Selling · Middle Tennessee
What you actually walk away with
Your sale price is not your proceeds, and the gap surprises people. This explains every line that comes out between the two, so you can plan against a real number instead of a hopeful one.
Start with the payoff, not the balance
The number on your mortgage statement is not what it takes to pay the loan off. A payoff quote includes interest through the actual closing date and any fees your lender charges to release the lien.
Ask your lender for a written payoff good through your expected closing date. And if you have a second mortgage or a home equity line, that comes out too, including any line you opened years ago and forgot about.
Commissions, and the fact that they are negotiable
Real estate commissions are negotiable and always have been. Anyone who tells you there is a standard rate is telling you something that is not true.
How buyer agent compensation is handled changed recently, so if you sold a house a few years ago, do not assume the same structure applies. We put whatever we agree in writing before the house is listed, and you will see it as a line on your settlement statement at closing.
The closing costs a seller pays
These vary by transaction and by what is negotiated, but the usual seller-side items look like this.
- Title and settlement fees for the closing attorney or title company
- Owner’s title insurance, where the seller customarily provides it
- Recording and transfer fees, plus Tennessee state transfer tax on the deed
- Property taxes prorated to the closing date, covering the part of the year you owned it
- Homeowners association dues prorated, and any transfer or estoppel fee the association charges
- A home warranty for the buyer, if you agreed to provide one
- Any repair credits negotiated after the inspection
- Wire or courier fees, which are small and always there
The two that move the number most
Two items swing net proceeds more than the rest combined, and neither is known when you list.
The first is repair credits after the inspection. The second is any price concession negotiated after an appraisal comes in below the contract price. Both are why I build a range rather than a single figure when we talk about your proceeds, and why I want to know what an inspector is likely to find before we price the house rather than after.
On taxes, and why this page stops here
Whether you owe tax on a sale depends on your circumstances, how long you owned and lived in the property, what you paid, what you improved, and things that are none of my business unless you choose to share them.
I am a REALTOR® and not a tax professional, and I am not going to guess at your position. Talk to your accountant before you sell, not after, because some of what they might suggest has to be done before closing.
Common questions
Can you tell me what I will net before I list?
I can build you a realistic range, and range is the honest word. The payoff, the fees and the prorations are all knowable up front. What is not knowable is what an inspection turns up and whether an appraisal supports the contract price, and those two swing the number more than everything else combined.
Are commissions really negotiable?
Yes, and they always have been. There is no standard rate, and anybody who tells you there is is wrong. Whatever we agree goes in writing before the house is listed and appears as a line on your settlement statement.
Will I owe tax on the sale?
That depends on your specific circumstances and I am genuinely not qualified to answer it. Talk to your accountant before you sell rather than after, because some of what they may suggest has to happen before closing rather than at tax time.
The bottom line
Nothing here is tax advice. It is a list of the lines that come out, so the number you plan around is a real one.