The sale price is the least important number in your transaction. What matters is what you keep — and between commissions, closing costs, repairs, and months of carrying costs, sellers are often surprised. Here’s the honest math.
Ask a homeowner what they’d sell for and they’ll name a price — usually whatever the neighbor’s house sold for, plus a little. But that number is the sale price, and it’s not what ends up in your pocket. Between the day you list and the day escrow closes, a stack of costs comes off the top: commissions, closing costs, repairs, staging, and every month of mortgage, tax, and insurance you pay while you wait for a buyer.
This isn’t an argument against listing — for the right house and the right seller, listing with an agent is absolutely the way to maximize your proceeds. It’s an argument for doing the math honestly before you choose. Because the only fair way to compare a cash offer against a traditional listing is net proceeds to net proceeds. Our cash offer vs. listing comparison builds on exactly this foundation.
Below is a worked example using round, clearly labeled illustrative figures — not a quote, not a promise, just the anatomy of a typical San Diego sale so you can see where the money goes.
$900,000 is a realistic sale price for a modest single-family home in much of San Diego County in 2026. Here’s roughly where that money goes in a traditional listing. (Every figure below is illustrative and approximate — your numbers will differ.)
Total commissions in the U.S. have traditionally run around 5–6% of the sale price, split between the listing agent and the buyer’s agent — and every commission is negotiable by law. At an illustrative 5.5%, a $900,000 sale sends about $49,500 to the brokerages. It’s the single biggest cost of selling, and it comes off the top before you see a dime.
Title insurance, escrow fees, notary, recording, and transfer taxes. California charges $1.10 per $1,000 of sale price at the county level (about $990 on $900,000), and some cities — including the City of San Diego — levy additional transfer tax on top. All in, sellers commonly pay roughly 1–2% of the price in closing costs.
To compete with turnkey listings, most sellers handle pre-inspection repairs, fresh paint, landscaping touch-ups, professional cleaning, and staging — which alone often runs several thousand dollars for a typical home. Older San Diego houses (think 1950s–60s ranch homes in El Cajon or La Mesa) can need far more before they photograph well.
Every month the house sits — on the market, in escrow, or both — you’re paying the mortgage, property tax, homeowner’s insurance, and utilities. On a $900,000 home that’s easily several thousand dollars a month. Three months from listing to closing is optimistic; each extra month quietly eats your net.
The rough tally: $900,000 sale price, minus ~$49,500 in commissions, ~$13,500 in closing costs (illustrative midpoint), ~$15,000 in repairs and staging, and ~$12,000 in carrying costs over three months — leaves roughly $810,000 net. That’s about 10% of the sale price gone before the money reaches you, and it assumes no price reductions along the way.
Price reductions. Overprice by 5% hoping to “test the market,” and the listing goes stale. The eventual reduction doesn’t just lower the price — it signals motivation to every buyer watching. Starting at the right price is cheaper than correcting later, but it requires an agent willing to tell you the truth instead of the number that wins the listing.
The double-move. If you’re buying your next home contingent on selling this one, timing gaps mean temporary housing, storage units, and moving twice. Those costs rarely appear in any agent’s net sheet, but they’re real money out of your pocket.
Your time and disruption. Showings on short notice. Keeping the house spotless for weeks. Inspection reports that reopen negotiations. Appraisals that come in low and send everyone back to the table. None of this has a line item, but sellers consistently tell us the process itself was the most expensive part — just not in dollars.
Capital gains taxes. Depending on your situation — how long you’ve owned, whether it was your primary residence, and your gain — a portion of your profit may be taxable. We’re home buyers, not tax advisors, so talk to a CPA: but don’t forget to factor taxes into your net before comparing options.
Now the punchline. Suppose a cash buyer offers $840,000 for that same house — as-is, no repairs, no staging, no commissions, no closing costs passed to you, closing in three weeks instead of three months.
On paper, $900,000 beats $840,000 by $60,000. But the listing nets roughly $810,000 after the costs above — while the cash offer nets the full $840,000, with no months of carrying costs and no repair bills. Suddenly the “lower” offer puts more money in your pocket, weeks sooner, with zero risk of the deal falling apart.
That won’t always be the outcome. On a pristine, updated home in a hot neighborhood, a listing will usually win on net — and we’ll tell you so. But you can’t know which path wins until you run both sets of numbers honestly. That’s exactly what a written cash offer gives you: a real number to compare against your agent’s net sheet, instead of guessing.
If you’re weighing the two paths, get the offer first — it’s free and no-pressure — then compare. Call or text 833-384-1049, or see how our process works. And if your situation involves downsizing, an inherited property, or a house that needs major repairs, the math tilts toward cash even faster.
Historically, total commissions in the U.S. have run around 5–6% of the sale price — commissions are negotiable and vary by transaction —, typically split between the listing brokerage and the buyer’s brokerage — but every commission is negotiable, and recent industry changes have made the structure more flexible. Always confirm the exact split in writing with any agent you interview, and make sure you understand what services are included for that fee.
Sellers commonly pay roughly 1–2% of the sale price in closing costs: owner’s title insurance, escrow fees, notary and recording charges, and transfer taxes. California’s county transfer tax is $1.10 per $1,000 of sale price, and some cities add their own transfer tax — the City of San Diego is one of them. Your escrow officer will give you an exact estimate before closing.
It depends on your mortgage balance, tax bill, and insurance — but for a typical San Diego County home it’s easily several thousand dollars a month in mortgage, property tax, insurance, and utilities. Multiply that by every month from listing through the end of escrow. This is the quiet cost sellers underestimate most, and it’s a big reason a fast cash closing can compete with a higher list price.
You don’t have to — but an as-is listing competes against turnkey homes and gets discounted accordingly, often by more than the repairs would have cost. Most agents will recommend at least pre-inspection repairs, paint, landscaping, deep cleaning, and staging, which together commonly run into the five figures. If that sounds exhausting or unaffordable, a cash as-is sale (see selling a house that needs repairs) skips the entire production.
Possibly — it depends on your gain, how long you owned the home, whether it was your primary residence, and current tax law. Federal law offers a capital-gains exclusion for qualifying primary residences, but investment properties, inherited homes, and large gains have their own rules. We’re not tax advisors: talk to a CPA before you sell so there are no surprises at tax time.
Build a net sheet for the listing path: expected sale price minus commissions, closing costs, repair/staging budget, and carrying costs for a realistic timeline — then compare that net number to the cash offer, which has no deductions. Our honest cash-vs-listing comparison walks through the full framework, and our FAQ answers the questions sellers ask us most.
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