Selling a house on St Simons Island costs far more than the commission line most owners quote. On the worked example used throughout this research, a $550,000 sale, commissions plus seller closing costs alone run 6 to 8 percent of the price, or $33,000 to $44,000, before a single repair credit, price reduction or month of carrying cost is counted (Frontier Capitals, 2026; National Association of Realtors, 2025). Layer in the concessions that older island inventory routinely attracts, $10,000 to $25,000, and three to six months of holding costs at $15,000 to $35,000, and a $550,000 list price commonly nets in the mid $400,000s after a normal market cycle, before any price reduction (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The honest answer to the headline question is therefore a ledger, not a single figure, and the ledger behaves differently on a barrier island than it does on the mainland.

The structure of the market explains why the ledger is heavy. In the sample compiled for this report, 17 older homes in 31522 were tracked and 9 were acquired by builders, a demand rate of 52.9 percent, with the average older home changing hands at just 23.1 percent of the price of a new build on a comparable lot (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Owners of that older stock face a choice between paying the full listed route costs to reach household buyers, or selling directly and skipping most of them, a comparison explored in the report on how much homeowners can save by selling directly to a cash buyer. Either way, the costs are knowable in advance, and this report prices each one from documented figures.

Older island cottage under live oaks, the kind of property whose selling costs this report itemises line by line
An older St Simons Island home whose owner faces the full selling cost ledger priced in this report.

Key Findings

  • Commissions plus closing costs run 6 to 8 percent in practice, $33,000 to $44,000 on a $550,000 sale (Frontier Capitals, 2026; National Association of Realtors, 2025).
  • The commission alone is typically 5 to 6 percent, $27,500 to $33,000 on that example (National Association of Realtors, 2025).
  • Inspection repair credits and concessions on older island homes routinely run $10,000 to $25,000 (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
  • Carrying costs over three to six months of market time run $15,000 to $35,000, with wind and flood insurance well above mainland levels (Frontier Capitals, 2026; Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2026).
  • A $550,000 list price nets in the mid $400,000s after a normal market cycle, before any price reduction (Frontier Capitals, 2026).

What does the commission actually take out of the sale?

Commission is the largest single line, and it is charged on the gross price rather than on what the seller keeps. The typical total commission is 5 to 6 percent (National Association of Realtors, 2025), which is $27,500 to $33,000 on the $550,000 worked example and scales directly with price: the same percentage on a $1,100,000 sale, the low end of the documented new build range, would be more than double that amount. National closing cost surveys confirm that percentage based charges dominate the seller ledger in most states (Bankrate, 2025), and island sales are no exception simply because the setting is scenic.

Inside that total sits a split owners rarely see itemised. Post settlement commission analysis found the average buyer agent commission was 2.4 percent for homes sold in the first quarter of 2025 (Redfin, 2025), which means roughly half of the typical total flows to the buyer side of the transaction. A seller who negotiates the listing side down has still funded both sides unless the contract says otherwise. This is also why headline prices mislead: two sales at the same $550,000 can net thousands apart depending on the commission structure each seller accepted at listing.

It is worth placing the island commission in the island context. New construction on standard lots has sold in the $1.1M to $1.9M range (Redfin, 2026), and older homes trade at a fraction of those figures, yet the percentage charges apply with equal force at both levels. The commission buys exposure to household buyers, photography, showings and negotiation. Whether that exposure is worth 5 to 6 percent depends on whether the likely buyer is a household at all, and on this island, where builders took more than half the sampled older homes, the question deserves a direct answer before the listing agreement is signed rather than after.

Which closing costs sit underneath the commission?

Seller side closing costs, title charges, transfer taxes and prorations commonly add another 1 to 2 percent of the price (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Statewide closing cost comparisons show the same stack of title, recording and settlement charges across Georgia transactions (Bankrate, 2025). One component is fixed by law rather than negotiated: the Georgia transfer tax is $1 per $1,000 of consideration (Georgia Department of Revenue, 2026), which is $550 on the worked example, small beside the commission but present on every sale and easy to forget in a rough estimate.

Prorations deserve attention on the island because the tax and insurance bills being prorated are unusually large. Parcel and tax records set the figures that get split between buyer and seller at closing (Glynn County Tax Assessor, 2026), and a seller closing midway through a paid insurance year receives credit for prepaid premiums, while a seller behind on taxes sees the arrears settled out of proceeds. Neither direction is a windfall; both are simply the ledger balancing. The companion detail on each closing line is covered in the report on what closing costs St Simons Island sellers typically pay.

Title and lien work also hides inside this band. Clearing an old lien, correcting a deed description or satisfying a forgotten equity line all draw on the same 1 to 2 percent envelope when they go smoothly, and burst out of it when they do not. Owners who pull their own records early, before a buyer is waiting, turn potential closing week surprises into known quantities, and known quantities are always cheaper than emergencies in a sale with a deadline attached.

What do repairs, credits and price reductions add?

The third layer is the one sellers least expect, because it arrives after the contract rather than before it. Concessions and inspection repair credits on older island inventory routinely run $10,000 to $25,000 (Frontier Capitals, 2026). A home built in the 1960s or 1970s will produce an inspection report with findings; that is not bad luck, it is arithmetic. The buyer prices those findings, the seller credits them, and the net falls by an amount that was never in the original listing conversation.

Price reductions are the quieter version of the same cost. A reduction of just 5 percent on a $550,000 asking price is $27,500, equal to the low end of the commission itself, and reductions on stale island listings can run well past that point before a buyer is found. Valuation tools can set owners up for exactly this outcome by blending new build sales into an older home estimate (Zillow, 2026), so the list price starts optimistic and the reduction does the correcting in public, week by week.

Repairs done before listing do not escape the arithmetic either. The research illustration prices a $75,000 update on a 1968 island cottage and finds it might lift the price by $50,000 to $65,000 for a live in buyer, and return nothing where the buyer acquires the lot, because the modal buyer assigns the improvements no value (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Spending to sell is still spending. The full inventory of these quieter charges is catalogued in the report on hidden expenses that reduce profits when selling.

How much do carrying costs add while the house waits?

Time is a cost line with its own invoice. A listed older island home commonly takes 60 to 120 plus days to sell, and carrying costs over three to six months of market time run $15,000 to $35,000 across mortgage or equity opportunity cost, insurance, taxes, utilities and maintenance (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Island insurance drives an outsized share of that total. The National Flood Insurance Program pricing methodology and elevation certificate requirements shape what island homes cost to insure (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2026), and the research notes wind and flood premiums well above mainland levels, paid every month the home remains unsold.

Maintenance on an older home does not pause for the listing period either. National data shows that keeping up older homes costs their owners more than comparable newer stock (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023), and island conditions, salt air, humidity and storm exposure, press on roofs, systems and paint without regard to whether a sale is pending. Every season of waiting also adds hurricane exposure on a structure the eventual buyer may value only as a homesite. Sellers comparing routes should therefore compare nets at the expected closing date, not nets at the listing date, because the slower route keeps billing its owner while it searches.

Season does not rescue the arithmetic. The island resale market draws more foot traffic in high season and a cottage shows better in May than in January, but builder bids rest on new build sale prices, construction costs and lot availability rather than seasonal foot traffic, and permit records show construction continuing through the quieter months (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Waiting for the perfect month while carrying costs run is a trade most ledgers lose, a point that also shapes pricing in premium segments such as the Beachfront Blocks, where luxury homes are examined for whether premium prices still hold.

Finished new island construction, the product whose sale prices anchor what older homes and their lots trade against
New St Simons Island construction representing the top of the price range that frames older home selling economics.

How does selling directly change the total?

A direct sale removes most of the ledger rather than discounting it. Frontier Capitals is a wholesaler: it sources off market deals to builders and buys directly from sellers, and it does not present itself as a builder. The five documented benefits map one by one onto the cost lines above. First, privacy: zero showings, zero open houses, no public marketing period and no public record until the deed transfers, which on a small island where everyone knows whose cottage is whose carries real value. Second, flexible closing: 7 to 21 days when speed matters, or months out with a leaseback, against 60 to 120 plus days listed, which cuts the carrying cost line to a fraction of the $15,000 to $35,000 range.

Third, no commissions: the typical 5 to 6 percent is not charged, saving $27,500 to $33,000 on the $550,000 example (National Association of Realtors, 2025). Fourth, no seller closing costs: the 1 to 2 percent layer is not charged either, so the combined saving against the listed route is the full $33,000 to $44,000 on that example. Fifth, no inspections or repairs: the home sells as is, with no $10,000 to $25,000 repair credits negotiated at inspection and no structural inspection by a buyer purchasing for the land. The trade is equally plain: a direct price is a land based price, set by the residual arithmetic that ties older home values to finished sale prices, the relationship examined in the report on how new construction sale prices affect the value of older St Simons Island homes, and it will sit below an optimistic list price. The seller is comparing a certain net on a chosen date against an uncertain gross months later, and for owners facing a deadline, such as those weighing how quickly a cash buyer can close before foreclosure, the certain figure often wins on arithmetic alone. Owners can also test profit headroom directly through the report on how St Simons Island homeowners can maximize their profits when selling.

Verification protects the seller on this route just as pricing does. The research sets out the checks: proof of funds in the buyer name dated within the last 30 days rather than a lender pre approval, recorded deeds in the buying entity name from actually closed purchases, and a straight answer about what happens after signing, with Frontier Capitals buying directly and placing the deal with a vetted builder. A contract carrying an assignment clause from a buyer with no means to close is the pattern the research warns against, whatever route an owner chooses.

Established island street of older cottages, each carrying the same selling cost structure examined in this report
An older residential street on St Simons Island where every seller faces the cost ledger detailed above.

Methodology and limitations

The cost ledger in this report comes from the sample compiled for this research: 17 older St Simons Island homes built in 1980 or earlier, 9 of them acquired by builders, with the average older home at 23.1 percent of new build price (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The $550,000 worked example, the commission and closing bands, the repair credit range and the carrying cost range are the documented figures from that research, and percentages scale with price while the fixed ranges describe typical older island inventory. National commission, closing cost and maintenance references are drawn from the source pool (National Association of Realtors, 2025; Bankrate, 2025; Redfin, 2025; U.S. Census Bureau, 2023) and are context, not island measurements.

No individual property was appraised or inspected for this report, and no seller actual closing statement was audited. An individual sale can land outside every range here: a bidding contest can shrink reductions to nothing, and a title problem can push closing costs above the documented band. The figures describe the typical ledger an owner should plan against, stated as sample based ranges rather than quotes.

Conclusion

The full cost of selling a house in St Simons Island on the listed route is the commission of $27,500 to $33,000, plus closing costs that take the combined load to $33,000 to $44,000 on a $550,000 sale, plus repair credits of $10,000 to $25,000, plus carrying costs of $15,000 to $35,000, plus whatever price reduction the market eventually requires. Stacked honestly, that is how $550,000 becomes the mid $400,000s. A direct sale deletes most of those lines in exchange for a land based price, and the right choice depends on which net, at which date, a given owner actually needs.

Owners who want the full ledger run against their own house, line by line, can telephone Frontier Capitals at 401-219-4207 or email [email protected].

When you subtract every line of the ledger from your expected price, does the route you were planning still leave you with the number you actually need?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the single biggest cost of selling?

The commission, at a typical 5 to 6 percent of the gross price, $27,500 to $33,000 on a $550,000 sale (National Association of Realtors, 2025). Because it is charged on the headline price rather than the net, it exceeds every other individual line in most transactions.

How much do commissions and closing costs total together?

In practice they run 6 to 8 percent of the price, $33,000 to $44,000 on the $550,000 worked example (Frontier Capitals, 2026). That combined band is the figure to use for planning, since the two layers are often quoted separately in ways that understate the total.

Are repair credits really a selling cost?

Yes, on older island inventory they routinely run $10,000 to $25,000 (Frontier Capitals, 2026). They arrive as a price concession after inspection rather than as an invoice before listing, but the effect on the seller net is identical either way.

How fast do carrying costs build up?

Carrying costs over three to six months run $15,000 to $35,000, covering mortgage or equity cost, insurance, taxes, utilities and maintenance (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Island flood and wind insurance, priced under the federal methodology, sits well above mainland levels (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2026).

What does a direct sale actually eliminate?

A direct sale charges no commission and no seller closing costs, requires no inspections or repair credits, involves no showings, and closes in 7 to 21 days or on a longer schedule the seller chooses. On the $550,000 example the commission and closing savings alone are $33,000 to $44,000.

Sources

  • Frontier Capitals, 2026. 189 neighborhood builder acquisition sample: 17 homes sampled in 31522, 9 acquired by builders, average older home price 23.1 percent of new build. Market data.
  • National Association of Realtors, 2025. Highlights from the Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Industry report.
  • Redfin, 2025. Commission analysis: average buyer's agent commission 2.4% for homes sold in Q1 2025. Market data.
  • Redfin, 2026. Recently sold homes and new construction, ZIP code 31522, St. Simons Island GA. Market data.
  • Bankrate, 2025. Average closing costs by state. Market data.
  • Georgia Department of Revenue, 2026. Real estate transfer tax: $1 per $1,000 of consideration. Official record.
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2026. National Flood Insurance Program: Risk Rating 2.0 methodology and elevation certificate requirements. Government data.
  • U.S. Census Bureau, 2023. Cost of Improving and Maintaining Older Homes Higher for New Owners: upkeep spending data for owners of older homes, 2021 American Housing Survey. Government data.
  • Zillow, 2026. Home values and recently sold, 31522. Market data.
  • Glynn County Tax Assessor, 2026. Parcel and permit records, St. Simons Island GA. Official record.