The Hidden Costs of Selling Your Home
By Leigh Martinuzzi of Martinuzzi Group – eXp Realty | Sunshine Coast Real Estate
When people sell, they fix on one number. The sale price. It’s the figure on the contract, the one you tell friends, the one that feels like the result.
It isn’t the number that changes your life, though. The number that matters is what actually lands in your account after settlement, and that figure is always lower. Sometimes by more than sellers expect.
None of this is a reason not to sell. It’s a reason to go in knowing what’s coming, because almost every cost between sold and settled is one you have some say over.
The number worth watching is your net proceeds
Here’s the part that surprises people most.
A higher sale price doesn’t automatically mean more money in your pocket. You can sell for more and walk away with less, depending on what it cost you to get there and what you gave up on the way.
Which means the useful question isn’t “what will it sell for?” It’s “what will I actually walk away with?” Those are different questions, and only one of them helps you plan your next move.
If you’re buying again, that net figure is what sets your budget. If you’re downsizing, it’s what tells you whether the plan works. If you’re paying out a mortgage and dividing the rest, it’s the only number anyone involved really needs.
Worth knowing before you list, not at settlement.
Where the money goes
There are seven costs between sold and settled. Some are obvious, several aren’t.
Agent’s commission
The largest single cost, and the one most people focus on.
It’s usually a percentage of the sale price, agreed before you list. Commission is negotiable and the structures vary, which is worth knowing, though the lowest fee isn’t automatically the best outcome. What matters is the net result.
A cheaper agent who achieves twenty thousand less on the sale price has cost you money, not saved it. So the question worth asking isn’t just what the fee is. It’s how the agent earns it, and what they do differently to justify it.
Marketing and advertising
Usually separate from commission and paid by you.
Photography, floor plans, listing portals, signboards and copywriting. You can scale this up or down, but cutting it to the bone is generally a false economy, because a property that reaches fewer buyers tends to sell for less.
Ask any agent to show you the marketing schedule item by item, and what each piece is actually for.
Conveyancing and legal fees
A conveyancer or solicitor prepares the contract, handles the searches and steers the whole thing through to settlement.
Fees vary between providers, so it’s worth comparing. That said, experience and responsiveness matter more here than saving a couple of hundred dollars. Good conveyancing quietly prevents problems that cost far more than the fee.
Styling and presentation
Furniture hire, pre-sale cleaning, gardening, minor repairs and general tidying.
This is the one sellers most often underestimate, partly because it’s spread across a dozen small invoices rather than one big one. It also genuinely affects the price, so it’s rarely money wasted. Just money you need to have budgeted.
Spreading these jobs out over months is considerably cheaper than a last-minute scramble.
Mortgage discharge and loan costs
Your lender charges a discharge fee to release the mortgage, and if you’re on a fixed rate there may be break costs on top.
These get handled quietly behind the scenes, which is exactly why people forget them. They still come out of your proceeds. Talk to your lender early so you know the figure, and if you’re buying again, ask whether your loan can be ported rather than discharged.
Moving and transition costs
Removalists, cleaning the place you’re leaving, mail redirection, utility reconnections.
There’s often an overlap cost as well. A period of paying for two places, or short-term storage and rental if your sale and purchase don’t line up neatly. Timing the two carefully can save a surprising amount here.
Capital gains tax, where it applies
For your main home this usually doesn’t apply at all. For an investment property or a holiday home it can be significant.
It depends entirely on your circumstances, which makes it the one to get proper advice on well before you sell rather than after. We’re real estate specialists rather than tax advisers, so this is firmly a question for your accountant.
The good news
Read that list and it can feel like a lot. Two things are worth holding onto.
First, almost every cost on it is negotiable, scalable or able to be timed. Commission is a conversation. Marketing can be sized to the property. Presentation jobs can be spread out. Moving costs come down with planning. Knowing they’re coming is what gives you room to make choices about them.
Second, a well-run sales campaign routinely adds more to your price than the total of these costs. That’s the whole point of doing it properly. Spending nothing on presentation and marketing to save a few thousand often costs considerably more than it saves.
The sellers who feel calm at settlement aren’t the ones who spent the least. They’re the ones who knew the numbers from the start.
Knowing your real number
If you’re thinking about selling, the single most useful thing you can do is work out your likely net proceeds rather than just your likely sale price.
We’re always glad to walk through that with you. An honest price range for your home, a realistic estimate of the costs for your situation, and the figure you’d expect to actually walk away with. No obligation, and no pressure to list.
Sometimes that conversation confirms the plan works. Sometimes it shows the timing is better in a year. Both are useful answers, and both are better known early.
Want the full picture?
Our guide sets out all seven costs in detail, where you have room to make choices on each, and the questions worth asking any agent before you list.
Read The Hidden Costs of Selling
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This article is general information only and does not constitute financial, legal or tax advice. Martinuzzi Group does not provide financial, legal or tax advice and does not recommend specific products, lenders or structures. Always seek advice from licensed professionals tailored to your circumstances before making any commitment.
