Every cost of selling a house, listed
The complete list, with typical ranges: commissions, closing costs, transfer taxes, repairs, concessions, staging, and the costs nobody budgets for. On a typical sale, plan on roughly 7% to 10% of the price going to the sale itself before any tax — on a $600,000 home, that's $42,000 to $60,000. The ranges below are planning figures, not quotes; several lines are negotiable.
| Cost | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Listing agent commission | Negotiable | Set in your listing agreement. There is no standard rate. |
| Buyer's agent compensation | Negotiable | Since the 2024 NAR settlement changes, what a seller offers a buyer's agent is a separate, negotiable line — not an automatic split. |
| Seller closing costs (title, escrow, recording) | 1%–3% of price | Varies by state and county; who pays what is partly custom, partly contract. |
| Transfer / excise taxes | 0%–2%+ of price | Some states and cities charge them, some don't. Check yours before you price. |
| Pre-listing repairs & fix-up | $0–$15,000+ | The roof, the furnace, the peeling paint. Only what a buyer's inspection or lender would flag is close to mandatory. |
| Buyer concessions / credits | 0%–2% of price | Closing-cost credits or repair credits agreed in negotiation. Zero in a hot market, real in a slow one. |
| Staging & photography | $0–$3,000+ | Optional; empty rooms photograph smaller. Often the best-return line on this list. |
| Prorations | Varies | Property taxes, HOA dues, and utilities settled to the day of closing — a cost if you're paid ahead, a credit if you're behind. |
| Attorney (where customary or required) | $500–$2,500 | Required in some states, optional in others. |
| Moving | $1,000–$10,000+ | DIY truck to full-service movers, plus deposits and overlap if the next place starts before this one closes. |
| Capital-gains tax | Often $0 | The §121 exclusion shelters most owner-occupants. Estimate yours with the checker below. |
The three lines sellers underestimate
Fix-up creep. "Just freshen it up" becomes paint, flooring, landscaping, and a water heater. Decide the list before the first quote, and tie every item to either a lender/inspection requirement or a clear price effect.
The double-housing month. Overlapping mortgage and rent (or two mortgages) while you move is a real cost of Path B and Path C timing — the decider assumes a clean switch; real life usually isn't.
Tax, when the exclusion runs out. Long-time owners in hot markets can blow past $250,000 / $500,000 of gain. Run the capital-gains checker early — basis documentation (improvement receipts) is cheapest to assemble before you're under contract.
Then put your real numbers into the net proceeds calculator and watch the waterfall. What matters isn't any single line — it's the total that comes out the bottom.
Ranges are national planning figures drawn from common practice; your state, county, and contract govern the real numbers. Estimates, not financial advice.