By Aidan Sowa · October 2026 · Westhampton Beach, New YorkA seller who lists and sells a Westhampton Beach home for 1,500,000 dollars typically keeps roughly 1,235,000 to 1,345,000 dollars before any mortgage payoff and before any capital gains tax, once the documented cost bands for this market are subtracted (National Association of Realtors, 2025). Commissions and seller closing costs together take 6 to 8 percent, which is 90,000 to 120,000 dollars at this price. Repair credits of 25,000 to 60,000 dollars and carrying costs of 40,000 to 85,000 dollars over three to six months take the rest of the difference. Any mortgage balance is then paid from what remains, and any income tax on gain is settled later with the tax return, under the exclusion and basis rules summarized by the Internal Revenue Service (Internal Revenue Service, 2026). This report builds the subtraction in full, explains why no single keep figure can be honest without a payoff number, and compares the listed outcome with a direct sale at the same gross price.
Key Findings
- At 1,500,000 dollars, commission at 5 to 6 percent is 75,000 to 90,000 dollars, and seller closing costs at 1 to 2 percent add 15,000 to 30,000 dollars (National Association of Realtors, 2025).
- Combined commissions and closing costs at 6 to 8 percent total 90,000 to 120,000 dollars at this price.
- After repair credits of 25,000 to 60,000 dollars and carrying costs of 40,000 to 85,000 dollars, the pre-payoff keep is roughly 1,235,000 to 1,345,000 dollars on the listed route.
- The state transfer tax inside the closing band is 0.4 percent, or 6,000 dollars at this price, paid by the seller (New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, 2026).
- The 15,000 dollar mansion tax at this price is paid by the buyer, not deducted from the seller keep (New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, 2026).
- A mortgage payoff reduces the keep dollar for dollar below the range above, by an amount only the servicer payoff statement can fix exactly.
Why is the keep a range instead of a single number?
Because every deduction except the transfer tax is a band, not a fixed fee, and two of the bands depend on how the sale unfolds. Commission depends on the listing agreement. Closing costs depend on the file. Repair credits depend on what an inspector finds in a house that, in this village, is often a 1960s or 1970s ranch or cape. Carrying costs depend on how many months the house takes to sell inside a normal listed window of 60 to 120 plus days. A report that promised one exact keep figure for a 1,500,000 dollar sale would be inventing precision the market does not offer. The honest answer is a worked range with each line visible, so a seller can replace each band with a personal figure as documents arrive.
Context helps explain why the gross itself is plausible and contested at the same time. In the sample compiled for this series, older homes averaged 26.5 percent of new build prices on comparable lots, with 9 of 15 homes acquired by builders (Frontier Capitals, 2026). New construction on standard lots has sold from 2,800,000 to 5,000,000 dollars (Redfin, 2026). A 1,500,000 dollar older home sale therefore sits above the simple ratio outcome for a mid range finished home, which usually means strong ground, water influence from the oceanfront blocks or the bay front streets, or a house with genuine resident appeal near Main Street.
What leaves the gross before the seller sees anything?
Work downward from 1,500,000 dollars. First, commission. At 5 to 6 percent the charge is 75,000 to 90,000 dollars (National Association of Realtors, 2025). A commission analysis putting the average buyer agent share at 2.4 percent for homes sold in early 2025 helps a seller see how that total is divided between the two sides of the transaction (Redfin, 2025), although the seller obligation is the total agreed in the listing agreement, not either half viewed alone. Second, seller closing costs at 1 to 2 percent add 15,000 to 30,000 dollars. Inside that band sit title work, attorney work in an attorney closing state, recording charges, prorations and the state transfer tax. The transfer tax portion is exact: 2 dollars per 500 dollars, or 0.4 percent, which is 6,000 dollars at this price (New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, 2026). Adding the first two layers gives 90,000 to 120,000 dollars, and a running keep of 1,380,000 to 1,410,000 dollars before the negotiation and time layers begin.
Title deserves a pause inside that second layer, because older homes generate title work at a higher rate than newer ones. Industry data on defect cures and claims shows that a substantial share of residential transactions needed non-routine clearance (American Land Title Association, 2025). A 1,500,000 dollar Westhampton Beach file with an old survey, a prior estate transfer or an addition built under a permit can require cure steps that a clean file avoids. Recorded deeds provide the chain that the search must confirm (Suffolk County Clerk, 2026). None of that changes the 1 to 2 percent planning band for a normal file, but it explains why the top of the band exists and why sellers with layered histories should budget toward it.
What do inspection and time subtract next?
Third, repair credits and price reductions. On older inventory in this market they routinely run 25,000 to 60,000 dollars. At a 1,500,000 dollar price, a buyer who intends to live in the home will price roof age, systems age and any water history into a credit request, and a seller who refuses every credit risks losing the buyer and restarting the clock. Fourth, carrying costs over three to six months run 40,000 to 85,000 dollars. That band covers loan payments where a loan remains, insurance, maintenance, winter care and property taxes that rank among the highest in the nation on Long Island. The parcel record for any address fixes the annual tax input behind that band (Suffolk County, 2026). Subtracting the third and fourth layers from the running keep gives the headline range for this report: 1,235,000 dollars in the heavy cost case, where every band lands at its top, to 1,345,000 dollars in the light cost case, where every band lands at its bottom.
Two buyer paid taxes must be kept out of this subtraction, because adding them is the most common error in online keep calculators. The mansion tax at this price is 15,000 dollars, charged at 1 percent on sales at 1,000,000 dollars and above outside New York City and paid by the buyer (New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, 2026). The Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund tax at 2 percent on most transfers in this area is likewise paid by the buyer. A seller who subtracts either tax understates the keep. A seller who ignores that builders model the mansion tax inside their bids as a soft cost, however, misunderstands how a builder gross is built, which matters when the direct comparison arrives below.
How does a mortgage change the keep?
Dollar for dollar, and by an amount this report cannot state because no payoff figure is documented for a hypothetical seller. The method is exact even though the input is personal. A payoff statement quotes the total owed through a good through date usually 10 to 30 days out, plus a daily per diem interest figure for each day beyond it. A home equity line is a separate lien needing its own payoff statement, wire and release even at a zero balance. After the servicer receives the payoff, it records a satisfaction or release with the county. A seller with a 400,000 dollar payoff, used here only to show the arithmetic shape and not as a market figure, would subtract that payoff from the 1,235,000 to 1,345,000 dollar range and keep the remainder before income tax. A seller with no loan keeps the full range before income tax. The situations that complicate payoff are treated in depth in whether an inherited house can be sold with an existing mortgage in Westhampton Beach, where the loan survives the owner and still must be satisfied at closing.
Shared ownership adds a division step after the subtraction, not before it. In a divorce, the amount divided is the net after costs and payoff, which is why whether a house can be sold before a divorce settlement in Westhampton Beach matters to the timing of any division: selling earlier stops carrying costs from shrinking the divisible amount. In an estate with several heirs, what happens when multiple heirs disagree about selling a house in Westhampton Beach shows how disagreement extends the carrying period and therefore lowers what each share can be. In every shared case the keep range in this report is the starting pot, not a per person figure.
What about income tax on the gain?
Income tax does not appear on the closing statement, but it reduces what the seller ultimately keeps, so this report flags it without pretending to compute a personal bill. Federal rules allow an exclusion of up to 250,000 dollars of gain per individual or 500,000 dollars on a joint return when the ownership and use tests are met: owning the home at least 2 of the 5 years before sale, using it as a main home at least 2 of those 5 years, and claiming no exclusion on another sale within 2 years (Internal Revenue Service, 2026). Gain above any available exclusion is taxable, and New York taxes capital gains as ordinary income at the state level with no separate state exclusion matching the federal one. A second home that was never a main home, a long held rental, and a recently inherited house with a stepped up basis all produce very different tax answers on the same 1,500,000 dollar gross. The full tax question is taken up in whether Westhampton Beach homeowners pay capital gains taxes when selling, while a seller whose income has suddenly stopped can also see how to sell a house fast after losing a job in Westhampton Beach for the route that shortens the wait for proceeds. A seller should treat any keep figure in this report as before income tax until an adviser has applied basis and exclusion to the personal facts.
How much more does the seller keep on a direct sale at the same gross?
Hold the gross at 1,500,000 dollars to isolate the route effect, and the direct terms described across this set change the subtraction fundamentally. Frontier Capitals sources off market deals to builders and acts as a wholesaler rather than as a builder, and its direct benefits at this price scale are stated here in language written for this report. The transaction stays private, with no showings, no open houses and no public marketing period, and nothing enters the public record until the deed transfers, a practical protection in a second home village where an empty house on show can attract the wrong attention. The closing date bends to the seller: 7 to 21 days when speed is the priority, or a later chosen date with a leaseback allowing the seller to stay past closing, instead of 60 to 120 plus days on the listed route, which also cuts the carrying exposure from months to weeks. No commission is charged, which at this price avoids 75,000 to 90,000 dollars outright. No seller closing costs are charged under the direct terms, so the full combined 90,000 to 120,000 dollars that the listed route spends at 6 to 8 percent remains with the seller. And the home is accepted as it stands, with no inspection stage generating a 25,000 to 60,000 dollar credit, so the as is condition that hurts most on the retail route costs nothing here.
On those terms, before payoff and income tax, the direct keep at the same gross sits close to the full 1,500,000 dollars, less only any prorations or personal items the contract assigns to the seller, against 1,235,000 to 1,345,000 dollars listed. The gap between the routes at equal gross is therefore roughly 155,000 to 265,000 dollars, driven by the saved commission and closing band plus the avoided credit and the shortened carrying window. Real direct bids will not always equal a retail gross, because builder bids are built from finished value less construction costs and margin. The residual illustration for this market, labeled simplified and not a promise, works from a 3,800,000 dollar finished sale, minus roughly 1,500,000 dollars in construction costs and a margin near 20 percent, to a residual land value near 1,500,000 to 1,700,000 dollars before site preparation of 35,000 to 55,000 dollars (Frontier Capitals, 2026). A lot that fits that illustration can support a direct gross near the retail figure in this report. A lot that does not must be compared net against net, which is the only fair test in either direction. Zoning and building records help test which case a specific lot is in (Town of Southampton, 2026). Sellers can see the wider market frame on the coverage page before requesting a bid.
What should a seller do with this range before signing anything?
Replace each band with a document, in order. Ask the listing agent to state the commission total in dollars at 1,500,000 dollars, not only in percent. Order the payoff statement early so the largest personal deduction is a fixed figure with a good through date rather than a balance glimpsed on an app, remembering that the recorded satisfaction will later appear in the county file (Suffolk County Clerk, 2026). Pull the parcel tax record to size the proration and the monthly carrying burn honestly (Suffolk County, 2026). Decide in advance how much inspection credit, up to the documented 60,000 dollar top of the band, the plan can absorb without breaking the reason for selling. Then run the direct comparison while both routes are still available, because a house that has already spent four months listed has already paid much of the carrying band that the direct route exists to avoid. The keep is decided less at the closing table than in the weeks before a route is chosen, and the range in this report is wide precisely because those early choices move it by six figures.
Methodology and limitations
The keep range in this report is arithmetic on documented bands, not a closing disclosure. Commission, closing, credit and carrying bands are the bands documented for this market, applied to a 1,500,000 dollar gross. The sample behind the market frame is 15 older homes in ZIP 11978, 9 acquired by builders, with an average older price of 26.5 percent of new build prices (Frontier Capitals, 2026). No mortgage balance, basis figure or personal tax fact exists for a hypothetical sale, so payoff and income tax are handled by method and excluded from the headline range, which is stated before both. Individual keeps will depart from the range with contract terms, file complexity and timing. Sellers should confirm their own figures with their attorney, their servicer and their tax adviser.
Conclusion
On a listed 1,500,000 dollar sale in Westhampton Beach, the seller keeps roughly 1,235,000 to 1,345,000 dollars before mortgage payoff and income tax, after 90,000 to 120,000 dollars in commissions and closing costs, 25,000 to 60,000 dollars in likely credits and 40,000 to 85,000 dollars in carrying costs have left the gross. The payoff then reduces that figure dollar for dollar, and tax on any gain above basis and any available exclusion reduces it further on the return. A direct sale at the same gross keeps close to the full price before payoff and tax, which is why the route choice is worth more than any single negotiation inside one route. The gross makes the headline. The subtraction decides whether the sale funded what it was meant to fund. If your plans after this sale were budgeted from the 1,500,000 dollar headline rather than from the amount you will actually keep, which plan changes first once the subtraction is done honestly?
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the seller keep more if the house sells above 1,500,000 dollars?
Yes, but not dollar for dollar at the margin, because commission and closing costs are percentages. Each additional 100,000 dollars of gross, used here only as arithmetic illustration, adds roughly 92,000 to 94,000 dollars before credits and carrying are considered, since 6 to 8 percent leaves at the table. Percentage costs are why a higher gross helps less than sellers expect and why removing the percentage layers helps more.
Is the 15,000 dollar mansion tax deducted from the seller proceeds?
No. The mansion tax at 1 percent on a 1,500,000 dollar sale is paid by the buyer (New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, 2026). It appears in transaction discussion because buyers, especially builders, count it among their acquisition costs, but it is not a seller deduction and should never appear in a seller keep calculation.
What if the seller owes more than the keep range midpoint?
Then the payoff consumes most of the proceeds and the sale becomes an equity decision rather than a profit decision. The method still holds: fix the payoff from the servicer statement, subtract the route costs, and compare the remainder under both routes. A direct closing in 7 to 21 days also stops per diem interest sooner, which matters when the margin between proceeds and payoff is thin.
When does the seller actually receive the money?
Proceeds net of closing deductions and payoff are disbursed at closing once the deed and mortgage satisfaction path are documented for recording (Suffolk County Clerk, 2026). Income tax on gain is not withheld at the table under the rules summarized here and is settled on the return, so a seller should reserve for any expected tax bill rather than treating the closing check as the final keep (Internal Revenue Service, 2026).
Can a seller keep the full 1,500,000 dollars?
Only in the narrow sense of a direct sale at that gross with no seller commission or closing charges, before payoff and income tax. No route makes a mortgage balance or a taxable gain disappear. What changes by route is the 155,000 to 265,000 dollar band of process costs, which is large enough to decide most real world comparisons at this price.
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Sources
- Frontier Capitals, 2026. 189 neighborhood builder acquisition sample: 15 homes sampled in 11978, 9 acquired by builders, average older home price 26.5 percent of new build. Market data.
- National Association of Realtors, 2025. Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Industry report.
- Redfin, 2026. Recently sold homes and new construction, ZIP code 11978, Westhampton Beach NY. Market data.
- Suffolk County Clerk, 2026. Recorded deeds and property records for ZIP 11978. Official record.
- New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, 2026. Real estate transfer tax and mansion tax guidance: 1 percent at 1,000,000 dollars plus outside New York City. Official record.
- Internal Revenue Service, 2026. Publication 523 (2025), Selling Your Home. Government data.
- American Land Title Association, 2025. Title insurance industry data on defect cures and claims. Industry report.
- Suffolk County, 2026. Property tax and parcel records. Official record.
- Redfin, 2025. Commission analysis: average buyer's agent commission 2.4 percent for homes sold in Q1 2025. Market data.
- Town of Southampton, 2026. Zoning, setback, and building records. Official record.