Home Sale Proceeds
See what you'd actually pocket from selling your house: sale price minus agent commissions, closing costs, and your mortgage payoff. Compare full-service, listing-only, and no-agent commission options in seconds.
Three numbers decide what you walk away with: what the house sells for, what you still owe on it, and how you're paying the agents — which, since the 2024 commission rule changes, is a genuine choice rather than an automatic 6%. Everything else is a line item.
What will the house sell for?
Your expected sale price — a recent comparable sale, your agent's estimate, or an online estimate all work. You can adjust it to see best and worst cases.
How much do you still owe on it?
Your mortgage payoff — the remaining balance plus any home equity loan or HELOC, since all of it gets paid from the sale. Your lender's app or statement shows the exact payoff amount. Enter 0 if the home is paid off.
How are you handling agents?
Since the 2024 rule changes, who pays the buyer's agent is negotiated deal by deal. Full service is the traditional arrangement where your side covers both agents. Listing-only means you pay your agent and the buyer handles theirs. Selling without an agent zeroes the commission — but not the work.
What you'd walk away with
$114,000–$124,000
after commissions, closing costs, and paying off the mortgage — before any repairs, concessions, or moving costs
Will you owe taxes on this? Probably not
Proceeds aren't taxable gain — gain is the sale price minus what you paid for the home and put into improvements. And the IRS lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 filing jointly) if you owned and lived in the home for at least 2 of the last 5 years. Most sellers owe nothing; keep your improvement receipts if you're anywhere near the threshold.
What this math deliberately leaves out
The sale-prep money: repairs, staging, and painting come out of pocket before listing. And buyer concessions — increasingly common since the 2024 rule changes, when buyers ask sellers to contribute toward their agent's fee or closing costs — are negotiated per deal and can move your number by 1–3%. Budget for both before you spend the proceeds on paper.
Commissions: full service ~5–6% of price (negotiable, and no longer automatic), listing-only ~2.5–3%. Other closing costs run ~1.5–3%: owner's title insurance (~0.5–1%), escrow fees (~0.5%), transfer taxes (typically under 1%, but state-dependent — from zero to well past that), and attorney fees where required. Excludes prorated property taxes, HOA dues and transfer fees, prep costs, and moving.
💡About this calculator▼
"What will we walk away with?" is the first question of every home sale and the input to every next decision — the down payment on the next house, the retirement math, whether selling even makes sense this year. The answer is simpler than the closing statement makes it look: sale price, minus the agents, minus the closing costs, minus whatever you still owe.
The biggest deduction changed recently. Since the 2024 commission rule changes, the automatic "seller pays 6% for both agents" world is gone: who pays the buyer's agent is now negotiated deal by deal. Practically, sellers today choose a lane — full service (you cover both sides, ~5–6% total, still the most common arrangement), listing-only (~2.5–3%, with buyers responsible for their own agent), or no agent at all. On a $400,000 sale, that choice alone swings your proceeds by up to $24,000.
The quieter deductions: other closing costs run about 1.5–3% — owner's title insurance, escrow fees, transfer taxes, attorney fees where states require them — and then the mortgage payoff clears whatever balance remains, including any HELOC. What's left is yours.
Enter your numbers below. And if the result comes back negative, the calculator will say so plainly — an underwater sale means bringing money to closing, and that's a fact worth knowing before you list, not after.
Start from the sale price and subtract three things — that's the whole model.
The agents. Commission is the largest single line, and since the 2024 rule changes it's a genuine decision. Full service — your side compensating both agents, the traditional arrangement — runs about 5–6% of the sale price. Listing-only runs 2.5–3% (the typical listing agent's fee), with the buyer paying their own agent under the buyer-broker agreements now required. Selling without an agent zeroes the line entirely, though not the work it represents: pricing, marketing, negotiating, and paperwork all move to your side of the table.
The other closing costs. Beyond commissions, sellers typically part with 1.5–3% of the price: owner's title insurance (roughly 0.5–1%), escrow or settlement fees (about 0.5%), transfer taxes (usually under 1%, though this varies more by state than any other line — from zero to several percent), and attorney fees in states that require one.
The payoff. Your remaining mortgage balance — plus any home equity loan or HELOC — gets paid from the sale before anything reaches you. The payoff figure on your lender's statement is slightly higher than your balance (interest accrues to the closing date), and it's the exact number to use here.
The result shows the worst case against the best: low proceeds assume every cost lands at the high end, and vice versa.
📐How it's calculated▼
Proceeds = sale price − agent commissions − other closing costs − mortgage payoff.
Commission lanes: full service 5–6% of sale price · listing-only 2.5–3% · no agent $0.
Other closing costs: 1.5–3% of sale price, the sum of the standard seller lines — owner's title insurance (~0.5–1%), escrow fees (~0.5%), transfer taxes (typically under 1%), and attorney fees where required.
Worked example at the defaults: a $400,000 sale with full-service agents costs $20,000–$24,000 in commission and $6,000–$12,000 in other closing costs; paying off a $250,000 mortgage leaves $114,000–$124,000 walking away. The same sale listing-only leaves $126,000–$134,000 — the commission lane is worth real money.
Sanity check: the full-service all-in (6.5–9% of price) sits just under the published 8–10% figure for total seller closing costs including commissions — the remainder being owner-specific items like prorated property taxes and HOA dues that this calculator leaves out.
📎Sources:Bankrate — How Much Does It Cost to Sell a House: listing commission rates, post-settlement commission structure, and itemized seller closing costs,Zillow — Closing Costs for Sellers: total seller cost percentages and title/escrow breakdowns,IRS — Topic 701, Sale of Your Home: the $250,000/$500,000 capital-gains exclusion and its ownership and use tests
🔍Finding your inputs▼
What will the house sell for? Use your agent's comparative market analysis if you have one, a recent neighborhood comp if you don't, or an online estimate as a starting point. Then stress-test: run the number you hope for and the number you'd settle for — the spread in proceeds is the honest picture of your range.
How much do you still owe? The payoff amount, not the balance — your lender's app or a payoff quote shows it exactly, and it runs slightly above your balance because interest accrues until closing day. Include every loan secured by the house: first mortgage, second, HELOC. All of them get paid from the sale.
How are you handling agents? If you're undecided, price all three lanes — that's the point of the cards. Honest framing: full service buys maximum reach and hand-holding at maximum cost; listing-only saves 2.5–3% but expect some buyers to ask you to cover their agent anyway as a negotiated concession; FSBO saves it all and statistically sells for less, which can eat the savings. There's no universally right answer — there's your market, your urgency, and your appetite for the work.
⚠️Special situations▼
My proceeds came back negative — what are my options?
You're underwater on the transaction: sale price minus costs won't clear the mortgage. Options, in rough order: wait and pay down the balance while (hopefully) the market appreciates; bring cash to closing if selling is non-negotiable; negotiate the costs down (commission lanes, FSBO); or — for genuine hardship — ask your lender about a short sale, which requires their approval and bruises credit but caps the loss. What not to do: list at a fantasy price to make the math work; overpriced listings sit, then sell lower.
I'm selling and buying at the same time — what does this number feed?
This proceeds figure is your next down payment, which makes the worst-case number the one to plan around: qualify for the next mortgage assuming the low end, and treat anything above it as cushion. Two mechanics to ask your lender about — bridge loans if the timing gap yawns, and contingent offers if your market allows them. And remember the proceeds arrive at closing, not at listing; budget the in-between months.
The buyer is asking me to pay their closing costs or their agent
Increasingly normal since the 2024 rule changes — buyer concession requests (toward their agent's fee, their closing costs, or rate buydowns) are now a standard negotiation lever, typically 1–3% of price. Evaluate them as a price cut, because that's what they are: a $400,000 offer asking $8,000 in concessions is a $392,000 offer with better optics. Counter accordingly, and re-run this calculator with the effective price.
I inherited the house / it was a rental — does the tax exclusion apply?
The $250K/$500K exclusion requires the 2-of-5-year ownership AND use tests — a rental you never lived in fails the use test, and gains are taxable (though inherited homes get a stepped-up basis, which often wipes out most gain anyway). Rentals also face depreciation recapture. This is the scenario where an hour of CPA time before listing is worth real money; the calculator's proceeds figure is unaffected, but what you keep of it isn't.
How do transfer taxes vary — should I check mine?
Yes — it's the most location-dependent line in the whole calculation. Several states charge no transfer tax at all; others (and some cities layered on top) charge well past 1%, and a few metro combinations exceed 2% on higher-priced homes. The 1.5–3% closing band here assumes the typical case, so if you're in a known high-tax city or a no-tax state, ask your title company for the exact rate and adjust mentally — it's one phone call.
❓Common questions▼
How much money will I get from selling my house?
Sale price minus three things: agent commissions (5–6% full service, 2.5–3% listing-only, zero without an agent), other closing costs (1.5–3% for title insurance, escrow, transfer taxes, and attorney fees), and your full mortgage payoff including any HELOC. On a typical $400,000 sale with a $250,000 balance and full-service agents, that's roughly $114,000–$124,000 walking away — before sale-prep costs and any buyer concessions.
What do sellers pay in closing costs?
All-in — commissions included — sellers typically part with 8–10% of the sale price. The breakdown: agent commissions are the bulk (up to 5–6% under the traditional arrangement), then owner's title insurance (~0.5–1%), escrow or settlement fees (~0.5%), transfer taxes (usually under 1% but heavily state-dependent), and attorney fees where required. Buyers carry their own set of costs, mostly lender-related.
Do I still have to pay 6% commission after the NAR settlement?
No — that's the change. Since August 2024, buyer-agent compensation can't be advertised through the MLS and is negotiated deal by deal; buyers sign agreements making them responsible for their own agent, and sellers choose whether to contribute. In practice many sellers still offer to cover the buyer's agent to widen the buyer pool — but it's now a strategy decision worth an explicit conversation with your listing agent, not a default.
Will I pay taxes on my home sale proceeds?
Most sellers don't. The IRS excludes up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 for joint filers) when you owned and used the home as your main residence for at least 2 of the last 5 years. Note the word gain — sale price minus what you paid and what you put into improvements — which is a much smaller number than your proceeds. Sellers near the threshold should gather improvement receipts; landlords and inheritors play by different rules worth a CPA conversation.
Is selling without an agent worth it?
The commission savings are real — up to 6% of the price — and so are the tradeoffs: FSBO homes statistically sell for less, you handle pricing, marketing, showings, negotiation, and disclosure paperwork, and many FSBO sellers still end up paying something toward a buyer's agent to keep the buyer pool open. The middle path gaining ground since 2024: pay a listing agent their 2.5–3% and let buyers handle their own representation.
What costs of selling does this calculator leave out?
The before-and-after money: pre-listing repairs, staging, and painting (out of pocket before you see a dime); buyer concessions negotiated during the deal (commonly 1–3% when they happen); prorated property taxes and HOA dues settled at closing; HOA transfer fees; and moving itself. None are universal, all are real — the walk-away number here is the ceiling the rest of them nibble at.
🔗 Related Calculators
Down Payment & Closing Costs
Calculate the total cash you need to buy a home — down payment plus closing costs at 2–5% of the loan. Compare 0% VA, 3.5% FHA, 10%, and 20% down scenarios and see the real check you'd write at closing.
Home Affordability Calculator
Find out how much house you can afford based on your income, debts, and down payment — using the lender debt-to-income rule, with property taxes, insurance, and PMI included.
Refinance Break-Even Calculator
See how many months it takes for a mortgage refinance to pay for itself, and whether your new loan term means more or less total interest over the life of the loan.
Mortgage Tax Deduction
Does your mortgage actually lower your taxes? Compare your itemized deductions — mortgage interest plus capped SALT — against 2026's standard deduction and see the real savings, including when the honest answer is $0.