Selling your home could cost you more than $80,000. Here's the breakdown.

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Homeowners are spending more to sell their home, and many underestimate what it will cost to prep, market, and close a deal. Factor in a growing number of buyer's markets, and sellers' profits are being squeezed too.

Owners who put their house on the market in the past three years shelled out an average of nearly $82,000 to sell their home, up 22% from 2025, according to new research by Clever Real Estate.

Here are the numbers sellers will want to consider before listing.

Homeowners expected to spend just under $27,000 to sell, but the actual costs were more than three times that amount, the Clever Real Estate research found.

"The biggest selling costs that most people typically underestimate are closing costs, such as title insurance, transfer taxes, and document prep," Jaime Seale of Clever Real Estate said. "The charges are often bundled into a single bill, so they don't know exactly how much they're being charged for each service. When added all together, the costs add up to a hefty bill most aren't expecting."

However, while closing costs averaged over $11,000, the biggest expense was home improvements to prepare the house for the market, topping $27,600.

According to the study, these are the average expenses recent sellers faced:

Repairs, improvements, or renovations: $27,649

Listing agent commission on the average-priced home: $13,875

Buyer's agent commission on the average-priced home: $13,573

Higher mortgage rates are giving buyers leverage in negotiations. As a result, the study found that a large proportion of sellers are looking to sell a home quickly (49%), rather than simply prioritizing maximum profit (48%).

"Offering concessions can speed up a sale and ease the up-front financial burden on buyers, while letting sellers hold firm on price," Seale said. "How much sellers spend on concessions depends on their home and their local market, but among those who offered them, the value averaged $9,914."

It's been two years since the National Association of Realtors settled an antitrust lawsuit that was intended to lower real estate commissions. Before the August 2024 settlement, sellers traditionally paid the buyer's agent commission in a sale. That's in addition to the seller's agent fee.

"In practice, not much has changed," Seale said. "A majority of sellers still pay the buyer's Realtor fees, especially in this market when sellers must compete for buyers and attracting them is a top priority. Sellers should expect to pay about 5.46% of the final sale price on commission, divided between the listing agent (2.76%) and the buyer's agent (2.70%)."

On the average-priced home, that costs sellers $27,448.

For sellers: higher costs, lower profits

Seale noted that for sellers, the prevailing real estate market is raising costs and lowering profits.

"Many sellers list their homes expecting pandemic-era offers, only to find that buyers can no longer afford those prices. Selling costs then cut into an already smaller sale price, often by more than sellers anticipated. We found that 39% say their profit was less than expected because of the total cost to sell."