Closing Costs When You Sell to a Cash Buyer

The seller's cost list in a traditional New York sale

In a typical listed sale in Monroe County, the seller's side includes:

• Agent commission — customarily 5–6% of the price, split between the agents. On a $200,000 house that is $10,000–$12,000, and it is almost always the largest single line.
• New York State transfer tax — $2 per $500 of price, or 0.4%. On the same house, $800.
• Attorney fees — New York closings customarily involve attorneys, and seller-side fees commonly run from several hundred dollars to around a thousand.
• Recording and payoff processing fees — small individually, and there are several.
• Repair credits — whatever you agree to after the buyer's inspection, which is a negotiation you thought you had finished.
• Carrying costs — mortgage interest, taxes, insurance and utilities for every month the house is on the market and under contract.

None of these is hidden. They are just rarely added up in one place before a seller commits.

What changes with a direct cash buyer

Commission: eliminated. No agents, no 5–6%. On mid-priced Rochester houses this is usually a five-figure saving.

Customary closing costs: covered by the buyer. A standard term in direct purchases, including ours, is that customary seller closing costs are paid by the buyer — so the contract price is what you receive, minus only your own payoffs.

Repair credits: gone by construction. The as-is price already reflects condition, so there is no post-inspection renegotiation round.

Carrying costs: minimised. Weeks instead of months means fewer mortgage payments and tax escrows before you are out.

The two costs no sale eliminates

First, your own payoffs: the mortgage balance, any home-equity line, tax arrears and any liens. These are yours, settled from the proceeds at closing, regardless of who buys. A buyer who implies otherwise is being cute.

Second, the transfer tax is an obligation on the transaction. In practice who bears it is a contract term — ask, and get the answer in the agreement rather than in conversation.

The settlement statement you review before signing lists every one of these to the dollar. A professional buyer walks you through it line by line, and it should connect directly to how the offer was built in the first place.

The one exercise worth doing

Before comparing any two offers, cash or listed, write three numbers side by side: the expected price, everything subtracted from it, and the number of months until the money actually arrives. That single exercise ends most of the confusion about which deal is better — and it is the only comparison that is not price against price.

Questions