What do you keep selling a $500k house?
Selling a $500,000 home costs about $30,000 in agent commission and closing costs, or 6% of the sale price. After paying off a $350,000 mortgage you walk away with roughly $120,000. Those costs are charged on the whole sale price, not on your equity, so they take 20% of the $150,000 you had built up.
The headline number is the sale price and it is not the number that matters. $500,000 arrives, $30,000 leaves immediately in commission and closing costs, $350,000 goes to the lender, and $120,000 is yours.
The detail that makes this hurt is that the fee is charged on the SALE PRICE, not on your equity. It is $30,000 whether you own the house outright or owe most of it. Here you had $150,000 of equity and the costs take 20% of it. Someone early in a mortgage can lose most of their accumulated equity to a single sale, which is the real reason a short holding period is expensive rather than merely unlucky.
A move charges you at both ends. Selling costs 6% and buying costs about 3% in closing costs, so a round trip is roughly 9% of the value. Trading this house for another at the same price costs about $45,000 and leaves you living in the same kind of house. That figure, not the monthly payment difference, is what should decide a marginal move.
Capital gains tax usually does not apply, and this is the part people worry about unnecessarily. The primary-residence exclusion covers $250,000 of gain filing single and $500,000 filing jointly, provided you owned and lived in the home for two of the last five years. Most sellers are well inside that and owe nothing. It is why a home is carried with selling costs rather than an income tax liability when a net worth is stated honestly.
What is not in the $30,000: repairs and pre-listing work, staging, the move itself, and any concession you make to the buyer, which in a slow market can be significant. Those are real and they are on top. The one item you may be able to move is the commission, which is negotiable and has become more so since the 2024 settlement changed how buyer-agent compensation is agreed.
If you are deciding whether to sell at all, the comparison worth making is against staying and against renting the place out. A sale is the only one of the three that charges $30,000 up front and is irreversible at that price.
Still owed on the mortgage vs outcome
The same question at every still owed on the mortgage, so you can use the one you believe.
| Still owed on the mortgage | Net proceeds on a $500,000 sale |
|---|---|
| Paid off | $470,000 |
| 40% ($200,000) | $270,000 |
| 70% ($350,000)this page | $120,000 |
Selling costs at 6% of the sale price, which is commission plus the seller's closing costs. The costs do not change with the mortgage: they are the same $30,000 in every row. Excludes repairs, staging, moving and any seller concessions.
Assumptions
- Sale Price
- 500000
- Mortgage Remaining
- 350000
- Selling Cost Rate
- 6%
- Selling Costs
- 30000
- Equity Before Costs
- 150000
- Net Proceeds
- 120000
- Buyer Closing Cost Rate
- 3%
- Round Trip Cost
- 45000
Frequently asked
How much does it cost to sell a $500k house?
About $30,000, which is 6% of the sale price for agent commission and the seller's closing costs. After paying off a $350,000 mortgage you would net roughly $120,000. Repairs, staging and moving are on top.
Is the fee based on my equity or the sale price?
The sale price. It is $30,000 regardless of what you owe, which is why it can consume a large share of your equity early in a mortgage. Here it takes 20% of the $150,000 you had built.
Will I owe capital gains tax?
Probably not. The primary-residence exclusion covers $250,000 of gain single and $500,000 joint if you owned and lived in the home for two of the last five years. Most sellers are inside that. Gains above it, or a property that fails the use test, are the exceptions, and they depend on details this page cannot see.
What does it cost to sell and buy again?
Roughly 9% of the value across both ends: 6% to sell and about 3% in closing costs to buy. At this price that is about $45,000 to end up in an equivalent house, which is the number a marginal move should be judged against.
Is the commission negotiable?
Yes, and more visibly so since the 2024 settlement changed how buyer-agent compensation is agreed. It is the largest single line in the cost and the only one with real room in it, so it is worth asking about before signing a listing agreement rather than after.
Keep going
Rightmont books selling costs against the proceeds and puts the purchase on your balance sheet, so a move shows up as what it costs. Model it free.
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