By Cecilia Chan

Independent Newsmedia

The Phoenix metropolitan area is in the middle of the pack among 35 major cities for cost to homeowners in selling their houses, according Zillow.

Homeowners on average spend $19,814, which includes $14,874 for agent commission and $4,940 in fixing the home for sale the online real estate database company reported this week.This information comes as home selling season in Arizona begins now and lasts until July.

“Even in the hottest housing markets in the country, selling a home takes time and costs money,” said Jeremy Wacksman, Zillow’s chief marketing officer in the release. “From decluttering and staging to pre-inspections, agents and homeowners often spend months behind the scenes prepping a home — well before it’s listed on the market. If you’re planning to sell this year, try to take some time to research what costs you may be responsible for and how they could affect your profit or even budget for your next house.”

U.S. homeowners spend an average of $18,342 in costs associated with selling a home such as prepping it for sale, closing costs and transfer tax after the sale.

Zillow’s study was done in conjunction with Thumbtack, an online service that matches customers with local professionals.The two companies said they undertook the study given that 61 percent of today’s sellers have never sold a home before and often overlook several common seller expenses.

Highlights from the study include:

• Home sellers spend more time getting their home ready to sell than it will spend on the market, with the majority or 78 percent of sellers making at least one home improvement.

• Sellers who hire professional help spend $4,985 on average for basic seller-prep projects like painting, staging, carpet cleaning, lawn care and local moving costs. Labor costs vary depending on the city with sellers in San Jose, California paying the highest at $6,580 on average. The city, part of the Silicon Valley, tops the list as the most expensive city for sellers to sell their home at $81,507.

• Agent commissions and transfer or sales taxes are two of the largest closing costs with sellers spending $13,357 on average for both costs. Arizona does not have a transfer tax after voters in 2008 voted to ban this practice in the state.

The analysis includes real estate transfer taxes plus 6 percent in agent commissions as closing costs. It does not include other closing costs such as title insurance fees, filing fees and the cost of points bought from mortgage providers.

Zillow applied transfer taxes and 6 percent in agent commissions to the median home value for each area. The median home value for the Phoenix metropolitan area was $247,900.

For home prep costs, Thumbtack looked at tens of thousands of quotes from small business professionals around the country and determined the average cost for each expense within the selected metros.

For the purposes of this analysis, carpet cleaning, interior and exterior painting, lawn care, gardening, home staging, house cleaning and local moving costs were identified as five of the most popular seller prep projects completed by Thumbtack during the home sale process.

Thumbtack economist Lucas Puente said while sellers may initially find sticker shock associated with the costs of selling a home, investing in home improvement projects like painting and home staging will help them sell their home faster and at a higher price.