Net proceeds are what remains after every deduction between the contract price and the seller check has been subtracted in order. Start with the gross price, subtract commission at the typical 5 to 6 percent (National Association of Realtors, 2025), subtract seller closing costs at the typical 1 to 2 percent, then subtract inspection credits, carrying expense during marketing and any price reduction the market imposed. On a 650,000 dollar listed sale the first two layers alone run 39,000 to 52,000 dollars by arithmetic on the stated ranges, and the data behind this series notes that the pair commonly exceeds 40,000 dollars at that price. A homeowner who works the sequence on paper before listing will never mistake a gross price for money in hand.

Aerial view of Scottsdale homes where net proceeds are built one deduction at a time
Aerial view of Scottsdale homes, where calculating net proceeds means subtracting every layer in order.

Key Findings

  • 39,000 to 52,000 dollars is the arithmetic span of commission plus closing costs on a 650,000 dollar listed sale at the stated ranges
  • 45,000 to 54,000 dollars is commission alone on a 900,000 dollar sale at 5 to 6 percent, before any other deduction (National Association of Realtors, 2025)
  • 2.4 percent average buyer agent commission in early 2025 shows the buyer side share inside the total commission figure (Redfin, 2025)
  • 10,000 to 30,000 dollars is the common inspection credit range on older homes, the least predictable line in the calculation (Frontier Capitals, 2026)
  • 7 to 21 days against 60 to 120 plus days is the timeline choice that decides how much carrying expense enters the model

What is the step by step sequence for the calculation?

Write the gross contract price at the top, because every percentage deduction is measured against it. The first subtraction is commission, computed at the rate in your listing agreement within the typical 5 to 6 percent range documented in national profile research (National Association of Realtors, 2025). The highlights summary of that profile work gives sellers a quick reference for how the structure is usually presented during agent interviews (National Association of Realtors, 2025).

The second subtraction is seller closing costs, the title, escrow, recording and proration layer budgeted at 1 to 2 percent in the research behind this series. The closing disclosure is where this layer becomes exact, since federal guidance describes that document as the final itemized statement of the transaction costs (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2026). Until the disclosure arrives, the percentage range is the planning figure, and honest planning uses the full range rather than the hopeful end of it.

The third and fourth subtractions are the variable ones, inspection credits and carrying expense, followed by any mortgage payoff that will be taken from the proceeds at closing. A payoff is not a selling cost, yet it reduces the check, so a complete personal calculation includes it in a separate line clearly labeled as debt repayment. Whatever remains after the last subtraction is the net proceeds figure the seller can actually plan around.

How does the arithmetic look at three local price points?

At 650,000 dollars the listed model runs as follows, with each figure labeled as arithmetic on the stated ranges. Commission takes 32,500 to 39,000 dollars, closing costs take 6,500 to 13,000 dollars and the two together take 39,000 to 52,000 dollars. An inspection credit inside the documented 10,000 to 30,000 dollar range would reduce the result further, before any carrying expense is counted.

At 670,000 dollars, the older home price used as a worked example in the underlying research, commission at 5 to 6 percent comes to about 37,000 dollars and the research notes the combined commission and closing load passing 45,000 dollars (Frontier Capitals, 2026). At 900,000 dollars commission reaches 45,000 to 54,000 dollars, closing costs add 9,000 to 18,000 dollars by the same arithmetic and the combined predictable layer reaches 54,000 to 72,000 dollars. The pattern across the three prices is the lesson, because the percentages stay familiar while the dollars grow into sums that change decisions.

Commission reporting from 2025 helps a seller sanity check the first line of any model. The average buyer agent commission was measured at 2.4 percent for homes sold in the first quarter of that year, and later press coverage described buyer agent commissions as stable after the industry settlement (Redfin, 2025). A model that assumes a dramatically smaller commission layer than the stated range is not being conservative, it is being wrong in the optimistic direction.

Where do carrying costs and market time enter the model?

Carrying expense is the line most sellers leave blank, and the citywide snapshot shows why that omission is costly. Scottsdale homes averaged 77 days on market with 3.7 months of supply and a median sale price near 906,900 dollars, as reported in September 2026 (Redfin, 2026). Each of those days carries taxes, insurance, utilities, pool service and landscaping for the seller, and an older home that needs price discovery can remain on the market well beyond the city average.

Build the line from your own monthly bills rather than from a national guess. Add the monthly tax and insurance accrual, utilities at seasonal levels, pool and yard service and any association dues, then multiply by the months your channel is likely to consume. A listed older home commonly consumes enough months to make this line rival the inspection credit, which is why the two variable lines together often decide whether a listing beats a direct offer.

Price reductions belong in this part of the model as well. A home that lists optimistically and reduces later has not kept the higher price, it has spent carrying months to discover the lower one, and the net calculation should use the expected sale price rather than the opening ask. Honest modeling prices the outcome, not the announcement.

How does the residual view help a seller judge a direct offer?

A direct offer should be entered into the same worksheet as a gross figure with almost no deductions beneath it. The builder behind such an offer priced the property from a residual calculation, taking the expected new build sale and subtracting construction, margin and site preparation to reach the land value the offer reflects. The 85266 illustration in the research, with residual land value around 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 dollars on a 2,600,000 dollar new build, shows the scale of that method in north Scottsdale (Frontier Capitals, 2026).

The comparison that matters is net against net. Put the listed model in one column with its commission, closing, credit, carrying and reduction lines filled in, then put the direct figure in the second column with its empty deduction lines shown honestly. In land driven corridors the columns converge far more often than sellers expect, because the end buyer in both columns is frequently the same builder paying the same residual through different plumbing.

Sample figures explain why that convergence is normal here. Builders acquired 68.8 percent of sampled older homes in 85266, 62.3 percent in 85018 and 61.9 percent in 85251, so the listed column in those areas usually ends at a land buyer after paying retail channel costs to reach one (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The worksheet makes that visible in dollars instead of leaving it as an impression.

New Scottsdale construction used as the revenue line in a residual based offer
New construction in Scottsdale, the revenue figure builders use when a residual offer enters a net worksheet.

What does as is change inside the worksheet?

As is terms erase the inspection line and the preparation spending that precedes it. In the listed column the inspection contingency creates a credit or reduction commonly between 10,000 and 30,000 dollars on older homes, and sellers often spend money before listing in the hope of shrinking that line. In an as is column both the spending and the credit are simply absent, replaced by a price that already reflects the property condition.

The tax worksheet benefits from the same simplicity. Selling expenses figure in the amount realized under the federal rules for selling a home, and the federal publication on the subject walks through how those expenses and basis interact (Internal Revenue Service, 2025). A clean as is transaction produces a short, verifiable set of numbers for that calculation, with the price and the documented basis doing nearly all of the work.

As is does not excuse a seller from disclosure, and the worksheet should never be used to hide a known defect from the other side of the table. It assigns condition costs to the buyer who accepted them, which is a pricing decision rather than an information decision.

How can a seller tell a direct buyer from a bad actor wholesaler in net terms?

Net proceeds language is easy to borrow, so a seller should test the party rather than the vocabulary. A direct buyer shows funds matching the offer, closes in the name on the contract and posts earnest money that disappears if the buyer defaults, which means the net figure in the worksheet is the figure that funds. A bad actor wholesaler quotes a net figure built on a buyer who has not yet been found, then assigns the contract and takes a spread that was never shown in the seller worksheet.

The spread is the tell. If the end buyer pays more than the seller receives and an intermediary keeps the difference, the seller net was reduced by a cost that no line in the model disclosed. Asking who funds the purchase, whose name records on the deed and whether assignment is permitted exposes that structure in one short conversation.

Frontier Capitals sources off market deals to builders, works as a wholesaler in technical terms and does not present itself as a builder, which lets a seller ask directly which builders will price the property. A firm comfortable with the worksheet comparison in this report is behaving like a channel, while a firm that resists net comparisons is protecting a spread.

Does tax belong inside the net proceeds worksheet?

Tax belongs beside the worksheet rather than inside the channel comparison, because it follows the seller gain under federal rules whichever channel is chosen. The federal topic on selling a home sets out the exclusion of 250,000 dollars for a single filer and 500,000 dollars for a married couple filing jointly for eligible main home sales (Internal Revenue Service, 2026). A seller whose gain fits inside an available exclusion can treat the worksheet result as the planning figure without a further tax subtraction.

A seller whose gain may exceed the exclusion should add a tax line estimated with a professional, using the basis records the federal guidance tells owners to keep (Internal Revenue Service, 2026). The channel still matters at the margin, since selling expenses affect the amount realized, yet the tax line rarely reverses a channel decision that the cost lines have already made clearly. Readers pairing this model with Do Scottsdale Homeowners Pay Capital Gains Taxes When Selling? will find the exclusion framework beside the typical commission of 5 to 6 percent that anchors the first worksheet line (National Association of Realtors, 2025).

What does the direct column keep for the seller?

The direct column keeps the five items this series tracks, and the worksheet shows each one as an empty deduction line. Privacy is kept with zero showings, zero open houses and no public marketing period, so the sale never spends months as a public listing. The seller also keeps the preparation spending that a public debut usually demands.

Schedule control is kept with a closing in 7 to 21 days or a later date with a leaseback, set against the 60 to 120 plus days a listed older home commonly requires, the same contrast used in Is Selling a Scottsdale House Off-Market More Profitable Than Listing Publicly? where a closing in 7 to 21 days is weighed against 60 to 120 plus days on market. Commission is kept in full, since none of the typical 5 to 6 percent is charged (National Association of Realtors, 2025). Seller closing costs are kept in full, since none of the typical 1 to 2 percent is charged, and the arithmetic on a 650,000 dollar sale shows the avoided pair commonly exceeding 40,000 dollars. Inspection credits are kept as well, since the as is sale creates none of the 10,000 to 30,000 dollar reductions the listed column must budget. Coverage can be checked through the coverage checker and questions can be sent through the contact page before any worksheet is shared.

Established Scottsdale street where a clear worksheet settles the channel choice
Established street in Scottsdale, where sellers use a net proceeds worksheet to settle the channel choice.

Methodology and limitations

The worksheet in this report uses the commission and closing ranges from the data file behind this series, supported by the national profile and commission reporting listed below (National Association of Realtors, 2025). Market time context comes from the citywide snapshot compiled for this series (Redfin, 2026). Tax remarks are limited to the published federal exclusion amounts and record guidance, and they are not a substitute for advice on an individual return (Internal Revenue Service, 2026).

No completed Scottsdale sale was reconstructed line by line for this report, and no seller settlement statement was reproduced. Carrying figures depend on the bills of the individual property, and negotiated terms can move individual commission or closing lines outside the planning ranges used here.

The central limit is that a worksheet is only as honest as its inputs. A seller who enters an optimistic sale price, the low end of every cost range and no carrying months has not calculated net proceeds, but has instead written down a hope with numbers attached.

Conclusion

Calculating net proceeds means subtracting, in order, the commission of 5 to 6 percent, seller closing costs of 1 to 2 percent, inspection credits that commonly run 10,000 to 30,000 dollars on older homes, carrying expense across the marketing months and any price reduction the market required. Worked at 650,000, 670,000 and 900,000 dollars, the predictable layers alone run from roughly 39,000 dollars to more than 72,000 dollars by arithmetic on the stated ranges. Set against a direct figure with those lines empty, the worksheet often explains why the lower sounding offer can keep the seller more money.

Homeowners who want the worksheet built for their own address can contact Frontier Capitals at 401-219-4207 or [email protected] to run both columns with real figures. Have you ever written your likely net proceeds down in full before deciding how to sell?

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if Frontier Capitals buys in my ZIP code?

The buying area is the 189 neighborhoods in the builder demand study, and the Scottsdale ZIP codes in this series are part of that coverage. Confirm your address with the coverage checker on this site, or call 401-219-4207 to verify it in person.

What is the first line I should write in my own calculation?

Begin with a realistic expected sale price rather than an aspirational list price, because every percentage deduction is measured against that figure. Then subtract commission, closing costs, expected credits and carrying months in the order used in this report.

Is a mortgage payoff part of net proceeds?

A payoff reduces the check you receive, although it repays debt rather than paying a selling cost. Include it as its own labeled line so the worksheet shows both your true net after selling costs and the amount you will actually take away.

How do I estimate carrying costs without guessing?

Total one month of taxes and insurance, utilities, pool and yard service and association dues from your own bills, then multiply by the months your channel is likely to take. Your own statements turn the softest line in the model into one of the firmest.

Can a higher list price still lose to a direct offer?

Yes, whenever the listed deduction stack is larger than the gap between the listed price and the direct figure. That outcome is common in land driven corridors, which is why this report compares completed worksheets instead of headline numbers.

Where does tax fit after I finish the worksheet?

Compare your estimated gain with the federal exclusion amounts for your filing status, and involve a tax professional when the gain may exceed the sheltered amount. Tax planning sits beside the channel worksheet and can influence the closing date you choose.

Sources