What Sellers Forget to Budget for Before Listing

When you decided to sell, you probably did some quick math. Sale price, minus what you still owe, minus the commission. That’s your number. But here’s the thing: that number is off. Not because the commission is wrong, but because it’s the only cost most folks ever count.

Almost every seller I sit down with has run that same calculation. Price, minus the mortgage, minus the commission, equals what I walk away with. And then closing day comes, they look at the settlement statement, and there are a few lines on it nobody ever warned them about.

Here in the Greater Milwaukee area, those are the ones that catch people off guard, because they never got counted in the first place. So let me walk you through what’s really on that statement, step by step.

1. First, the commission is the one you already know about. Let’s get this one out of the way, because it’s the number already in your head, and it’s the only one you’ve priced. It’s real, it’s the largest single line, and it’s negotiable. It always has been. Whatever you and I agree to is what goes on the listing agreement. I’ll walk you through exactly what it covers before you sign a thing.

But here’s the point: you already budgeted for this one. You’ve known about it since before you called me. It isn’t what’s going to surprise you. Everything after it is.

2. Second, there’s the one sellers get wrong most, and that’s concessions. This is the one folks underestimate. As the market has shifted toward buyers, concessions have climbed to some of the highest levels in years, and a lot of sellers who never planned to give one end up writing that check anyway. So they’re off by a meaningful amount on one of the bigger numbers at closing.

Now, a concession isn’t a price cut. It’s you covering something on the buyer’s side to get the deal done: money toward their closing costs, a repair credit, help buying their rate down. It comes right out of your proceeds and shows up on the settlement statement as a credit from you. And the reason it keeps climbing is simple. When buyers have options, they ask, and more of them are getting a yes.

3. And last but not least, there’s the stack, and here in Wisconsin I can actually tell you what’s on it. This is where I can get specific, because you’re selling in Wisconsin. There’s a pile of smaller items most sellers have never added up. In Wisconsin, the seller pays a state transfer fee of $3 for every $1,000 of the sale price.

That one can’t be negotiated away, but the nice thing is it can’t surprise you either; it’s always exactly that. On top of that, by custom here the seller usually pays for the owner’s title insurance, plus recording fees, your share of the property taxes up to the closing date, and of course your mortgage payoff.

None of these are huge on their own. But nobody counts them, so together they’re the surprise. Anyone quoting you one national number for all of this is guessing, because it comes down to your home, your county, and your numbers right here.

So here’s what I’d tell you before you list anything. Don’t ask what it costs to sell. Ask what you walk away with. Those are two different questions, and only one of them matters. The costs are just line items. Your net proceeds are the number you actually live on, and I’ll put that together for you before you ever sign a listing agreement: your actual number, not some national average.

So if you’ve got questions, give me a call any time. Call or text me at 414-614-8080, email me at mroth@shorewest.com, or visit rothteamrealestate.com. Bring me your address, and I’ll show you exactly what that check looks like. Better to see it now than at the closing table.