How Much Money Will You Actually Keep After Selling Your Coastal Georgia Home?

Written by Kevin Thomas

Sellers almost always start with the same simple math: sale price minus what's owed on the mortgage. The real number is smaller than that, shaped by commission, Georgia-specific closing costs, prorated taxes, and sometimes capital gains — and for military sellers specifically, there's a valuable tax provision most people never hear about until it's too late to use it.

👉 Real estate commission is no longer a fixed, automatic percentage since the 2024 industry settlement — it's negotiated deal by deal now, and understanding that shift, along with Georgia's specific closing costs, is what actually determines your net check.

Here's every deduction that comes out before you see a dollar.

What Actually Comes Out Before You See a Check

Your remaining mortgage balance is the first and usually largest deduction — paid off directly from sale proceeds at closing, along with any accrued interest through the payoff date.

Real estate commission has genuinely changed since the August 2024 industry settlement. Buyer-agent compensation is no longer advertised on the MLS or automatically baked into a fixed total — it's negotiated directly, deal by deal, and increasingly written into the purchase contract rather than assumed. In today's market, listing-side commissions commonly run 2.5–3.0%, and when a seller chooses to offer buyer-agent compensation — which still happens in a strong majority of transactions — that typically adds another 2.0–2.5%. Combined, national average total commission runs around 5.7% when both sides are paid, though this is now a genuine negotiation, not a fixed industry standard.

Georgia's state transfer tax (sometimes called the deed tax) is calculated at $1.00 per $1,000 of the sale price, and it's customarily paid by the seller, though everything in Georgia real estate contracts is technically negotiable.

Attorney and title fees are part of doing business in Georgia's attorney-closing system, and combined with the transfer tax and recording fees, total non-commission seller closing costs in Georgia average around 3.21% of the sale price.

Prorated property taxes cover your portion of the year's tax bill up through your closing date — a credit calculation handled at closing, not a separate bill you pay afterward.

HOA transfer or resale certificate fees, if the property is in a covered community, and termite bond transfer fees, if you're passing along an active bond, are smaller line items but worth budgeting for specifically rather than assuming they're negligible.

Any negotiated buyer closing cost credits — common with VA buyers financing with $0 down — come directly out of your proceeds as well, if you've agreed to cover some or all of the buyer's costs as part of the deal.

A Worked Example

Here's how this looks on a $320,000 sale with a $220,000 mortgage payoff:

• Mortgage payoff: $220,000
• Commission (5% negotiated total): $16,000
• Georgia closing costs (attorney, title, transfer tax, recording — ~3.21%): $10,272
• Prorated property taxes (partial year): approximately $1,200
• HOA transfer fee, if applicable: approximately $300
• Termite bond transfer fee, if applicable: approximately $125

Total deductions: approximately $247,897 Estimated net proceeds: approximately $72,103

Your specific numbers will vary based on your actual mortgage balance, negotiated commission, and whether you're covering any buyer closing costs — but this framework shows exactly where a $320,000 sale price actually goes before it becomes a check in your hand.

The Capital Gains Question Most Sellers Get Wrong

Beyond closing costs, capital gains tax is worth understanding clearly. Under IRS Section 121, you can generally exclude up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 for married couples filing jointly) from taxation on the sale of a primary residence — provided you've owned and lived in the home as your primary residence for at least 2 of the last 5 years before the sale.

Here's the provision most military sellers never hear about. Under IRC §121(d)(9), service members who receive PCS orders to a location at least 50 miles away can suspend that 5-year look-back period for up to 10 additional years. In practice, this means a service member could have as long as 15 years to sell a home while still qualifying for the capital gains exclusion — even if the home spent years as a rental property while they were stationed elsewhere.

This is exactly the scenario a lot of Fort Stewart families end up in: buy a home, PCS away, rent it out for years across multiple assignments, and assume they've lost the capital gains exclusion because they haven't lived in it for 2 of the last 5 years. This military-specific extension can preserve that exclusion long after a civilian seller would have lost it — and it's worth discussing with a tax professional well before you list, not after you've already sold.

Why Work With Kevin Thomas

Understanding your real net proceeds — not just the sale price — is what lets you plan your next move with actual numbers instead of a rough guess. Kevin Thomas is a trusted buyer's agent and marketing strategist serving Coastal Georgia, with deep experience helping military families understand the full financial picture of a sale, including the military-specific capital gains provisions that too often go unused.

Working with Kevin means:

✔️ A realistic net proceeds estimate built on your actual mortgage balance and negotiated commission ✔️ Clear guidance on Georgia-specific closing costs before you list ✔️ Awareness of the military capital gains extension if your home has spent time as a rental ✔️ Straight talk about commission in today's negotiated, post-settlement market ✔️ An advocate who makes sure you understand your real number, not just your sale price

Your Next Step

Call or text Kevin Thomas: (912) 980-6153 Before you list your Coastal Georgia home, get a realistic estimate of what you'll actually walk away with.

Kevin Thomas with Level 10 Real Estate Group helps Coastal Georgia sellers understand their real net proceeds, from listing to closing day.