A West Palm Beach homeowner calculates net proceeds by starting with the sale price and subtracting, in order, every claim that the transaction itself creates: commission, seller closing costs, inspection concessions and repair credits, carrying costs for the months the sale takes, and finally any mortgage balance repaid at closing. The research file works the method completely on a 550,000 dollar sale: commission at 5 to 6 percent removes 27,500 to 33,000 dollars, seller closing costs at 1 to 2 percent remove a further slice, concessions frequently remove 15,000 to 40,000 dollars and three to six months of carrying costs at 3,000 to 6,000 dollars a month remove 10,000 to 35,000 dollars, leaving the seller with something in the mid 400,000s before the mortgage is even considered (Frontier Capitals, 2026; National Association of Realtors, 2025). Every figure in that sentence is a band rather than a point, which is why the honest output of the calculation is a range: a best case net and a realistic net, computed side by side.
This report turns the method into a worksheet a homeowner can run on a single page, explains the order of the subtractions and the two judgements hidden inside it, and then runs the same worksheet on the direct route so the comparison is arithmetic rather than advertising.
Key Findings
- Commission is the first subtraction, at 5 to 6 percent, equal to 27,500 to 33,000 dollars on a 550,000 dollar sale (National Association of Realtors, 2025).
- Seller closing costs follow at 1 to 2 percent, covering title, documentary stamps and prorations (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- Concessions after inspections frequently subtract 15,000 to 40,000 dollars on aging inventory, and carrying costs subtract 3,000 to 6,000 dollars per month (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- The fully worked 550,000 dollar example nets the seller something in the mid 400,000s before any mortgage payoff (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- The national median time on market was 51 days in October 2025, the floor most carrying estimates should start from (Redfin, 2025).
- A mortgage balance, including a reverse mortgage handled under federal HECM payoff rules, is repaid from proceeds at closing (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2026).
What is the correct order of subtractions, and why does order matter?
Order matters because each subtraction answers to a different master: some are percentages of the price, some are events during the sale and some are debts that predate it. The worksheet therefore runs in five steps. Step one is the agreed price, the only addition in the whole calculation. Step two subtracts commission, computed on that gross price at the typical total of 5 to 6 percent, with the buyer agent share inside it averaging 2.42 percent in Q3 2025 as evidence of how firmly the total holds (National Association of Realtors, 2025). Step three subtracts seller closing costs at 1 to 2 percent for title, documentary stamps and prorations. Step four subtracts the event costs of the sale itself: concessions after 4 point and wind mitigation inspections, repair credits and the preparation spending the seller chose to fund. Step five subtracts carrying costs, priced by the month, and then the mortgage payoff, which converts the remainder into the seller actual proceeds.
Run honestly on the 550,000 dollar example, the steps look like this in prose. From 550,000 dollars, commission takes 27,500 to 33,000 dollars and closing costs take 5,500 to 11,000 dollars, bringing the running figure to roughly 506,000 to 517,000 dollars. Concessions of 15,000 to 40,000 dollars and carrying costs of 10,000 to 35,000 dollars then bring the range down toward the mid 400,000s, exactly where the research ledger lands the seller before any price reduction (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The agreement between the step method and the published ledger is the check that the worksheet is built correctly. Sellers who want the cost anatomy behind steps two and three can open the report on how much it costs to sell a house and the closing cost breakdown beside the worksheet.
Two entries ambush homeowners who build the worksheet from memory. The first is preparation spending: survey evidence shows 72 percent of sellers completed at least one improvement project before selling, and that money left the seller account before the price ever arrived, so it belongs in step four even though it never appears on a settlement statement (Zillow, 2025). The second is the deposit and document trail where a property is tenanted or association governed, because security deposits transfer to the buyer when a tenanted property is sold under the state tenancy framework (Florida Legislature, 2026), a small but real adjustment that surprises landlords at closing.
How should a homeowner estimate the two judgement calls, time and concessions?
Carrying cost is a judgement about months, and the evidence disciplines the guess. The national median days on market was 51 days in October 2025 (Redfin, 2025), and listed older homes in this market commonly take 60 to 120 plus days, so a worksheet that assumes a single month is fantasy for a pre 1981 house in Flamingo Park, El Cid or Prospect Park (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Multiply the realistic month count by the household actual carrying figure, which the ledger brackets at 3,000 to 6,000 dollars a month for a half million dollar property across tax, insurance, maintenance and utilities (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Insurance deserves its own pessimism inside that figure: an older roof can carry wind premiums into five figures annually, and carriers decline some older roofs outright under the state wind standards organised around the 15 year mark (Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, 2025).
Concessions are a judgement about the inspection report the house will produce. A seller who already knows the roof age, the panel type and the plumbing material can forecast the 4 point findings almost as well as the inspector can, and the documented band for the resulting concessions is 15,000 to 40,000 dollars on aging inventory (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Financed buyers feel those findings through their lenders and insurers, which is why a 30 year fixed rate averaging 7.28 percent as of October 1, 2026 matters to a seller worksheet: expensive money makes buyers defend every dollar of condition risk (Freddie Mac, 2026). The honest worksheet runs concessions at both ends of the band and treats the midpoint as the planning figure, not as a promise.
Mortgage payoff is the final judgement, and unlike the others it is knowable to the dollar before listing. A standard loan payoff comes from the servicer; a reverse mortgage follows the federal HECM rules on payoff, non recourse status and repayment timelines, which matter acutely when heirs are the sellers (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2026). Either way, the payoff is subtracted after the transaction costs in the worksheet, because it is a debt settlement rather than a selling cost, and keeping that distinction clean prevents the common error of calling a low equity outcome a high cost sale. The county deed and lien records document the position the payoff resolves (Palm Beach County Clerk of Court, 2026), and parcel records anchor the property facts behind it (Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, 2026).
A worksheet built from documents beats a worksheet built from memory, and three documents do most of the work. The first is an estimated settlement statement requested at the start of the process, which converts steps two and three from percentages into the actual title, stamp and proration figures for the specific property (Palm Beach County Clerk of Court, 2026). The second is the mortgage payoff statement, which fixes step five to the dollar instead of to a guess, including the HECM position where a reverse mortgage is involved (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2026). The third is the household own carrying record: twelve months of tax, insurance, utility and maintenance outgoings divided honestly, rather than the optimistic monthly figure owners tend to quote from memory. Homeowners who assemble those three documents before the first offer arrives can complete the worksheet in an evening, and they will negotiate the following week from figures they can defend line by line. The census profile of the local stock is a useful reminder of why the documents matter more than impressions, because the pre 1981 houses this market specialises in carry long, layered paper histories (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
One sensitivity test belongs on every completed worksheet: rerun it with the price reduced by one plausible negotiation step and with the timeline extended by one month, and look at the combined effect. A price reduction flows through the worksheet undiluted, landing entirely on the keep figure, while an extra month adds the full monthly carrying amount at 3,000 to 6,000 dollars (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Sellers who have seen that combined downside in advance make calmer decisions in the middle of a negotiation, because the cost of holding out for a small price improvement is printed on the page in front of them. The test also exposes which line a seller should fight hardest to protect. Where the mortgage payoff is small and equity is large, time is the enemy and a fast clean offer deserves respect; where the price itself is barely above the payoff, the price line deserves the fight and time is cheaper. The worksheet does not make that judgement, but it shows its price.
Another practical check is to date every assumption on the worksheet, so that an owner can see which figures are current and which figures were guessed at the start. A payoff figure, a monthly carrying total and an expected timeline each age at a different pace in West Palm Beach, and a worksheet built in one month may understate costs if a sale in 33405 stretches into a slower stretch of marketing. Updating the carrying line after each month on market keeps the estimate honest, because the ledger range of 3,000 to 6,000 dollars a month continues to apply while the property remains unsold (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The same discipline helps with the insurance part of that monthly total, since older homes can face difficult wind coverage decisions that affect both the owner who is waiting and a financed buyer who is deciding whether to proceed (Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, 2025). Sellers in Flamingo Park, El Cid and Prospect Park who refresh the worksheet at each offer, rather than only at listing, can compare a new price against a current cost picture instead of against an opening estimate that no longer matches the sale. That habit turns the worksheet into a live decision tool.
How does the same worksheet read on the direct route?
Running the identical worksheet with direct terms is the fairest comparison a seller can make, and the party offering those terms should be identified before the numbers. Frontier Capitals is a wholesaler: it sources off market deals to builders, agrees the purchase with the owner and places the property with a builder, and it does not claim to be a builder itself. On the direct worksheet, step two is zero because no commission is charged, step three is zero because no seller closing costs are charged, and step four is zero because the sale is as is with no inspection concessions. Carrying time compresses to the chosen closing date. What remains is price minus any mortgage payoff, which is why a direct price can trail a list price and still deliver equal or better proceeds.
The five benefits, each with its documented figure, are the worksheet entries in words. Privacy: zero showings, zero open houses and no public marketing period, so no staging or showing costs enter step four at all. Flexible timing: closing in 7 to 21 days, or months out with a leaseback, so the carrying line is chosen by the seller rather than suffered. No commissions: the 5 to 6 percent line, 27,500 to 33,000 dollars on the worked example, simply does not appear (National Association of Realtors, 2025). No seller closing costs: the 1 to 2 percent line disappears with it, and the two together protect 6 to 8 percent, over 26,000 dollars on a 380,000 dollar transaction in the research file benefit figures. No inspections or repairs: concession exposure of 15,000 to 40,000 dollars and repair credits of 10,000 to 30,000 dollars are removed from the worksheet entirely.
Set the two completed worksheets side by side and the negotiation changes character. Instead of arguing about price in the abstract, both parties can point to lines: this route charges this, that route charges that, and the seller keeps the difference. Sellers working at the largest scale can test the method against the illustration of what a seller keeps from a 1,500,000 dollar sale, and those hunting the smaller leaks can check their worksheet against the catalogue of hidden expenses.
Methodology and limitations
The calculation method and its bands come from the research file for ZIP 33405, itself built on the 38 home sample compiled for this report, county parcel and deed records and listing data, with commission structure from national research (Frontier Capitals, 2026; Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, 2026; Palm Beach County Clerk of Court, 2026; National Association of Realtors, 2025). The selection limitation of the series applies and is stated plainly: the sample was built to find builder targeted older housing, so the 81.6 percent builder demand rate describes the sample and not the whole ZIP.
The limitation specific to this headline is that a worksheet is only as honest as its inputs. The bands here are documented ranges, not predictions for a specific house: months on market, concession size and even commission can land outside them, price reductions sit outside the ledger entirely, and tax on any gain is a separate personal calculation that this worksheet deliberately excludes. Homeowners should rebuild every line with their own price, their own monthly carrying figure and their own payoff statement before treating the output as a plan.
Conclusion
Net proceeds are not discovered at the closing table; they are calculated, in five ordered subtractions, from figures a homeowner can assemble in advance: commission at 5 to 6 percent, closing costs at 1 to 2 percent, concessions of 15,000 to 40,000 dollars on older homes, carrying costs of 3,000 to 6,000 dollars a month and the mortgage payoff (National Association of Realtors, 2025; Frontier Capitals, 2026). Worked honestly, the method turns a 550,000 dollar price into the mid 400,000s, and it turns every competing offer, listed or direct, into a comparable keep figure.
The worksheet is the seller protection, because it moves the negotiation from the price a buyer says to the dollars a seller keeps. Have you run your own house through all five subtractions yet, at both ends of every band, before answering the next offer that arrives?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the first number a net proceeds worksheet needs?
The agreed sale price is the starting line, and the first subtraction is commission at the typical total of 5 to 6 percent (National Association of Realtors, 2025). On the worked 550,000 dollar example that line alone removes 27,500 to 33,000 dollars (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
Should the mortgage payoff be counted as a selling cost?
No, because the balance was owed whether or not the house sold, so the worksheet subtracts it after the transaction costs as a debt settlement (Frontier Capitals, 2026). A reverse mortgage payoff follows the federal HECM rules on payoff and timelines (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2026).
How many months of carrying costs should the worksheet assume?
Start from the evidence: a national median of 51 days in October 2025, and 60 to 120 plus days for listed older homes locally (Redfin, 2025; Frontier Capitals, 2026). Multiply the realistic month count by the actual monthly carrying figure, bracketed at 3,000 to 6,000 dollars in the ledger.
Where do most home worksheets go wrong?
They omit preparation spending and concessions, the two lines that never appear on an estimated statement at listing time. Survey data shows 72 percent of sellers funded an improvement project before selling (Zillow, 2025), and concessions on aging inventory run 15,000 to 40,000 dollars (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
Does the worksheet work for a tenanted property?
Yes, with one extra line, because security deposits transfer to the buyer when a tenanted property is sold under the state tenancy provisions (Florida Legislature, 2026). Landlords should also confirm lease survival and notice duties inside the same framework before signing.
Sources
- Frontier Capitals, 2026. 189 neighborhood builder acquisition sample: 38 homes sampled in 33405, 31 acquired by builders, average older home price 20.6 percent of new build, minimum lot 5,227 sq ft. Market data.
- National Association of Realtors, 2025. REALTORS Confidence Index, December 2025. Industry report.
- Redfin, 2025. U.S. housing market data, October 2025: median days on market 51. Market data.
- Zillow, 2025. Consumer Housing Trends Report: 67% of sellers paid at least some closing costs; 72% completed at least one improvement project. Industry report.
- Palm Beach County Clerk of Court, 2026. Recorded deeds and official records, West Palm Beach FL. Official record.
- Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, 2026. Parcel and permit records, West Palm Beach FL. Official record.
- Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, 2025. Homeowners insurance market data and wind underwriting standards, Florida. Government data.
- Freddie Mac, 2026. Primary Mortgage Market Survey: 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.28% as of October 1, 2026. Market data.
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2026. HECM program rules: payoff, non-recourse, and repayment timelines. Government data.
- Florida Legislature, 2026. Chapter 83, Florida Statutes: landlord and tenant provisions on lease survival, security deposit transfer, and notice requirements. Official record.