Home Sale Proceeds

Calculating Your Net Proceeds from a Home Sale

Home Sale Proceeds is the cash a seller actually walks away with after a home sale closes, once agent commission, closing costs, and any remaining mortgage balance are subtracted from the sale price. Enter the sale price, remaining mortgage balance, and estimated selling costs, and this calculator computes your net proceeds.

This is distinct from the Capital Gains Tax Calculator calculator, which estimates the tax owed on a gain — not the actual cash received at closing. Use both together for a full picture: this for the cash you receive, that for what you might owe on it.

The Formula

1. Total selling costs = Sale Price × (Agent Commission % + Other Closing Costs %).
2. Equity before selling costs = Sale Price − Remaining Mortgage Balance.
3. Net proceeds = Sale Price − Total Selling Costs − Remaining Mortgage Balance − Repairs & Concessions.

Worked Example

$400,000 sale price, $250,000 remaining mortgage balance, 6% agent commission, 2% other closing costs, and $5,000 in repairs and concessions:

1. Total selling costs: $32,000 (8% of $400,000).
2. Equity before selling costs: $150,000 ($400,000 − $250,000).
3. Net proceeds: $113,000 ($400,000 − $32,000 − $250,000 − $5,000).

Key Factors to Consider

• Agent commission rates are negotiable and structured differently by market and arrangement. Commission rates and how they’re split between buyer’s and seller’s agents have shifted in some markets in recent years — the entered percentage should reflect your actual listing agreement, not an assumed universal standard.
• Prepayment penalties on a mortgage, if your loan has one, are a real cost this calculator doesn’t automatically include. Some older or specific loan types carry a fee for paying off the mortgage early — check your loan documents or ask your lender for your exact current payoff amount, which would already reflect any such penalty if one applies.
• Prorated property taxes and HOA dues are commonly settled at closing, in either direction. Depending on when in the tax or dues cycle the sale closes, the seller may owe a prorated amount to the buyer or receive a credit — this can be a real, sometimes overlooked line item at closing beyond the standard selling costs already modeled here.
• A seller concession (paying some of the buyer’s closing costs) is a common negotiating tool that reduces net proceeds. In a buyer’s market or to make an offer more competitive, sellers sometimes agree to cover part of the buyer’s closing costs — this calculator’s “Repairs & Concessions” field is exactly where to include any such agreed concession.

Common Mistakes

• Forgetting the mortgage payoff isn’t the same as the original loan amount. Your remaining balance has typically shrunk from years of payments — use your current payoff figure from your lender, not the amount you originally borrowed.
• Underestimating closing costs. Beyond agent commission, sellers often pay title insurance, escrow fees, transfer taxes, and prorated property taxes — these can add up to a few percent of the sale price on their own.
• Assuming net proceeds are always positive. If a home hasn’t gained much equity yet (common shortly after buying) or the market has softened, selling costs and the mortgage payoff can exceed the sale price, meaning the seller needs to bring cash to closing.

Useful to Know

• Not sure what your current mortgage balance will be by the time you sell? The Mortgage Calculator calculator can project a remaining balance for a future payoff date.
• Curious how much of your equity you could tap into instead of selling? The Home Equity / HELOC Calculator calculator estimates how much you could borrow against your home.
• A recent renovation’s effect on sale price isn’t automatic — the Home Improvement ROI Calculator calculator estimates what percentage of a project’s cost you’d actually recoup at resale.
• For a longer-term view of how a home’s value might grow before you sell, the Property Appreciation Calculator calculator projects future value based on an appreciation rate.