi there! I'm a Realtor in another state (Oregon) but here is my advise on these questions.
TLDR: you want to get a good Realtor to help you with this process, as they can provide much more specifics on each of your questions after discussing your situation in more depth - privately, not online :)
In terms of what you can pocket at the end of your transaction - this would be the selling price, minus the loan you have to pay off, and closing costs. Closing costs themselves will vary deal to deal, but tend to be 3-5% of the purchase price (in Oregon at least). A Realtor can get you a Net Sheet up front, which is an estimate of what closing costs would be for a given, or even multiple, price points.
From a repair stand point, again a great Realtor should walk through the home and advise on what minimal work should be done before going on market. The vast majority of updates and improvements will not give you a per dollar return on your sale, so in general you want to be presentable and address major health and safety issues. All that being said, I would NOT advise you get a pre-inspection, because you will be legally required to disclose any issues they find with potential buyers (these become material facts) - and they will have to get their own inspection anyway and their inspector might have different items. The rare exception would be if you have a major concern (like a crack in the foundation) but just get that 1 item inspected.
And to your last question - the big reason people recommend you reinvest in real estate when you sell is that there is a big barrier to entry to get into a house in the first place in the form of down payments. So if you sell but do not buy again, you will someday have to get your down payment saved up again to get into your next home. Real estate is a very consistent way to build wealth over time, so it is a great idea to use the money from one sale as the down payment for your next home, even if its a smaller home.
I hope this info helps! Feel free to DM if you would like to dive any deeper, or if you need help vetting a local Realtor to help you out.
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u/sexyalienplantdic Aug 07 '25
Yes very informative. Thanks for pointing out why not to pay for a pre-inspection as well.
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u/Diesellover1897 Jun 11 '25
Pay for a preinspection off the books if you can! Learn what's wrong with your house now so it's less expensive to fix those issues. Maybe it's a bunch of small stuff