How Much Will I Actually Get From Selling My House? Net Proceeds, Line by Line

What you actually get from selling your house is the sale price minus your loan payoff and any other liens, minus the costs of selling (agent compensation, escrow, title, transfer taxes and fees), minus any repair credits, prorations and arrears that settle in escrow. Escrow prints those lines on the settlement statement, and you can build the same sheet before you sell. The net depends on where the house is as much as on its price: a city transfer tax, a special tax district or an HOA can each add a line. A listed sale usually brings a higher price; whether it also leaves you more depends on the lines below.

This article is part of the Cash Offer vs. Listing knowledge center. Every figure is a dash. A net sheet is a structure first, and your figures come from your payoff statement, your tax bill and your contract.

The seller net sheet, line by line

LineWhere the figure comes fromAmount

Sale price

The signed purchase contract

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Less: first mortgage payoff

Your lender's written payoff statement, including interest to the payoff date

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Less: second loans, HELOCs, recorded liens

Payoff statements and the preliminary title report

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Less: agent compensation

The listing agreement you signed, and any amount you agree to toward the buyer's agent

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Less: escrow fee

The escrow company's fee schedule and how the contract splits it

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Less: title insurance and title charges

The title company, as the contract assigns them

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Less: county documentary transfer tax

Collected by the county recorder when the deed records

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Less: city transfer tax, if any

Only in cities that add one

-

Plus or less: property tax proration

The county tax bill, split to the closing date

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Less: special tax and assessment arrears

The tax bill and the district

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Less: HOA dues owed, transfer and document fees

The association's demand

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Less: repair credits or concessions

Any agreement made after the buyer's inspection or appraisal

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Less: disclosure reports and other seller costs

Natural hazard report, any warranty or inspection you agreed to pay for

-

Estimated net proceeds

What escrow wires to you

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Two lines are missing from most online home sale calculators, and both happen before escrow opens: what you spend to get the house ready, and what it costs to own it while it is on the market. They do not appear on the settlement statement, but they come out of the same pocket. Add them below the table: preparation (paint, repairs, clean-out, staging) and carrying costs (mortgage, property tax, insurance, utilities, HOA dues) for each month from the day you start preparing to the day you close.

The lines that depend on where the house is

A national calculator applies one set of costs to every address. In the Pomona Valley and the west Inland Empire, three lines move from one city to the next.

Transfer tax: the county, and sometimes the city

Counties charge a documentary transfer tax when a deed records, under the Revenue and Taxation Code. A Pomona sale pays two: the Los Angeles County tax and Pomona's own city tax, because Pomona is one of five Los Angeles County cities that add one. A Claremont sale, a short drive away, pays the county tax only. Upland, Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga sales record in San Bernardino County and pay that county's tax. Escrow calculates the amount; your job is to make sure the line is on your sheet.

Special taxes in community facilities districts

Much of the newer housing in Rancho Cucamonga, especially Etiwanda's newer tracts and parts of Victoria and Terra Vista, and in Ontario Ranch, sits inside community facilities districts formed under the Mello-Roos Act. The special tax is billed on the county property tax bill. Two things reach your net. Any arrears are paid through escrow before the buyer takes title. And because California law requires you to disclose the special tax, buyers price the annual amount into what they offer, which shows up in the sale price line rather than as a deduction. In those tracts, the special tax balance is often a bigger line on the settlement statement than the transfer tax.

Association dues and fees

Townhomes and condominiums in South Claremont, and parts of Phillips Ranch in Pomona, have associations. Expect the dues owed through closing, plus transfer and document fees set by the association, on the statement. Dues also belong in your carrying costs for every month the house is listed.

Money that leaves escrow but is not a selling cost

Some amounts are held back from your proceeds without being a cost of the sale. They change what reaches your account, so ask about them early.

• California withholding. On some sales, escrow withholds a portion of the proceeds for the Franchise Tax Board under the Revenue and Taxation Code, and many sellers qualify for an exemption, for example on a principal residence. Escrow handles the form; a tax professional answers whether you are exempt.
• Federal withholding for foreign sellers. When the seller is not a U.S. person, the buyer generally must withhold under FIRPTA. This is a question for a tax professional before you sign.
• Income tax on the gain. Tax is not taken in escrow, but it can reduce what you keep. The IRS allows an exclusion of gain on a main home for sellers who meet its tests. Whether you qualify, and what a rental, an inheritance or a partial year changes, belongs with a tax professional.

A listed sale's net next to a cash sale's net

Most of the table is the same either way: the payoff, the liens, escrow, title, transfer tax, prorations, special tax arrears and HOA charges all appear whether the buyer finances or pays cash. What differs:

• Listing adds agent compensation, preparation, months of carrying costs and the risk lines: a repair credit after the buyer's inspection, or a price cut when the buyer's appraisal comes in short (see appraisal gaps on financed sales).
• A cash sale has a lower sale price, because the buyer has deducted repairs, resale costs and a margin. How that price is built is in how much cash buyers pay, and where the difference goes.

Listing usually leaves you more when the house can be financed as it stands, the preparation is modest and you can carry the house through the listing period without strain. When the house will not finance, the repairs are large and uncertain, or a date controls the sale, the two nets come closer than the two prices suggest. The cash offer vs. listing pillar puts both columns side by side.

Three checks before you trust any net figure

1. Get a real payoff statement. The balance on your monthly statement is not the payoff; interest runs to the payoff date and some loans add fees.
2. Read the preliminary title report. It shows recorded liens, judgments and assessments that must be cleared before you are paid. Questions about a lien belong with the lienholder or an attorney.
3. Find your tax bill. It shows any special tax district and whether installments are current. The county tax collector can confirm arrears.

What this looks like in practice

These are the kinds of files that come in, described without names or figures.

• A Pomona seller whose online calculator left out the city transfer tax and the months of carrying costs while a converted garage was sorted out.
• A Rancho Cucamonga owner in a newer tract with special tax installments behind, who needed the arrears line on both nets before choosing.
• A South Claremont townhouse owner surprised by the association's transfer and document fees on the estimate.

See your own net, twice

One walkthrough produces two written numbers on your house, the as-is cash offer and the open-market read, each with every line above and the net at the bottom. Compare them on the cash offer vs. listing page or call (909) 498-3977. There is no cost and no obligation to get the two numbers and the written report.

Sources

• Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder, Documentary Transfer Tax general information (the five cities with an added city tax, including Pomona): lavote.gov, accessed October 31, 2026
• San Bernardino County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk, document recording and documentary transfer tax: arc.sbcounty.gov, accessed October 31, 2026
• City of Rancho Cucamonga, Special Districts (community facilities districts): cityofrc.us, accessed October 31, 2026
• California Civil Code section 1102.6b (special tax disclosure to buyers): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed October 31, 2026
• California Revenue and Taxation Code section 18662 (withholding on real property sales): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed October 31, 2026
• Internal Revenue Service, FIRPTA withholding: irs.gov, accessed October 31, 2026
• Internal Revenue Service, Publication 523, Selling Your Home: irs.gov, accessed October 31, 2026

Mr. Cali Offers is not a tax advisor or law firm. Cash offers come from independent buyers and investors who buy for their own account and may resell for profit; a cash offer is generally below what the open market would bring. Any value shown is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal. Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice.