A seller does not keep the headline price, and at a 1,500,000 dollar Alpharetta sale the deductions are large enough to plan around. Using the documented percentages from the Alpharetta cost ledger, commissions plus seller closing costs at 6 to 8 percent take 90,000 to 120,000 dollars at that scale, before repair concessions, carrying costs, a mortgage payoff, and any tax on the gain (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The seller keeps what remains after each of those documented lines, which is why this post works the ledger at both the 450,000 dollar research example, where every figure is documented directly, and the 1,500,000 dollar scale in the headline, using the same percentages.
No single kept figure can be stated for every seller at this price, because the payoff balance and the tax basis differ by household. What can be stated precisely is the method and the size of each layer, including the federal exclusion that shelters a large share of gain for many owner occupants: the sale of a main home can exclude up to 250,000 dollars of gain for a single filer and up to 500,000 dollars for a married couple filing jointly when the ownership and use tests are met (Internal Revenue Service, 2026). With those rules laid out, a seller can insert two personal numbers, the payoff and the basis, and arrive at a personal answer.
Key Findings
- At the documented 450,000 dollar example, commissions plus closing costs take 27,000 to 36,000 dollars, which scales to 90,000 to 120,000 dollars at 1,500,000 dollars by the same 6 to 8 percent (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- The typical total commission alone is 5 to 6 percent (National Association of Realtors, 2025), or 75,000 to 90,000 dollars at the headline scale.
- Georgia transfer tax at 1 dollar per 1,000 dollars of consideration is 1,500 dollars at the headline scale, inside the closing cost layer (Georgia Department of Revenue, 2026).
- The federal main home exclusion reaches 250,000 dollars of gain for a single filer and 500,000 dollars for a married couple filing jointly when the tests are met (Internal Revenue Service, 2026).
- A payoff amount differs from the current mortgage balance, so the largest deduction must be taken from a payoff statement (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2026).
How does the documented 450,000 dollar ledger scale to the headline price?
The research ledger is built at 450,000 dollars, and every percentage in it is stated in the sources, so scaling is arithmetic rather than speculation. Commissions at the typical 5 to 6 percent are 22,500 to 27,000 dollars at the example price (National Association of Realtors, 2025; Frontier Capitals, 2026). Seller side closing costs at 1 to 2 percent are 4,500 to 9,000 dollars. Combined, the documented total is 6 to 8 percent, or 27,000 to 36,000 dollars (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Multiply the price by ten thirds to reach 1,500,000 dollars and the same percentages produce 75,000 to 90,000 dollars in commissions, 15,000 to 30,000 dollars in seller closing costs, and a combined 90,000 to 120,000 dollars.
Two documented lines do not scale with price in the same way, and a careful seller keeps them separate. Repair concessions and post inspection reductions on older homes are documented at 8,000 to 20,000 dollars, with inspection credits reaching 10,000 to 30,000 dollars, driven by the age and condition of the house rather than by its price (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Carrying costs over three to six months are documented at 12,000 to 24,000 dollars, driven by time (Frontier Capitals, 2026). At the headline scale those lines remain plausible as stated for an older home, though a larger home can carry higher monthly costs, and this post does not invent a scaled figure the sources do not give. The transfer tax, by contrast, scales exactly: 1 dollar per 1,000 dollars means 450 dollars at the example price and 1,500 dollars at the headline price (Georgia Department of Revenue, 2026).
Context confirms the headline price is realistic for Alpharetta rather than theatrical. New construction on standard lots has sold from 900,000 to 1,600,000 dollars (Redfin, 2026). A 1,500,000 dollar transaction therefore sits near the top of the documented new build range, the segment where percentage based costs produce their largest dollar totals. Sellers in that segment should be the least willing to estimate costs from a small example without doing the multiplication, because a single percentage point at this scale is 15,000 dollars, more than the entire repair concession range documented for an older home at the research example price. Reading the ledger at full scale, line by line, is not pedantry at this level. It is the difference between a plan built on the kept figure and a plan built on the price.
What comes out after transaction costs, the payoff, and any repairs?
Start the kept calculation in the order the settlement statement presents it. Gross price: 1,500,000 dollars. Less commissions and seller closing costs at the documented combined band: minus 90,000 to 120,000 dollars (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Less any negotiated repair concession, if the sale was listed and inspected: minus a figure inside the documented older home ranges, counted once (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Less carrying costs already spent during the market cycle: minus 12,000 to 24,000 dollars at the documented older home range (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The result before the loan is a net sale figure in the broad neighborhood of 1,326,000 to 1,398,000 dollars if every range lands at its stated bounds, an illustration built only from documented lines and labeled as such.
Then the payoff leaves. The payoff is personal, not percentage based: it is the amount needed to satisfy the mortgage as of the closing date, including interest to that date, and it differs from the balance on a statement (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2026). A seller with a small remaining loan keeps most of the net sale figure. A seller who bought recently with a large loan keeps far less, even though both sellers paid the same price related costs. Georgia closings run through a closing attorney, who orders the payoff and assembles the statement under the state license law framework (Georgia Real Estate Commission, 2026). Any seller estimating the kept amount from the balance rather than the payoff is building the estimate on the wrong number, at any price level.
Gain for tax purposes is a different calculation from cash kept, and confusing the two is common at this price. Gain is roughly the sale price minus selling costs minus the basis, usually the purchase price plus documented improvements, under the rules in the federal guide to selling a home (Internal Revenue Service, 2025). Cash kept is the sale price minus costs minus the payoff. A seller can keep a large amount of cash and owe tax on only part of it, or keep modest cash after a large payoff and still have a taxable gain, because the loan does not reduce the gain. The tax section below works that distinction with the exclusion figures.
How does the capital gains exclusion change what the seller ultimately keeps?
Federal law allows an eligible seller to exclude up to 250,000 dollars of gain on the sale of a main home, and up to 500,000 dollars for a married couple filing jointly, when the ownership and use tests are satisfied (Internal Revenue Service, 2026). The companion federal guidance on the sale of a residence repeats the same framework and the same limits for sellers planning a transaction (Internal Revenue Service, 2026). The research summary of the exclusion describes it as a long standing feature of the tax treatment of owner occupied housing, with the same dollar caps framing its modern form (Congressional Research Service, 2026). For many long term Alpharetta owners, that exclusion shelters the entire gain even at a high sale price, because the basis from an older purchase plus the exclusion absorbs the appreciation.
At a 1,500,000 dollar sale, however, the cap can be exceeded, and the excess is where planning matters. Consider a purely illustrative household: a married couple with a basis of 700,000 dollars sells for 1,500,000 dollars with 100,000 dollars in selling costs, producing a gain near 700,000 dollars. The 500,000 dollar joint exclusion shelters the first portion, leaving roughly 200,000 dollars of gain potentially taxable under the rules summarized in the federal publications (Internal Revenue Service, 2025; Congressional Research Service, 2026). Change the basis, the filing status, or the eligibility period and the taxable remainder changes with it, which is why this post works the structure rather than quoting a tax bill no source can know for a specific household.
Two cautions belong in any kept calculation at this level. First, eligibility is factual: the ownership and use tests, prior use of the exclusion, and any period of nonqualified use all feed the result, and the federal topic and publication are the documented starting points for checking them (Internal Revenue Service, 2026; Internal Revenue Service, 2025). Second, tax is paid at filing, not at closing, so the cash received at the table overstates the final kept amount for a seller with taxable gain above the exclusion. A seller who spends the full closing proceeds before filing has confused a closing figure with a kept figure. The companion analysis in whether Alpharetta homeowners pay capital gains taxes when selling treats eligibility in more depth.
What does the direct route change in the kept calculation?
The direct route changes the first and largest block of deductions. The five documented benefits, stated at Alpharetta price points, are as follows. First, privacy: zero showings and zero open houses, with no public marketing period, and the sale stays private until the deed records, which at this price level also keeps a high value transaction out of neighborhood circulation (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Second, flexible closing: 7 to 21 days, or months out with a leaseback, versus 60 to 120 plus days listed, which also compresses the carrying cost window (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Third, no commissions: removing the typical 5 to 6 percent (National Association of Realtors, 2025) removes 22,500 to 27,000 dollars at the documented example scale, and proportionally more at higher prices when a commission would otherwise apply. Fourth, no seller closing costs in the direct structure: with the 1 to 2 percent layer removed, the combined documented saving is 6 to 8 percent, or 27,000 to 36,000 dollars at the example scale (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Fifth, no inspections or repairs: no 10,000 to 30,000 dollar credits, because the property sells as it stands (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
Frontier Capitals sources off market deals to builders and does not present itself as a builder, and at the headline price the honest framing is a net comparison, because a direct price and a list price will rarely be identical numbers. The seller keeps more of a direct price by the full documented cost band, and gives up whatever premium, if any, a listed competition would have produced above it. Sellers who want both numbers worked for a specific house, payoff, and basis can call 401-219-4207 or email [email protected]. The full method is also laid out in how Alpharetta homeowners calculate their net proceeds from a sale, which generalizes beyond this price point, and in what closing costs Alpharetta sellers typically pay.
Methodology and limitations
The percentages and ranges come from the Alpharetta cost ledger documented at a 450,000 dollar example (Frontier Capitals, 2026), scaled to the headline price by direct arithmetic using the same percentages, as the task for this headline requires. Repair and carrying ranges are not scaled, because the sources tie them to age and time rather than price, and no higher price version of those ranges exists in the source material. Tax figures are the federal exclusion limits and framework from the Internal Revenue Service and Congressional Research Service sources cited, and the household example in the tax section is labeled illustrative, with invented basis figures used only to show the arithmetic structure, not as market data. The payoff discussion follows the federal consumer guidance cited. No personal kept figure can be verified without a specific payoff and basis, and none is claimed here.
Conclusion
At a 1,500,000 dollar Alpharetta sale, the documented cost band alone removes 90,000 to 120,000 dollars before repairs, carrying costs, the payoff, and any tax above the federal exclusion of 250,000 or 500,000 dollars of gain (Frontier Capitals, 2026; Internal Revenue Service, 2026). The kept amount is therefore a calculated result, not a price, and the calculation is fully within a seller reach before listing or accepting any offer. If two sellers both sold at exactly the headline price and one kept several hundred thousand dollars more than the other, would you want to know which documented lines, payoff, basis, route, and timing, produced that difference before you chose how to sell?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the simplest estimate of what I keep at this price?
Take the price, subtract 6 to 8 percent for commissions and seller closing costs on a listed sale, subtract any repair concession and the carrying costs you will actually spend, then subtract the payoff from a payoff statement (Frontier Capitals, 2026; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2026). Reserve separately for any tax on gain above the exclusion. That sequence produces a defensible estimate in minutes.
Is the Georgia transfer tax included in the 6 to 8 percent?
The transfer tax sits inside the seller closing cost layer of the documented ledger. Its own rate is exact: 1 dollar per 1,000 dollars of consideration, which is 1,500 dollars at the headline price (Georgia Department of Revenue, 2026). Your closing attorney itemizes it on the settlement statement under the Georgia closing framework (Georgia Real Estate Commission, 2026).
Does the federal exclusion apply automatically at this price?
No, the exclusion depends on the ownership and use tests and on filing status, with limits of 250,000 dollars of gain for a single filer and 500,000 dollars for a married couple filing jointly (Internal Revenue Service, 2026). The federal publication on selling a home works through the eligibility rules in detail (Internal Revenue Service, 2025). Price alone does not grant or deny the exclusion.
Why can two sellers at the same price keep such different amounts?
Because the payoff and the basis are personal. The payoff decides the cash left after the loan is satisfied, and it differs from the statement balance (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2026). The basis decides the gain, and the exclusion decides how much of that gain is sheltered (Congressional Research Service, 2026). Price related costs, by contrast, are the shared documented band (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
Does a direct sale change the tax on my gain?
The tax calculation follows the sale price, selling costs, and basis under the federal rules, whichever route you choose (Internal Revenue Service, 2025). A direct sale changes the selling cost lines, removing the documented 6 to 8 percent combined burden for the seller (Frontier Capitals, 2026), and lower selling costs slightly raise the measured gain while raising the cash kept by far more. Confirm the net effect with the federal guidance and your own basis records.
Sources
- Frontier Capitals, 2026. 189 neighborhood builder acquisition sample: 20 homes sampled in 30009, 13 acquired by builders, average older home price 25.4 percent of new build. Market data.
- National Association of Realtors, 2025. Typical seller commission structures, Atlanta-North Fulton market. Industry report.
- Georgia Department of Revenue, 2026. Real estate transfer tax: 1 dollar per 1,000 dollars of consideration. Government data.
- Georgia Real Estate Commission, 2026. License law and closing attorney requirements for residential transactions. Official record.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2026. Mortgage payoff statements: borrower rights and servicer timelines. Government data.
- Internal Revenue Service, 2025. Publication 523, Selling Your Home. Government data.
- Internal Revenue Service, 2026. Topic 701: Sale of Your Home. Government data.
- Internal Revenue Service, 2026. Sale of residence - Real estate tax tips. Government data.
- Congressional Research Service, 2026. The Exclusion of Capital Gains for Owner-Occupied Housing. Government data.
- Redfin, 2026. Recently sold homes and new construction, ZIP code 30009, Alpharetta GA. Market data.