How much money does one lose when selling a house and buying a new one?

I’m thinking of selling my apartment sometime in the future. Say I sell it and buy a house that costs pretty much the same, not more expensive but more or less the same price. I’ve heard there are costs. How much money will I lose?

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Simple, you just lose selling commission (5% if so or whatever you agree ) and buying commission ( whatever seller Agrees )+ expense on refinance, closing cost and any other expenses.

You can expect 10%-12.5% appx

Even though selling commissions of new home given by seller ( not you ), your net worth comes down by 10-12%

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Capital losses can be setoff vs capital gain of your future RE sale or stock gain. What it affects is your cash flow :slight_smile: and loss of gains due to loss of capital that could generate income/ capital gain.

In short, don’t worry too much about it. Just take note of the capital loss and remember to claim them BACK when you have capital gain.

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To be clear, you pay the seller’s agent commission and the seller’s agent pays the buyer’s agent their commission–you’re not on the hook for both. Depending on the area and the price of the property, if you’re in an area with high COL/high RE cost, you might be able to negotiate the commission down a bit. For example, in the Bay Area, if you’re a reasonable seller and not going to drag out for months for an unreasonable price, your agent just has to do some advertising, host some open houses, and they could have $25K for 1-2 months of work–they’re likely to be more willing to go down 1% on the commission for a $1M house to get your business and just take in $15K. Buyer’s agent on the other hand can spend years trying to help you make a purchase.

Regarding what Jil was saying regarding “other expenses” - take into consideration whether you need to paint or repair anything, get an inspection ($1K), replace carpeting, and whether you’ll be paying for staging. Also moving costs.

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Assuming 5% seller+buyer commission, you sell home at 1M, you pay 50k commission. When you buy a house for 950k, you have house worth 905k (not 950k worth house). But, normally people won’t account this second one.

Prop 13! Depending on how long ago you bought the condo, your tax basis could be MUCH lower. You could end up paying a lot more every year in property taxes.

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On the flip side if you have decent appreciation in the condo, by selling it you get to enjoy the gain tax free and the current purchase price becomes the new base for future appreciation for tax purpose. The step-up in basis is not money you can put in your pocket right now but in the long run it can be of significant value.

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I feel like you’re double counting here…

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Definitely, yes !

I found this blog on the web. Maybe it’ll help you

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Here are the selling fees and costs for 2024.

If you have properties to sell within Illinois, you can visit Heartland Funding Inc. for a hassle-free sale.