Okay, we have one last tip for you to help tie everything together. If you know anything about us at Ramsey, you won’t be surprised that our final tip is to consider your budget. Some sellers may not realize the amount of money they could pour into their home sale until it smacks them in the face at the closing table. But that won’t be you!

Instead, plan ahead by thinking through all your potential home-selling expenses first. Of course, every seller’s budget will look different. But let’s walk through what one could look like to give you an idea of how to prepare your finances for the home sale.

Here’s an example of what a home-selling budget might look like:

In this example, you’re forking over $244,000 to sell a $400,000 house. Pretty crazy, right? But don’t worry—you can knock out the larger expenses (mortgage payoff, agent commissions and closing costs) by using the money you make from your sale (the proceeds). Here, those larger expenses total $236,000.

Meanwhile, the costs you’ll have to save up for ahead of time include the pre-listing home inspection, home repair needs that are found after the inspection, home staging, and moving expenses. In this example, those costs add up to $8,000. Keep in mind, your own presale expenses may be way less or more than that. So do your research and hunt for deals from professionals you trust.

Saving for that $8,000 before you start the home-selling process protects you from throwing off your other financial goals. And then after selling your $400,000 house and paying for your larger post-sale expenses, you’ll walk away with $164,000 to use toward your next home—cha-ching!