How Much Do You Keep When You Sell Your House?

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You see the sold price. The neighbours see the sold price. But the number that actually matters is the one that reaches your bank account after everyone else has taken their slice, and for most sellers it’s a fair bit smaller than the headline.

So how much do you keep? It depends on how you sell, what you still owe, and whether the taxman has an interest in your property. Let’s walk through it properly, with real numbers, so you can run the sums on your own place before you list.

What comes out of your sale price

Four things stand between the sold price and your bank balance:

Selling costs. Agent commission (if you use one), marketing, and any auction fees. This is the biggest cost you can actually control.
Legal costs. A conveyancer or solicitor to handle the contract and settlement. In 2026 expect roughly $1,000 to $3,300 all-in depending on your state and how complex the sale is.
Your mortgage. Whatever you still owe gets paid out at settlement, plus a discharge fee (usually a few hundred dollars) and possibly break costs if you’re on a fixed rate.
Tax, sometimes. Usually nothing on your own home, but capital gains tax can apply to investment properties. More on that below.

There are also settlement adjustments: council rates, water and strata are split between you and the buyer based on the settlement date. These usually shuffle a few hundred dollars either way rather than thousands, but they’ll be on your settlement statement, so don’t let them surprise you.

For a full itemised breakdown of every cost line, our guide to what it costs to sell a house in Australia goes through each one. Here we’ll stay focused on the question you came with: what’s left over.

The worked example: a $700,000 sale, two ways

Say your home sells for $700,000 and you still owe $300,000 on the mortgage. Here’s how the two routes compare.

	Agent sale	Private sale
Sale price	$700,000	$700,000
Agent commission (2.5% + GST)	−$19,250	$0
Marketing	−$3,000 (agent’s campaign)	−$979 (flat fee, PropertyNow listing)
Conveyancing	−$1,800	−$1,800
Mortgage payout	−$300,000	−$300,000
Discharge fee	−$350	−$350
What you keep	$375,600	$396,471

Same house, same buyer, same sold price. Around $20,000 difference in what you walk away with.

A couple of notes on the assumptions. Commission rates in Australia typically run between about 1.5% and 3.5% depending on your state and suburb; we’ve used 2.5% as a middle figure, and you can check your area in our state-by-state commission guide. Agent marketing is usually charged on top of commission, payable whether or not the place sells. And conveyancing costs the same whichever way you sell, so it doesn’t change the comparison, it just shrinks both columns.

Want the numbers for your own price point? Our commission calculator does the maths in a few seconds.

The mortgage: the big one you can’t negotiate

If you don’t own your home outright, the bank gets paid before you do. At settlement your conveyancer arranges for the loan balance to be paid out of the sale proceeds, the bank releases the title, and the rest flows to you.

Two things to check with your lender before you list. First, the discharge fee, which most lenders charge for closing out the loan. Second, and more important, break costs: if you’re partway through a fixed-rate period, ending the loan early can cost anywhere from very little to several thousand dollars depending on rates and remaining term. Ring your bank and ask for a payout figure. It’s a five-minute call and it removes the biggest unknown from your sums.

What about capital gains tax?

For most people selling the home they live in, the answer is simple: none. Your main residence is generally exempt from capital gains tax under the ATO’s main residence exemption.

CGT enters the picture when the property is an investment, was rented out for part of the time you owned it, or sits on more than two hectares. Broadly, the gain gets added to your income in the year you sell, and if you’ve owned the property for more than 12 months you’re generally eligible for a discount on the taxable gain. The actual bill depends on your income, your ownership history and your records, which is why this is one for a registered tax agent, not a blog. If any of those situations sounds like yours, get advice before you list, not after you’ve sold.

How to keep more of what you sell for

You can’t shrink the mortgage and you can’t negotiate with the ATO. So the money is in the costs you can control.

Sell without paying commission. This is the lever that moves five figures. A private sale through PropertyNow lists your home on the major portals for a flat $979, with licensed agents supporting you seven days a week. On most homes that’s a saving somewhere between $15,000 and $35,000.

Don’t over-spend getting the house ready. Sellers routinely pour money into fixes that don’t move the sale price. Fresh paint and a serious clean tend to pay for themselves; a new kitchen usually doesn’t. Our guide to what not to fix when selling will save you from the expensive mistakes.

Price it right the first time. An overpriced home sits, and every extra month on the market is another month of mortgage interest, rates and insurance coming out of your eventual proceeds. There’s more on typical timeframes in how long it takes to sell a house.

Get a payout figure and a conveyancing quote early. Neither changes the outcome, but knowing both means the number you’re planning around is the real one.

What if you sell “as is”?

Some sellers assume a home with dated bathrooms or a tired kitchen has to be renovated before sale or it’ll be practically given away. Usually it doesn’t work that way. Buyers price in the work, and what you “lose” selling as-is is often less than the renovation would have cost you in money and months. If the choice is between a $40,000 renovation and knocking $25,000 off your expectations, the maths favours selling as-is and keeping your weekends.

The bottom line

On a typical sale, the money that leaves your side of the table is the mortgage (fixed), the legals (roughly $1,000 to $3,300), the tax (usually nothing for your own home) and the selling costs (anywhere from about $1,000 to $25,000+ depending on how you sell). That last one is the only line item with a comma in it that you get to choose. Keep it small and the sold price on the sign gets a lot closer to the number in your bank account.

Start with the number that drives all the others

Before you can work out what you’ll keep, you need a realistic idea of what your home would sell for. Get a free property value report and run your own sums.

Get your free property value report

FAQ

How much money do you actually get when you sell your house? Your sale price minus selling costs (commission and marketing, or a flat listing fee), conveyancing, your mortgage payout and any capital gains tax. On a $700,000 sale with a $300,000 mortgage, that’s typically $375,000 to $396,000 depending on how you sell.

Who pays the mortgage when a house is sold? It’s paid out of the sale proceeds at settlement. Your conveyancer and the bank arrange it; you receive what’s left after the loan, fees and adjustments.

Do you pay tax when you sell your house in Australia? Generally not on your main residence. Investment properties and homes that were rented out for part of your ownership can attract capital gains tax; check with a registered tax agent.

When do you get the money after selling a house? At settlement, typically 30 to 90 days after contracts are exchanged, depending on the settlement period agreed in the contract. The funds usually reach your account the same day or the next business day.

Is it cheaper to sell your house privately? Substantially. Commission on an average home runs well into five figures, while a private sale through a flat-fee service costs about $1,000 all-up for the listing. Conveyancing costs the same either way.