3 Hidden Fees When Selling Real Estate in Pacifica

Over the past few years, owners of Pacifica residential real estate have been selling their properties and fetching record prices.  These jumping property values have been the inspiration for countless news articles in the last few years, and might have you wondering what your property is worth.  Understanding the value of your home will help you make a well-informed decision about selling what is likely the biggest investment of your life.

The high sale prices in Pacifica do come with some expenses that might be totally unexpected and a few can be pretty steep.  Being well informed about the standard seller’s expenses in the city will help you sell your home with few surprises.  Aside from the usual fees-broker fees, inspection costs, staging, etc. – you’ll want to be prepared for these three major expenses when selling your property in Pacifica.

Sewer Lateral Compliance Certificate – Customarily Paid by Seller

In the city of Pacifica a sewer lateral compliance certificate is required when selling a residential property.  The sewer lateral the waste pipe underground connecting the house to the public sewer system.  Over the years many of these pipes have developed cracks or intrusions and the pipes are no longer functioning correctly.  It’s required when selling a property in Pacifica that a video test is done.  A video camera is put inside the pipe to look for cracks or holes in the pipe, then the video is sent to the city for review.  If the city representative determines that the pipe fails the video test, they may require that the pipe is repaired.  Depending on the slope of the home from the street (whether or not the house sits above or below the street can make a big difference in the cost to replace the pipe) this sewer lateral replacement can cost anywhere between $5k-$15k (rare cases can be more).  $5-$15K *Hidden Cost.  This is an expensive cost!  Some plumbers are willing to be paid out of escrow in the event that the Seller doesn’t want to, or can’t afford to make this payment.

County Transfer Tax – Customarily Paid by Seller

When selling a property in San Mateo county a transfer tax is customarily paid by Seller.  This transfer tax is $1.10 per $1,000 of sales price.  A $1,500,000 sale would result in a transfer tax of $1,650.  *Hidden Cost

Miscellaneous Title Fees –

Title companies are responsible for closing the transaction.  When the title documents are completed, all owners or their Power of Attorneys must sign the closing documents to facilitate the sale.  These documents must be notarized.  A notary typically charges around $150 per signing.  Quick Tip – Don’t sign individually, be sure that all Sellers are together when the notary comes to avoid a double or triple charge.  $150 Notary Fee *Hidden Cost

Title Companies may also have to have courier send the documents back to the title company and/or the buyer’s lender.  This also carries a fee of around $40-$60 *Hidden Cost

Depending on how the Seller wants their proceeds from the sale a wire fee may be charged as well.  If you pick up a cashier’s check rather than accept a wire, you can avoid about a $25 fee.  This fee can double or triple if multiple wires are sent for the Sellers proceeds.

Miscellaneous Title Fees - $200-$300 *Hidden Cost

*The above list is not meant to be a complete or exhaustive list of all costs paid by Seller to sell a home in San Francisco.  Many other costs exist (broker fees, inspections, staging, etc.), but we find the above costs to be the most surprising to our sellers.  For a complete list of costs to the seller, please call us and we can provide a detailed outline of all anticipated seller’s costs.

It's important to remembet that virtually every cost in real estate is negotiable, but in Pacifica and in San Mateo County, the above costs are all typically paid by the seller.

If you would like to see an honest, confidential, and comprehensive market analysis of your home, don’t hesitate to call or email us today!  WE would love to put our experience to work for you.