Transaction Costs to sell Real Estate (in Chicago)

[rantk81]

When I pull the rip-cord on "FIRE", I will surely be relocating out of the HCOL area in Chicago and moving to a much lower cost of living area.

One of the unanswered questions in my mind is, how much I will net after the sale of my condos in Chicago. Although I've bought three condos in Chicago, I've never sold real estate in my life, ever.

Based on my research, below is the sample calculation I am using.  I'm just picking my primary residence condo as an example...

Please let me know if I am missing anything (or if any of my estimates seem way off the mark!



 325,000      (Estimated Sales Price)
 -16,250      (5% Real Estate Agent Commissions on full sale price)
  -4,000      (Approx one full year of property taxes, because taxes paid in "arrears")
    -800      (Lawyer fee)
  -2,000      (Title insurance/company fee)
    -975      (City of Chicago transfer tax 0.30%)
    -163      (Cook county transfer tax 0.05%)
    -325      (IL State transfer tax 0.10%)
-213,000      (Remaining mortgage principal balance)
-----------------------------------------------------------
  87,487      (Estimated Net proceeds from sale)

[nippycrisp]

I recently sold a piece of property in Chicago (East Lincoln Park) and posted about it here (https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/real-estate-and-landlording/seven-years-in-a-chicago-condo-my-experience-(with-numbers). Our sales/mortgage info was actually really similar to yours, although we didn't use a realtor due to the first item on your expense list. Excluding that, we paid about $9,000 in transactional costs, roughly comparable what you're listing. Based on recollection, your title insurance fee looks a little low, as does the RE lawyer cost. Title insurance can be ballparked through a search, as it's usually set by the selling price. Lawyers are gonna be whatever you can negotiate.

Ah, yes, a few other costs: Your condo association will probably charge you for the sales docs, whether you pull them or your lawyer does it for you (they'll pass on the cost). I think we spent about 400 for those - many associations use Homewise, so you may be able to check in advance. And there's also often an association-imposed transfer tax (often one month's association fee) and/or a fee for a paid-assessment letter. I guess there's also the inspection beat-down that'll affect sales price, but that's not exactly a predictable cost.

Good luck! For what it's worth, sales seemed really sluggish this year in the Chicago condo market. Don't be afraid to drop your asking if you can't move it in the first few weeks, and don't be afraid to forgo the realtor either.   

[JessicaCoaches]

Found this for you, most title companies do cost sheets, which company you use will have a slight difference, but as the seller you can choose which you use so do some research.

Here is just one I found:
https://www.stewarttitle.com/en/stc/chicago/tools-and-resources/calculators/sellers-net-sheet.html