Seller Net Proceeds Calculator

• Itemises every deduction between the sale price and your cheque, including the ones people forget.
• Separates listing-side and buyer-side commission, which are negotiated independently since 2024.
• Prorates property tax to the closing date — money owed for time already lived in the house.
• Flags an underwater sale explicitly rather than quietly returning a negative number.

How to use this calculator

Enter the price you expect and your mortgage payoff. Use the servicer's payoff quote rather than the balance on your last statement — the quote includes interest to the closing date and any release fees, so it is always a little higher.

Enter the two commission sides separately. Since the 2024 changes to how buyer-agent compensation is handled, the buyer's side is explicitly a matter for negotiation and is no longer routinely advertised through the listing service. Entering them together hides the part that is actually up for discussion.

The advanced fields cover the rest: transfer tax, title and settlement fees, concessions, repairs, prep costs, the prorated property tax and any second lien. Most of them are small individually and together they usually come to more than sellers expect.

How the figure is built

Total selling costs = commission (both sides)
                    + transfer / recordation tax
                    + title and settlement fees
                    + buyer concessions
                    + repairs, prep, warranty, attorney, other
                    + prorated property tax

Net proceeds = sale price − total selling costs − mortgage payoff − other liens

The calculator also reports selling costs as a share of your equity rather than only as a share of the price. That second figure is the one that tends to land: an 8% cost of sale is a very different experience for someone with 15% equity than for someone with 70%.

A worked example

A $525,000 sale with a $285,000 payoff, 2.5% to each agent, 0.25% transfer tax, $1,800 of title and settlement fees and six months of a $4,200 annual property tax bill owed at closing.

Commission is $26,250. Transfer tax is $1,313. Add the title fees and $2,100 of prorated tax and the total cost of selling is $31,463 — 6% of the price. After the payoff, the seller nets $208,538.

Equity before costs was $240,000, so those costs consumed about 13% of the equity. Change one figure — a payoff of $460,000 instead — and the same 6% cost of sale eats nearly half the equity.

Almost every line here is negotiable

The payoff is fixed. Nearly everything else is a matter of agreement or local custom.

Commission is negotiable on both sides, and the two sides move independently now. Concessions — money credited to the buyer toward their closing costs or a rate buydown — are part of the price negotiation in substance even though they appear as a separate line. Who pays the transfer tax, the title insurance premium and the settlement fee differs by state and sometimes by county. A home warranty is entirely optional.

Repairs after inspection are the line most likely to move late, and the one most likely to be underestimated when the listing decision is made.

Assumptions and limitations

• Cash calculation only. No capital gains tax, no depreciation recapture, no state transfer or withholding taxes beyond the rate you enter.
• Local custom is not built in. The default transfer tax rate is a placeholder; check your own county.
• One tax proration method. Real prorations depend on the local tax calendar and whether bills are paid in advance or in arrears.
• No escrow refunds. Money sitting in your escrow account is usually returned separately after closing and is not counted here.
• No moving or bridge costs. They are real, and they are not part of the settlement statement.

Common mistakes

Using the statement balance as the payoff. It is always short. Ask for a written payoff quote to the expected closing date.

Forgetting the prorated property tax. It is not an extra charge — it is a bill for time already used — but it lands as a deduction at closing.

Assuming a 6% commission is fixed. It never was, and since 2024 the buyer-side portion is explicitly negotiated.

Overlooking a HELOC. A second lien has to be cleared at closing whether or not you were thinking of it as a mortgage.

Frequently asked questions