Does the seller of a home pay for closing cost?

Question

I know the buyer has to pay for closing on a home, but does the seller?

Can an owner of a home just sell their property with no extra fees, besides hiring someone to sell?

Thanks.

Answer 1

If you can talk the seller into paying the closing that would be great. Back in 1982 when I bought my home, it had been on the market for a while and they were glad to finally have someone interested. I offered them $5000 less than their asking price as well as asking them to pay the closing. They accepted.

Answer 2

It just depends, anything is negotiable.

Answer 3

Depends - on certain loan types such as VA or FHA, the seller is obligated to pay certain closing costs.

Otherwise all costs can be negotiated when signing the contract.

Answer 4

Title insurance is a *buyer’s* expense. It’s become pretty common for a buyer to ask for at least some closing costs, but you’re not usually required to pay them. Talk to your listing agent if VA loans, for example, sometimes do require some payment from you, you can list your home as only accepting traditional financing. Your agent can explain this in detail.

It’s never a good idea to walk into a home sale with a hard & fast concept of “this is what I NEED to have happen” because every deal is different, and both sides need to be a bit flexible to reach an agreement. Your paying $2-3K could be the difference between getting a sale and not. Deals can fall apart over a few hundred dollars (i.e. I won’t pay more than $91,000 and you will not accept less than $91,750), and in a market where many sellers are willing to help with closing costs, buyers may walk away from your sale if you won’t.

Answer 5

Usually the seller has to pay for Title Insurance, revenue stamps, tax proration...  You can state in the contract that you want x*x amount of money from the sale and will not pay any fees, but it may keep you from selling.