Seller Net Proceeds Calculator
How much will you actually make selling your house? Full gross-to-net waterfall including your state's transfer tax, settlement fees, and the tax on the gain — with all 50 states' seller exit costs.
On a typical sale the seller keeps the sale price minus roughly 5% in commission, minus their state's transfer tax (modeled from 0.0% in 15 states up to 3% in Delaware), minus settlement and title fees, minus their mortgage payoff — and then, if it was ever a rental, minus 25% of every dollar of depreciation, which the $250,000/$500,000 primary-residence exclusion does not shelter.
Estimate only — these are not official figures
Federal mechanics follow IRS primary sources read on 2026-08-25 (Topic no. 409 for the 0/15/20% long-term tiers and the 25% maximum on unrecaptured section 1250 gain; Topic no. 701 for the $250,000/$500,000 section 121 exclusion; the IRS net investment income tax page for the 3.8% add-on; 26 U.S.C. 121(d)(6) for recapture preceding exclusion). The federal rate and exclusion amount are user selections, never derived. Transfer-tax rates and the closing-attorney flag are MODELED statewide values from this site's own state dataset — base rates only, excluding county/city add-ons and exemptions, and describing customary practice rather than a verified statutory mandate. Agent commission (5%) and the settlement/title fee prefills are editable national estimates.
Do not rely on these amounts for budgeting or payment. For exact amounts, check the your county recorder or state department of revenue for the actual transfer-tax rate and exemptions, your closing agent or title company for the settlement statement, and IRS Publication 523 (or a tax professional) for the gain calculation and section 121 eligibility.
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Additional Details
Additional Details
Net Proceeds After Tax
Estimated • Based on your inputs
Net at Closing (before tax on the gain)
$158,200.00
Detailed Breakdown
Disclaimer: This calculator provides estimates for informational purposes only. Results should not be considered financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified professional for your specific situation.
How This Calculator Works
Calculation methodology and assumptions
This is a modeled estimate, not a settlement statement. The waterfall is sale price minus total agent commission, minus transfer/deed tax, minus settlement/title/recording, minus concessions, minus prorated property tax — that subtotal is your "amount realized" for tax purposes — and then minus your mortgage payoff to reach net at closing. The tax layer runs in statutory order: realized gain is amount realized minus adjusted basis; unrecaptured section 1250 gain is removed FIRST and taxed at the 25% maximum (IRS Topic no. 409); only the remainder is eligible for the section 121 exclusion (26 U.S.C. 121(d)(6) denies the exclusion to gain up to your post-1997 depreciation); your chosen federal long-term rate applies to what is left; and the state rate is applied to the full recognized gain including the recaptured portion, because states generally fold capital gain into ordinary income rather than mirroring the federal 25% category. The federal rate and the exclusion amount are YOUR selections, not derived — the correct federal tier depends on total taxable income and filing status this page deliberately does not collect, and section 121 eligibility depends on ownership and use tests it does not verify. Transfer-tax rates offered on this page and in the 50-state table are MODELED statewide base rates from this site's own state dataset: they exclude county and city add-ons and every exemption, and who pays is negotiable. They are not official schedules — confirm your rate with the county recorder or your closing agent.
How to Use This Real Estate Calculator
- 1
Enter the property price
Input the listing price or your offer amount. The calculator pre-fills your state's median home price as context. Consider whether the market favors buyers or sellers when evaluating price.
- 2
Set financing terms
Enter your down payment percentage, expected interest rate, and loan term. Real estate commissions (typically 5-6%, split between agents) are usually paid by the seller.
- 3
Include transaction costs
Factor in closing costs (2-5% of purchase price), home inspection ($300-$500), appraisal ($300-$600), and state-specific transfer taxes. These add significantly to the total investment.
- 4
Analyze the investment
Review total cost to acquire, estimated monthly carrying costs, and potential appreciation. Compare gross rent multiplier if evaluating as an investment property.
Example Calculation
Let's analyze a real estate purchase in a typical housing market.
Purchasing a 3-bedroom home for $375,000 with 20% down ($75,000). Closing costs at 3%: $11,250. Home inspection: $450. Total cash needed: approximately $86,700. Monthly mortgage (P&I at 6.75%, 30-year): $1,946. Add property taxes (~$310/month), insurance (~$150/month), and maintenance reserve (~$310/month). Total monthly cost: approximately $2,716.
Result: Total cash to close: $86,700. Monthly carrying cost: $2,716. If the home appreciates 3% annually, it gains $11,250 in year 1 — a 13% return on the $86,700 invested (leveraged return). Over 30 years with 3% appreciation, the home is worth $910K and the mortgage is paid off — $835K in equity from $86,700 invested. That's the power of leveraged real estate.
What Affects Your Results
Interest Rates
Every 1% rate change shifts purchasing power by approximately 10%. At 5% you can afford a $400K home; at 7% the same payment only covers $330K. Rate environment dramatically affects affordability.
Local Market Conditions
Your state's housing supply, population growth, and job market drive appreciation rates. Markets with job growth and limited supply appreciate fastest; declining population areas may stagnate.
Property Taxes
Annual property tax (0.3% to 2.3% of assessed value) is a carrying cost that never goes away — even after the mortgage is paid. Factor this permanent expense into long-term analysis.
Closing Costs
Title insurance, origination fees, attorney fees, recording fees, and transfer taxes typically total 2-5% of purchase price. These are sunk costs that take 2-3 years of appreciation to recover.
Tips & Best Practices
- Get a thorough home inspection — it's the best $400-$500 you'll spend. Inspectors find issues worth $5,000-$50,000 that affect your purchase price or walk-away decision.
- Understand your state's transfer taxes and recording fees before making an offer. These can add 0.1% to 2.6% to your transaction costs depending on location.
- In a buyer's market, negotiate closing cost credits from the seller (up to 3-6% of purchase price depending on loan type). This reduces cash needed at closing significantly.
- Don't waive contingencies to win bidding wars unless you truly understand the risk. Waiving inspection contingency on a $400K home to save a few thousand in negotiations can lead to $30K+ in undiscovered repairs.
- Look at price-to-rent ratio when evaluating: Price / Annual Rent. Under 15 = better to buy. Over 20 = renting may be smarter. Between 15-20 = depends on your time horizon and local market trajectory.
What it costs to SELL in all 50 states
Buyer-side closing costs are covered everywhere. The seller side is not, and it is where the state actually changes the number. Two fields drive it: the transfer (or deed) tax the state levies on the conveyance, and whether closings there customarily run through a settlement attorney rather than a title company. Below, both are applied to the same $400,000 sale so the states are directly comparable.
The spread is not marginal. Delaware's modeled 3% base rate is $12,000 of transfer tax on that sale, while 15 states are modeled at 0.0% and pay nothing at the state level on the same transaction.
| State | Transfer tax rate (modeled base) | Transfer tax on $400k | Closing attorney customary? | Modeled seller exit cost | State capital gains rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | 3.00% | $12,000 | Yes — attorney state | $34,600 | 6.6% |
| Washington | 1.13% | $4,520 | No — title/escrow | $25,920 | 7% |
| Pennsylvania | 1.00% | $4,000 | Yes — attorney state | $26,600 | 3.07% |
| Vermont | 0.88% | $3,520 | Yes — attorney state | $26,120 | 8.75% |
| Connecticut | 0.75% | $3,000 | Yes — attorney state | $25,600 | 6.99% |
| Michigan | 0.75% | $3,000 | No — title/escrow | $24,400 | 4.25% |
| New Hampshire | 0.75% | $3,000 | Yes — attorney state | $25,600 | 0% |
| Rhode Island | 0.75% | $3,000 | Yes — attorney state | $25,600 | 5.99% |
| Florida | 0.70% | $2,800 | No — title/escrow | $24,200 | 0% |
| Nevada | 0.51% | $2,040 | No — title/escrow | $23,440 | 0% |
| Maryland | 0.50% | $2,000 | Yes — attorney state | $24,600 | 6.5% |
| Massachusetts | 0.46% | $1,824 | Yes — attorney state | $24,424 | 9% |
| Maine | 0.44% | $1,760 | Yes — attorney state | $24,360 | 7.15% |
| New Jersey | 0.40% | $1,600 | Yes — attorney state | $24,200 | 10.75% |
| New York | 0.40% | $1,600 | Yes — attorney state | $24,200 | 10.9% |
| South Carolina | 0.37% | $1,480 | Yes — attorney state | $24,080 | 5.21% |
| Tennessee | 0.37% | $1,480 | No — title/escrow | $22,880 | 0% |
| Arkansas | 0.33% | $1,320 | No — title/escrow | $22,720 | 3.9% |
| Minnesota | 0.33% | $1,320 | No — title/escrow | $22,720 | 9.85% |
| Wisconsin | 0.30% | $1,200 | No — title/escrow | $22,600 | 7.65% |
| Virginia | 0.25% | $1,000 | Yes — attorney state | $23,600 | 5.75% |
| Nebraska | 0.23% | $900 | No — title/escrow | $22,300 | 4.55% |
| West Virginia | 0.22% | $880 | Yes — attorney state | $23,480 | 4.58% |
| Hawaii | 0.20% | $800 | No — title/escrow | $22,200 | 7.25% |
| North Carolina | 0.20% | $800 | Yes — attorney state | $23,400 | 3.99% |
| Iowa | 0.16% | $640 | No — title/escrow | $22,040 | 3.8% |
| Oklahoma | 0.15% | $600 | No — title/escrow | $22,000 | 4.5% |
| California | 0.11% | $440 | No — title/escrow | $21,840 | 13.3% |
| Alabama | 0.10% | $400 | No — title/escrow | $21,800 | 5% |
| Georgia | 0.10% | $400 | Yes — attorney state | $23,000 | 4.99% |
| Illinois | 0.10% | $400 | Yes — attorney state | $23,000 | 4.95% |
| Kentucky | 0.10% | $400 | Yes — attorney state | $23,000 | 3.5% |
| Ohio | 0.10% | $400 | No — title/escrow | $21,800 | 3.5% |
| South Dakota | 0.10% | $400 | No — title/escrow | $21,800 | 0% |
| Colorado | 0.01% | $40 | No — title/escrow | $21,440 | 4.4% |
| Alaska | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 0% |
| Arizona | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 2.5% |
| Idaho | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 5.8% |
| Indiana | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 2.95% |
| Kansas | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 5.58% |
| Louisiana | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 3% |
| Mississippi | 0.00% | $0 | Yes — attorney state | $22,600 | 4% |
| Missouri | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 0% |
| Montana | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 5.65% |
| New Mexico | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 5.9% |
| North Dakota | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 2.5% |
| Oregon | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 9.9% |
| Texas | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 0% |
| Utah | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 4.5% |
| Wyoming | 0.00% | $0 | No — title/escrow | $21,400 | 0% |
Transfer-tax rates are MODELED statewide base rates from this site's own state dataset. They exclude county/city add-ons and every exemption, and who pays is negotiable — treat them as a starting figure and confirm with your county recorder or closing agent. "Modeled seller exit cost" = a 5% total agent commission + that transfer tax + a modeled settlement/title fee ($2,600 in attorney-custom states, $1,400 elsewhere). It excludes your mortgage payoff, concessions, prorations and any tax on the gain. "Closing attorney customary?" describes local practice, not a verified legal mandate. State capital gains rate is the state's own top rate on gain as carried in this dataset — several states tax gain as ordinary income.
Recapture first, then the exclusion — the order changes the answer
If you ever rented the property or claimed a home-office deduction, the depreciation you took does not get sheltered by the $250,000/$500,000 exclusion. 26 U.S.C. 121(d)(6) removes gain up to your post-May-6-1997 depreciation from the exclusion entirely, and IRS Topic no. 409 taxes that slice as unrecaptured section 1250 gain at a maximum 25%. Only what is left over is exclusion-eligible.
Run it the other way round — exclude first, then recapture what survives — and you can convince yourself a fully-excluded sale owes nothing when it actually owes 25% of every dollar of depreciation you ever claimed. This calculator applies the steps in the statutory order.
The trap underneath it: recapture applies to depreciation "allowed or allowable." If you rented the property and never claimed depreciation, the IRS still treats it as taken when you sell. Entering $0 because you never filed for it does not make it $0.
| Step | Amount | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Realized gain (net sale price − adjusted basis) | $200,000 | — | — |
| 1. Unrecaptured section 1250 gain removed first | $40,000 | 25% max | $10,000 |
| 2. Remaining gain eligible for section 121 | $160,000 | — | — |
| 3. Exclusion applied ($250,000 cap, so all of it) | −$160,000 | — | $0 |
| 4. Taxable long-term capital gain | $0 | your tier | $0 |
| 5. State layer on the full recognized gain | $40,000 | your state rate | varies |
A worked illustration of the ordering rule, not a projection of your sale. Federal figures per IRS Topic no. 409 and Topic no. 701 (fetched 2026-08-25) and 26 U.S.C. 121(d)(6). The state row applies the state's own rate to the recognized gain including the recaptured portion.
Where every number on this page comes from
Most seller-proceeds calculators print a total with no indication of which inputs are facts, which are national averages and which are your own guesses. All three are mixed together here too — the difference is that this table says which is which.
| Input | Kind | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer tax rate | State field once you pick a state | Modeled statewide base rate for the selected state from this site's state dataset. Excludes county/city add-ons and exemptions. Editable. |
| Settlement / title fee | Modeled, state-informed | Prefilled from whether the selected state is an attorney-custom closing state (varies). An editable estimate, not a quote. |
| Prorated property tax credit | Derived from the state rate | Half a year of the selected state's effective property-tax rate applied to the default sale price. Your actual proration depends on your closing date and county billing cycle. Editable. |
| Sale price | Your input | Zillow ZHVI-derived median home value for the selected state as carried in this site's state dataset. Replace it with your contract price. |
| Agent commission % | National rule of thumb (5%) | Commissions are fully negotiable and the buyer-side share is now separately negotiated. This is a starting default, not a market rate. |
| Mortgage payoff, concessions, adjusted basis, depreciation | Your input | Payoff comes from your servicer's payoff statement; basis and depreciation come from your own records and prior returns. |
| Section 121 exclusion amount | Your selection | IRS Topic no. 701: $250,000, or $500,000 filing jointly, subject to ownership and use tests this page does not verify. |
| Federal long-term rate | Your selection | IRS Topic no. 409 tiers (0/15/20%), optionally plus the 3.8% net investment income tax. Never derived here — the correct tier depends on total taxable income this page does not collect. |
| 25% recapture rate | Statutory maximum | IRS Topic no. 409: unrecaptured section 1250 gain is taxed at a maximum 25% rate. |
| State capital gains rate | State field once you pick a state | the selected state's own rate on capital gain as carried in this site's state dataset. Applied to the full recognized gain including the recaptured portion, because states generally do not mirror the federal 25% category. |
IRS pages in this table were fetched and read on 2026-08-25. No figure on this page has been reviewed by a named tax professional, and nothing here is tax advice — it is a disclosed model you can check line by line.
What this calculator does NOT model
A proceeds estimate is only trustworthy if it says where it stops. This one stops here:
- County, city and school-district transfer-tax add-ons, and every transfer-tax exemption (first-time buyer, low-value, intra-family, foreclosure). Only a modeled statewide base rate is applied.
- The section 121 ownership and use tests. You tell the calculator which exclusion you qualify for; it does not verify that you do. IRS Topic no. 701 has the tests.
- Reduced/partial section 121 exclusions, the suspension of the five-year period for qualified official extended duty, and the once-every-two-years limit.
- Installment sales, seller financing, and 1031 exchange deferral (use the 1031 exchange calculator for that path).
- Non-resident seller withholding, state transfer-tax clawbacks, and local mansion or luxury surtaxes.
- Any negotiated split of who pays the transfer tax. Custom varies; the field is editable and can be set to 0.
- Depreciation you were allowed but never claimed. It is still recaptured ("allowed or allowable") — enter it anyway.
If any line above applies to your sale, the number on this page is the wrong number for you — take it to your closing agent or a tax professional rather than adjusting it yourself.
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StateCalc Team
Editorial Team
The StateCalc team builds free financial calculators using data from official government sources including the IRS, U.S. Census Bureau, BLS, and state revenue departments. All formulas are validated by an automated test suite and cross-referenced against published data.
Our editorial standardsFrequently Asked Questions
How much will I actually make selling my house?
Take the sale price and subtract, in order: total agent commission (about 5%, but fully negotiable), your state's transfer or deed tax, settlement/title/recording fees, any concessions you agreed to, your prorated property tax, and then your mortgage payoff. That is your net at closing. It is not what you keep — if the property was ever a rental, or if the gain exceeds your section 121 exclusion, a tax bill comes out of it too. The calculator above runs both halves.
Which state costs the most to sell a house in?
On the transfer-tax line specifically, Delaware carries the highest modeled statewide base rate in this dataset at 3% — about $12,000 on a $400,000 sale. At the other end, 15 states are modeled at 0.0% and levy nothing at the state level on the same transaction. That is a five-figure swing on an identical sale, and it is invisible on any calculator that publishes one national "2–5% of price" band. The full 50-state table is below. These are modeled base rates and exclude county/city add-ons and exemptions.
Do I need a closing attorney to sell?
19 of the 50 states in this dataset are commonly treated as "closing attorney" states, where a licensed attorney customarily handles the closing rather than a title or escrow company. That is a description of local custom, not a verified legal mandate, and it changes what settlement costs — which is why the settlement-fee field on this page is prefilled differently depending on the state. Confirm what your transaction actually requires with a local real estate attorney or your closing agent.
Do I owe tax when I sell my house?
Often not, but the exemption is narrower than people assume. Under IRS Topic no. 701 you can exclude up to $250,000 of gain — $500,000 filing jointly — on your main home if you meet the ownership and use tests (generally owning and living in it for 2 of the last 5 years). But gain is measured against your adjusted basis, not your loan balance, so a long-held home in an appreciated market can exceed the cap. And the exclusion never covers depreciation you took while renting it out.
What if I rented the house out for a few years?
Then part of your gain is unrecaptured section 1250 gain and the exclusion does not touch it. 26 U.S.C. 121(d)(6) removes gain up to your post-May-6-1997 depreciation from the section 121 exclusion, and IRS Topic no. 409 taxes it at a maximum 25%. Worse, the rule is "allowed or allowable" — if you rented it and never claimed depreciation, the IRS still treats it as taken when you sell. Enter the depreciation figure even if you never deducted it; leaving it at $0 produces a number that is too good.
Who pays the transfer tax, the buyer or the seller?
It varies by state and by local custom, and it is negotiable in the contract. In many states the seller customarily pays; in some the buyer does; in others it is split or set by the municipality. This calculator puts the whole modeled base rate on the seller by default because that is the more common arrangement, but the field is editable — set it to 0 if your contract puts it on the buyer.
Is the 6% commission still standard?
No. Commission is negotiable and has always been, and the buyer-side share is now separately negotiated rather than automatically offered through the listing. The 5% default here is a starting assumption, not a market rate or a recommendation — change it to whatever your listing agreement actually says, including a flat fee or a buyer-side amount of zero.
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