Allen Markel, REALTOR® · Texas Premier Realty

Selling

Holding cost to sell

What waiting to list really costs each month — interest, taxes, insurance and upkeep against what the home might gain.

Power, water, lawn, pool — an estimate.

Wait how long before listing?

6 months

Starts at the local figure below. Edit it — negative means falling.

+0.8% a year — Harris County figure, based on the last 12 and 24 months of resale home sales in Harris County (32,886 resales in the last 12 months). The last 12 months: +0.4%; the last 24 months: +1.4% a year.

How: typical resale home price change, same neighborhoods year to year (new construction excluded) — two-thirds the last 12 months and one-third the 24-month rate. Context, not a forecast.

Waiting 6 months to list

$11,333 less in your pocket

Walk-away if you list now
$153,738
Projected value in 6 months
$401,597
Walk-away then, before holding costs
$157,808
Mortgage interest while you wait
−$4,926
Taxes, insurance, HOA, utilities & upkeep
−$7,900
Principal paid (comes back at the sale)
$2,577
Walk-away in 6 months, after holding costs
$142,405

Holding the house costs about $2,138 a month that you don’t get back — interest, taxes, insurance, HOA and upkeep.

The wait is before listing. Time on the market after you list adds to it, and so does paying for two homes if you’ve already moved.

Full seller net sheet →What’s my home worth? →

Budgetary estimate, not a closing statement or a forecast. Home values can fall as well as rise — the appreciation rate is your assumption. Walk-away = price − mortgage payoff − commission − the state-regulated title policy; the seller net sheet adds the property-tax proration.

Talk to a lender

These are the lenders Allen works with. For any lender you’d like to talk to, tap Make introduction — we’ll make the introduction for you.

Allen Markel is a licensed Texas REALTOR®, not a mortgage lender or loan originator. He does not quote rates or terms and does not decide whether you qualify — only a lender can do that. Introductions are a courtesy; you choose who to work with.

Numbers raising questions? Walk through them with a person.

Schedule time with Allen