Sellers have one question they may not ask out loud: what do I actually walk away with? This answers it in about three minutes.
Most agents save net proceeds for the end of a listing appointment. Bring it to the front instead. A seller who sees a real number early stops guessing and starts thinking — and the rest of the appointment is a different conversation.
Step 1
The starting number
Enter 0 if the home is paid off. Use the last statement for planning; pull an exact payoff before close.
Sets a starting transfer tax rate. County and city add-ons are common.
Auto-filled from the state. Override with the exact local rate from title or escrow.
Step 2
Professional fees
Enter what you and this seller agreed to in the listing agreement.
Whether to offer, and how much, is the seller’s decision. Uncheck to model the alternative.
Often $1,200–$3,000. Your title company can confirm.
Required at closing in several states.
Step 3
Seller-side extras
Common in a hesitant market — often 1%–3% of price.
Depends on close date. Title or escrow calculates this.
Survey, pest treatment, well or septic work.
Estimated net proceeds
| Three list prices, side by side | AggressiveTop of the range | RealisticMost likely | ConservativeQuick sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| List price — edit any of these | |||
| Deductions | |||
| Listing brokerage compensation | |||
| Buyer-broker compensation | |||
| Transfer or excise tax | |||
| Title, escrow, attorney, recording | |||
| Seller-side extras | |||
| Mortgage payoff | |||
| Total deductions | |||
| Net proceeds | |||
| Cost of sale, excluding payoff | |||
| Difference against the realistic price | |||
An estimate for planning, not a closing statement. Transfer tax rates are a starting reference only — county and municipal add-ons are common, several states use graduated tiers, and some split the tax between parties. Excludes capital gains tax, loan-type-specific costs, prorated interest, and any local fees not entered above. Compensation amounts are negotiable and set by written agreement, not by this tool. Verify every figure with title or escrow before close, and tax questions with a CPA.
How to use this at a listing appointment
Lead with the number
The seller is already doing this arithmetic badly in their head. Answering it in the first few minutes does more for your credibility than any marketing section of a presentation.
“Before we talk about anything else — here’s roughly what you’d walk away with at a realistic price. Let’s start there and work backward.”
Show three prices, not one
A single number invites a negotiation about whether it’s high enough. Three prices side by side changes what’s being discussed: the seller stops asking “can we list higher” and starts asking which outcome actually serves their next move.
That’s also where the cost-of-sale line earns its place. It stays roughly flat as a percentage across all three columns, which quietly makes the point that a higher list price doesn’t reduce what it costs to sell.
Update the payoff before contract
The payoff is the largest single deduction and the one most likely to be wrong. A recent statement is fine for planning at the appointment. Before closing, pull an actual payoff statement from the servicer — they’re typically good for 10 to 30 days and include per-diem interest.
Before you use the compensation fields with a seller, follow your broker’s guidance. How buyer-broker compensation is discussed, offered, and documented changed substantially in August 2024, and the rules your brokerage operates under are the ones that govern. This tool models whatever numbers you enter — it does not suggest what they should be, and neither should any calculator. Compensation is negotiable and established by written agreement between the parties.
Handle the compensation toggle carefully
The checkbox lets a seller see both versions of their net sheet. That is a legitimate and useful thing to model, because it’s the seller’s decision to make and they’re entitled to see what it’s worth in dollars.
Present it as arithmetic, not advice. Show the difference, note that the choice is theirs, and route the strategy discussion through your broker’s current guidance rather than through generalizations about how the market will respond.
Never hand a seller a pitch
The number is the number. Your job is to make sure they understand what’s in it, what’s still an estimate, and what changes before closing. A seller who trusts the net sheet trusts everything that comes after it.
Free resource from Solo Agent Academy™ — share it freely with attribution.