A Westport homeowner can calculate net proceeds with a short, disciplined worksheet: start with the sale price, subtract commission at 5 to 6 percent, subtract seller closing costs at 1.5 to 2.5 percent including the conveyance tax computed at its two rates, subtract any inspection concessions and the carrying costs the timeline will consume, and finally subtract the mortgage payoff to reach the cash the seller actually keeps (National Association of Realtors, 2025; Frontier Capitals, 2026). The research ledger shows where that arithmetic lands in practice: on a 1,100,000 dollar list price, after a normal market cycle the seller nets something in the low to mid 900,000s before any price reduction, a benchmark every Westport worksheet should be able to reproduce (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
The method matters more than any single example, because each line is knowable in advance within a range. Commission is a contracted percentage. The conveyance tax is computable to the dollar once the price is set, at 0.75 percent on the first 800,000 dollars and 1.25 percent on the portion above it (Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, 2026). Closing costs fall inside a customary Connecticut range that state specific guidance itemizes (ListWithClever, 2026). Concessions and carrying costs are estimates, but they are estimates with sourced ranges for older Westport homes: 20,000 to 50,000 dollars for inspection credits and 7,000 to 12,000 dollars a month for carrying (Frontier Capitals, 2026). A seller who fills in the worksheet before choosing a route has converted a vague hope about proceeds into a decision tool, and can then compare it honestly with the private route arithmetic in how much a seller keeps on a larger sale.
Key Findings
- The worksheet order is price, minus commission, minus closing costs, minus concessions and carrying costs, minus mortgage payoff, and keeping that order prevents the common error of treating the price as the proceeds (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- Commission at the typical 5 to 6 percent is 55,000 to 66,000 dollars on a 1,100,000 dollar sale and roughly 43,000 dollars on a 780,000 dollar sale (National Association of Realtors, 2025).
- The conveyance tax is the one perfectly predictable line: 5,250 dollars at a 700,000 dollar price and 7,250 dollars at a 900,000 dollar price, from the published two tier rates (Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, 2026).
- Seller closing costs beyond the tax commonly total 1.5 to 2.5 percent including the tax, covering title, attorney fees, and prorations under Connecticut attorney closing practice (Connecticut General Assembly, 2019; Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- The mortgage payoff is subtracted last and separately, because it retires the seller debt rather than paying for the sale, and confusing it with a cost distorts every route comparison (Connecticut Department of Banking, 2025).
Step one and two: price, commission, and the closing cost block
Begin with a price you can defend. Net proceeds arithmetic built on an aspirational price produces an aspirational answer, so anchor the first line on recorded sales evidence for comparable Westport homes rather than on the highest number in neighborhood conversation (Frontier Capitals, 2026). If you are comparing routes, run the worksheet twice with the realistic price for each route, because a listed price and a private price for the same house are rarely the same figure and the worksheet is exactly the tool that reveals which route nets more at its own realistic price.
Commission comes off next. At 5 to 6 percent, the line is 55,000 to 66,000 dollars on the 1,100,000 dollar research example and scales linearly: each percentage point is 11,000 dollars at that price (National Association of Realtors, 2025). In a private sale this line is zero, which is the single largest structural difference between the two worksheets. Sellers should write the actual contracted rate from their own agreement rather than the typical range once an agreement exists, because the worksheet improves as its inputs move from ranges to documents.
The closing cost block follows, at 1.5 to 2.5 percent on the seller side for a conventional sale (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Build it in two parts for accuracy. First compute the conveyance tax exactly: 0.75 percent of the first 800,000 dollars plus 1.25 percent of everything above, remembering that state policy material treats conveyance as a standard residential transfer tax with state and municipal rate components to confirm with your attorney (Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, 2025). Then treat the remainder of the 1.5 to 2.5 percent range as the allowance for title work, the attorney conducted closing that Connecticut law requires, and prorations (Connecticut General Assembly, 2019). Connecticut seller guidance lists these components together, which is why the range approach is reliable even though individual attorney and title charges vary (ListWithClever, 2026). Federal settlement guidance gives sellers a national vocabulary for checking that each line on the eventual statement belongs to one of these categories (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2025).
Step three and four: concessions, carrying costs, and closing adjustments
The lines most sellers omit are the ones the market, rather than the closing statement, collects. Inspection concessions on older Westport colonials routinely run 20,000 to 50,000 dollars in credits, with oil tanks, septic age, knob and tube wiring remnants, and roof condition the usual findings (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Enter a figure inside that range if your home is older stock heading for a listed sale with an inspection, and enter zero only when the route or the contract genuinely removes inspection bargaining. A separate repair credit range of 10,000 to 30,000 dollars in the off-market accounting reflects the same defects priced more lightly, and either figure is more honest than a blank line.
Carrying costs convert the calendar into dollars. At 7,000 to 12,000 dollars a month, the question is how many months the route will take: a listed older colonial commonly needs 60 to 120 plus days, while a private closing can complete in 7 to 21 days or be set months out with a leaseback by choice (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Multiply the monthly figure by the expected months, and include the months before listing spent preparing the house, because the meter runs then too. Six months at the research range is 42,000 to 72,000 dollars, a sum large enough to reverse the ranking of two offers, which is why sophisticated sellers ask about timeline before they ask about price.
Closing adjustments finish this stage. Prorations divide taxes and similar charges by the closing date, and any agreement that lets a seller remain after closing is documented under use and occupancy standards, which can carry a daily or monthly amount that belongs on the worksheet as either a cost or a benefit depending on its terms (Connecticut Bar Association, 2026). Small statutory lines belong here too in a complete worksheet, although the data for this set quantifies them inside the closing block rather than separately. The discipline is categorical completeness: every line that will appear between the price and the check should appear on the worksheet first, in a range if necessary, because a ranged line can be managed and a missing line can only surprise.
Step five: mortgage payoff, tax reserve, and the final figure
Subtract the mortgage payoff near the end, and label it clearly as debt retirement rather than a selling cost. State banking guidance covers payoff and the recording of satisfaction, and your lender payoff statement gives the exact figure for a chosen closing date (Connecticut Department of Banking, 2025). Keeping the payoff separate preserves the most useful intermediate number in the whole exercise: the net before payoff, which is the figure two routes should be compared on, since the same payoff is subtracted under both. Only after that comparison should each seller compute personal cash, which is net before payoff minus the balance owed.
Reserve a final line for income tax on the gain, even if the reserve turns out to be zero. Connecticut taxes capital gains as ordinary income on top of the federal capital gains tax, and the federal primary residence exclusion is 250,000 dollars for single filers and 500,000 dollars for married couples filing jointly, so many sellers will reserve nothing after applying the exclusion while high gain sellers will owe a real amount on the excess (Internal Revenue Service, 2026). The worksheet cannot settle that question without basis, which is the province of the capital gains explainer in this set, but it should hold the line open so the final figure is presented as before income tax until a professional confirms otherwise.
Check the finished worksheet against the research benchmark before trusting it. If your price is near 1,100,000 dollars and your route is a conventional listing, the research says the net before payoff lands in the low to mid 900,000s after a normal cycle (Frontier Capitals, 2026). A worksheet that produces 1,050,000 dollars for that case has missed a line, most likely concessions or carrying months. A worksheet that produces 850,000 dollars has probably double counted the conveyance tax, which sits inside the closing cost block, or subtracted the payoff twice. The benchmark exists in the data precisely so a seller can audit personal arithmetic against a documented case, and the closing cost detail in what Westport sellers typically pay at closing helps locate any line that looks wrong.
What are the most common worksheet errors?
The first error is subtracting the sale price costs from the hoped for price rather than the expected price. Because commission and closing costs are percentages, an inflated first line inflates every deduction and still leaves the seller with an inflated answer, since the kept share of a fantasy price is a fantasy figure. Ground the price in comparable evidence and the worksheet becomes a planning document instead of a wish (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The second error is omitting the calendar: sellers who include commission and closing costs but leave carrying months blank have quietly assumed a sale faster than the 60 to 120 plus days a listed older colonial commonly needs, and at 7,000 to 12,000 dollars a month that assumption is the most expensive one on the page (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
The third error is treating the mortgage payoff as a selling cost when comparing routes, which punishes both routes equally and can hide the route difference entirely. Keep the payoff below the comparison line, as this worksheet does, and let the routes compete on the lines that actually differ between them (Connecticut Department of Banking, 2025). The fourth error is forgetting that some lines are ranges with behavior inside them: a seller who enters the low end of every range simultaneously has built a best case, not an estimate, and should label it as such beside a mid range case. Two honest columns, expected and cautious, serve a Westport seller better than one falsely precise column, because the decision that follows, which route and which offer, will be made under uncertainty either way.
A final error is leaving the tax line unexamined because it is not collected at closing. The worksheet should carry the gain estimate and the exclusion comparison into the final figure whenever the household may exceed the sheltered amount, since Connecticut taxes gains as ordinary income on top of federal tax and the resulting bill belongs to the economics of the sale even though it is paid later (Internal Revenue Service, 2026). A worksheet that ends at the closing check is a worksheet that stops one step before the truth.
What does a private off-market sale remove for a Westport seller?
Running the worksheet for a private sale shows the removals as zeros on familiar lines. Showings, open houses, and public marketing are removed, so the sale stays private until the deed records and the carrying months shrink to the chosen closing date. The timeline line becomes 7 to 21 days, or months out with a leaseback when the seller prefers it, against 60 to 120 plus days listed. The commission line is zero, saving roughly 43,000 dollars at 5 to 6 percent on a 780,000 dollar sale (National Association of Realtors, 2025). The seller closing cost line is removed as a seller expense, with commissions and closing costs together commonly 6 to 8 percent and over 53,000 dollars on that transaction, while the conveyance tax line remains because the tax applies in any channel (Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, 2026). The concession line is zero, avoiding 10,000 to 30,000 dollar repair credits and the wider 20,000 to 50,000 dollar inspection range. Frontier Capitals should be understood as a wholesaler: it sources off-market deals to builders and performs no building work of its own.
Methodology and limitations
Every figure in the worksheet comes from the sources in this post: the commission range, the closing cost range and its components, the conveyance tax rates and worked examples, the concession and carrying ranges, and the research benchmark net on a 1,100,000 dollar price (Frontier Capitals, 2026; National Association of Realtors, 2025; Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, 2026). The worksheet is a method, not a quote. Individual attorney and title charges, proration amounts, payoff balances, and tax outcomes are personal figures that replace the ranges as documents become available, and no verified Westport figure exists in the data for preparation or staging spending, so the worksheet leaves that line to the seller own receipts.
Conclusion
Net proceeds are calculated, not discovered at the closing table: price, minus 5 to 6 percent commission, minus 1.5 to 2.5 percent in seller closing costs with the conveyance tax computed exactly inside it, minus concessions and carrying months, minus the mortgage payoff kept separate as debt retirement, with a tax reserve line held open for the gain above the federal exclusion (Frontier Capitals, 2026; Internal Revenue Service, 2026). Sellers who build that worksheet before choosing a route can compare a listing and a private offer on the only basis that matters, the money kept. For help running the numbers on a specific Westport house, call 401-219-4207 or write to [email protected]. If you ran your own sale through this worksheet tonight, which line would change your decision the most?
Frequently Asked Questions
What order should the deductions go in?
Price first, then commission, then the closing cost block, then concessions and carrying costs, then the mortgage payoff, with income tax on gain considered last (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The order matters because the net before payoff is the right figure for comparing routes, while the payoff is identical under both.
Where does the conveyance tax go on the worksheet?
Inside the seller closing cost block, computed exactly at 0.75 percent on the first 800,000 dollars and 1.25 percent above that (Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, 2026). Listing it separately and also inside the 1.5 to 2.5 percent block is the most common double count, and state policy material confirms it as a standard transfer tax component (Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, 2025).
How do I estimate concessions if my home has not been inspected?
Use the sourced range for older Westport colonials, 20,000 to 50,000 dollars in inspection credits, weighted by what you know about your oil tank, septic age, wiring, and roof (Frontier Capitals, 2026). An honest mid range entry beats a zero that no older home with an inspection contingency ever actually achieves.
What documents turn worksheet ranges into exact figures?
The commission agreement fixes the first line, the attorney estimate and the published tax rates fix the closing block under Connecticut attorney closing law, and the lender payoff statement fixes the payoff (Connecticut General Assembly, 2019; Connecticut Department of Banking, 2025). Federal settlement guidance helps you recognize each category when the statement arrives (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2025).
Should the worksheet include a line for remaining in the home after closing?
Yes, if that is part of the plan. A use and occupancy or leaseback style arrangement is documented under state bar standards and may carry an amount that belongs on the worksheet (Connecticut Bar Association, 2026). Treat it as a priced term of the deal, not as an informal favor between buyer and seller.
Sources
- Frontier Capitals, 2026. 189 neighborhood builder acquisition sample: 37 homes sampled in 06880, 22 acquired by builders, average older home price 22.6 percent of new build. Market data.
- National Association of Realtors, 2025. Typical seller commission structures, Fairfield County market. Industry report.
- ListWithClever, 2026. Seller Closing Costs in Connecticut. Industry report.
- Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, 2026. Real estate conveyance tax rates. Official record.
- Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, 2025. Real estate conveyance tax: state and municipal rates for residential transfers. Official record.
- Connecticut General Assembly, 2019. Public Act 19-88 (Senate Bill 320): licensed attorney required to conduct real estate closings. Official record.
- Connecticut Bar Association, 2026. Attorney-closing practice and use-and-occupancy agreement standards. Industry report.
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2025. Settlement cost and closing disclosure guidance for sellers. Government data.
- Connecticut Department of Banking, 2025. Mortgage payoff and satisfaction recording guidance. Official record.
- Internal Revenue Service, 2026. Sale of residence: real estate tax tips. Government data.