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If you’re thinking about selling your house in Houston, one of the first questions you may have is: How much will I actually pay in closing costs?
The answer depends on how you sell your home and the terms of your contract. Seller closing costs can include title-related fees, escrow fees, property tax adjustments, HOA fees, commissions, buyer concessions, and other expenses connected to the sale.
But if you’re considering a cash offer from Volcan Property Buyers, there’s an important difference:
When you sell your house directly to Volcan, we cover all standard title company-issued closing costs associated with our purchase.
We also buy houses as-is, so there are no repairs or cleaning required, and Volcan does not charge you a real estate commission when we’re buying your property directly.
If you’re selling another way, though, it’s important to understand what closing costs you may run into and how they affect the amount of money you actually walk away with.
What Are Closing Costs When Selling a House?
Closing costs are the expenses involved in completing a real estate transaction and transferring the property from the seller to the buyer.
Some are charged by the title company. Others may come from the terms you negotiated with the buyer.
And then there are expenses such as your mortgage payoff that aren’t technically closing costs but still reduce the amount of money you receive.
That’s why we like to keep the math simple:
Sale Price – What You Owe – Your Selling Expenses = Your Estimated Net Proceeds
Your net proceeds are what you actually walk away with after the sale.
What Closing Costs Does a Seller Pay in Texas?
There isn’t one flat closing-cost percentage that applies to every seller in Texas.
Depending on your transaction, you could see expenses such as:
- Title and escrow fees
- Owner’s title insurance, depending on the contract
- Recording or document-related fees
- Property tax adjustments
- HOA fees or documents, when applicable
- Real estate commissions or brokerage compensation, when applicable
- Seller concessions negotiated with the buyer
- Other transaction-specific expenses
Who pays a particular cost can also depend on what the buyer and seller agree to in the contract.
That’s why it’s a good idea to look at the entire transaction rather than assuming every seller pays the same percentage.
How Much Is Title Insurance in Texas?
Here’s something many Houston homeowners don’t know:
Texas regulates title insurance rates.
Title companies and title insurance agents are regulated by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) and must be properly licensed.
TDI also regulates the premium rates charged for title insurance policies. That means a Texas title company can’t simply make up its own price for the basic owner’s title insurance policy.
The amount of the premium is primarily based on the amount of title insurance being issued, which is generally connected to the sales price of the property.
So if you’re shopping for a title company, don’t assume one company can simply give you a much cheaper basic owner’s title policy than another.
Other title, escrow, delivery, recording, or transaction-related fees can vary, however, so it’s still important to understand your closing statement.
What Does a Title Company Do When You Sell Your House?
The title company handles a lot of work behind the scenes.
They generally help confirm ownership of the property, search for liens or title issues, coordinate mortgage payoffs, prepare closing documents, handle funds, and help transfer ownership to the buyer.
We’ve worked with Skyline Title on Houston-area transactions. If you’d like a simple explanation of the process, they have a helpful guide on what happens after a Texas property goes under contract.
[LINK TO SKYLINE ARTICLE]
For most homeowners, you don’t need to understand every technical part of title insurance.
What matters is choosing a licensed, reputable title company that you trust and feel comfortable closing with.
If you have questions about a charge or document, ask. A good title company should be able to explain it without expecting you to speak real estate.
What Is a Title Insurance Underwriter?
You may also hear your title company mention an underwriter.
The easiest way to understand it is:
The title company handles your closing. The underwriter is the insurance company behind the title insurance policy.
Title companies may work with several different underwriters.
For the average seller, you don’t need to choose between them or understand all of the differences. Your title company handles that side of the transaction.
Are Property Taxes Part of Seller Closing Costs?
Property taxes can affect what you receive when selling your Houston home.
At closing, taxes are generally adjusted based on the portion of the year the buyer and seller own the property.
You’ll sometimes hear this called prorating the taxes.
Don’t let the terminology make it sound complicated. The title company calculates the adjustment and shows it on your closing statement.
You don’t have to calculate it yourself.
What Happens to My Mortgage When I Sell My House?
If you still owe money on your house, your mortgage generally gets paid off from the proceeds of the sale.
Your mortgage payoff isn’t really a closing “fee.” It’s money you already owe.
For example, if you sell your Houston home for $300,000 and still owe $175,000, the $175,000 mortgage balance generally needs to be paid before the remaining proceeds can be distributed to you.
The same can apply to liens, delinquent taxes, judgments, or other amounts attached to the property.
This is important when comparing offers because your sales price isn’t the same thing as your cash at closing.
What About Real Estate Commissions?
If you’re selling your house through a real estate brokerage, there may be brokerage compensation depending on the agreements involved in your transaction.
That expense can affect your net proceeds just like any other selling cost.
If Volcan Property Buyers is purchasing your house directly, we don’t charge you a real estate commission for selling the property to us.
We’re the buyer.
Repairs Are a Selling Cost Too
Closing costs aren’t the only expenses you should consider.
If you’re preparing a house for a traditional sale, you may also spend money before you ever get to the closing table.
For a Houston property, that might mean fixing a roof, foundation, HVAC system, plumbing, electrical issues, flooring, paint, landscaping, or simply cleaning out the house.
Those expenses may never appear on your closing statement, but they’re still money coming out of your pocket.
That’s one of the biggest differences with selling directly to Volcan.
We buy Houston houses as-is.
You don’t have to fix the property first. You don’t have to update it. And you don’t have to clean everything out before we buy it.
What Are Seller Concessions?
Sometimes a buyer asks the seller to contribute toward certain buyer expenses as part of the deal.
For example, you might receive a strong purchase offer but also be asked to provide money toward the buyer’s allowable closing expenses.
That money affects your bottom line.
So when you’re comparing two offers, don’t stop at:
“How much are they offering?”
Also ask:
“How much am I actually going to receive?”
Example: Calculating Your Net Proceeds
Let’s use simple numbers.
Suppose you sell your house for $300,000.
You have:
- Sales Price: $300,000
- Mortgage Payoff: $175,000
- Seller’s Total Expenses: $15,000
Your estimated net would be:
$300,000 – $175,000 – $15,000 = $110,000
This is only an example. Every transaction is different.
But it demonstrates why the highest offer isn’t automatically the offer that leaves you with the most money.
What Closing Costs Does Volcan Pay?
If you’re selling directly to Volcan Property Buyers, we try to make this part simple.
Volcan covers all standard title company-issued closing costs associated with our purchase.
We also:
- Buy your house as-is
- Don’t require repairs
- Don’t require you to clean out the property
- Don’t charge you a real estate commission when Volcan is the buyer
- Give you flexibility on the closing date
There may still be amounts that already belong to you or the property — such as your mortgage balance, existing liens, delinquent taxes, or other obligations — that need to be paid from your proceeds.
Those aren’t costs Volcan created by purchasing your house.
Before closing, the title company provides the final numbers so you can see exactly where the money is going and what you’re expected to receive.
Should I Compare a Cash Offer to a Traditional Sale?
Absolutely — but compare the net proceeds, not just the purchase prices.
If one option gives you a higher price but requires commissions, repairs, concessions, and additional selling expenses, subtract those costs.
Then compare that number with an as-is offer where many of those expenses don’t exist or are covered by the buyer.
Sometimes the traditional sale will make more sense.
Sometimes the convenience and lower expenses of a direct cash sale will make more sense.
The important thing is knowing the numbers before you decide.
Selling a House in Houston? Know What You’ll Actually Walk Away With
Closing costs when selling a house in Houston can vary depending on the property, contract, title situation, and how you choose to sell.
Instead of relying on a generic percentage, look at the actual numbers:
Sale Price – What You Owe – What It Costs You to Sell = Your Estimated Net Proceeds
If you sell directly to Volcan Property Buyers, we cover all standard title company-issued closing costs associated with our purchase, buy the property as-is, and don’t charge you a real estate commission as the buyer.
If you’d like to see what we could offer for your Houston-area property, tell us a little about the house. We’ll give you a cash offer and explain the numbers so you can compare it with your other options.
