Take your sale price, then subtract your mortgage payoff, agent commission (historically 5–6%), closing costs (roughly 1–3%), and any credits you hand the buyer. What’s left is your net proceeds — the check you actually walk away with. It is almost always well below the number on the “sold” sign, and you can pin it down before you ever list.
Sellers fixate on list price. The number that matters is the one that hits your bank account after everyone at the closing table gets paid. Two houses can sell for the same $400,000 and cut wildly different checks — the difference is almost entirely how much mortgage is left. Get your arms around four deductions and you can estimate your walkaway figure to within a few thousand dollars.
What does “net proceeds” actually mean?
Net proceeds are the cash you receive once the sale closes. That is not your profit, and it is not your taxable gain — those are separate calculations built on what you originally paid. You can sell for far more than you bought and still walk away with a modest amount if most of the value is spoken for by your loan balance.
The math: start with the agreed sale price, subtract what you owe, subtract what it costs to sell, and subtract anything you agree to cover for the buyer. To skip the arithmetic, drop your numbers into the Seller Net Proceeds Calculator and adjust the inputs to your deal.
What gets subtracted from your sale price?
Four line items stand between the sale price and your check.
| Deduction | Typical range | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage payoff | Your remaining balance | Outstanding principal plus interest through closing, and any prepayment or lien amounts |
| Agent commission | ~5–6% of price | Listing agent and, often, the buyer’s agent — negotiable |
| Seller closing costs | ~1–3% of price | Title, escrow or attorney fees, transfer taxes, recording fees, prorated property taxes |
| Buyer credits | $0 and up | Money you put toward the buyer’s costs or repairs to close the deal |
Those are national ballpark figures. Your real numbers ride on your price, your loan, your contract, and your state.
How much does equity really drive the result?
Equity — your home’s value minus what you owe — is the single biggest lever on your check. Everything else is a percentage of the price; the payoff is a hard dollar number that comes straight off the top.
Here’s the trap that surprises first-time sellers: your payoff is almost always higher than the balance on last month’s statement. Lenders quote a payoff that runs interest to the exact closing date, and they may tack on per-diem interest and a small admin or recording fee. If you carry a HELOC or a second mortgage, that balance comes out too. Request an official payoff statement from your lender before closing so you’re not estimating against a stale number.
Watch out: a payoff statement is only good through a stated date. If your closing slips even a few days, daily interest keeps accruing and the figure creeps up. Ask your lender for a “good-through” date that covers your actual closing, not the earliest possible one.
A worked example: selling a $400,000 home
Your home sells for $400,000. You owe $250,000, agree to a 6% total commission and about 2% in closing costs, and throw in a $3,000 buyer credit to keep the deal together.
| Line item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $400,000 |
| Mortgage payoff | − $250,000 |
| Agent commission (6%) | − $24,000 |
| Closing costs (~2%) | − $8,000 |
| Buyer credit | − $3,000 |
| Net proceeds | $115,000 |
Sold for $400,000, pocketed about $115,000. Move any input — shave the commission a point, pay down the loan, drop the credit — and the bottom line moves with it. That’s the whole point of running scenarios: see which lever is worth pushing. Test your own figures in the Seller Net Proceeds Calculator before you sign a listing agreement.
Why do selling costs swing so much by state?
Geography quietly rewrites your closing costs. A handful of line items are set by state and local rules, not national averages:
- Transfer taxes. Some states and cities tax the sale as a percentage of price; others charge nothing. This one line can swing your costs by thousands.
- Closing model. Title-and-escrow states run a different fee structure than attorney-closing states.
- Who pays what. Local custom decides whether the buyer or seller covers certain title and recording fees.
- Property tax proration. You owe taxes through your closing date, and the split depends on your local billing cycle.
Treat the 1–3% range as a placeholder and ask your closing agent for a line-item estimate for your county. That’s the number to plan around.
Will you owe tax on the money you make?
Proceeds and taxable gain are two different things, and most sellers of a primary home owe zero federal capital gains tax. If the home was your primary residence and you owned and lived in it for at least two of the last five years, you can exclude up to $250,000 of gain if you’re single or $500,000 married filing jointly.
Gain above those caps, or a sale that fails the ownership-and-use test, can be taxable. Investment properties, second homes, and anything you’ve claimed depreciation on play by different rules. Tax law shifts, so confirm your specifics with a CPA before you spend the money — this is general information, not tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
How much do you actually keep when you sell a house?
Roughly your sale price minus your mortgage payoff, minus 6–10% in combined commission and closing costs, minus any buyer credits. Your remaining loan balance moves the number more than anything else.
Are net proceeds the same as profit?
No. Net proceeds are the cash you receive at closing. Profit, or taxable gain, is based on your original purchase price plus improvements. You can have big proceeds and a small taxable gain, or the reverse.
Who pays the real estate agent commission?
It comes out of the seller’s proceeds at closing. How it’s split and negotiated changed after the 2024 industry rule updates, and commissions have always been negotiable — nail down the terms in your listing agreement.
Why is my mortgage payoff higher than my statement balance?
The payoff runs interest to your actual closing date and can include per-diem interest and lender fees, so it edges above your latest statement. Always work from an official payoff statement, not your app balance.
Do I pay capital gains tax when I sell my home?
Usually not. If it was your primary residence and you meet the two-of-five-years test, you can exclude up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 married filing jointly). Amounts over the cap or non-primary homes can be taxable — check with a tax pro.
How do I estimate my net proceeds before listing?
Enter your expected sale price, current loan balance, estimated commission, and closing costs into a net proceeds calculator. You’ll get a realistic walkaway figure in seconds and can stress-test each lever.
Keep more of what you earn
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