Closing costs & net proceeds in Massachusetts.
Enter your home's price and see the agent commission, seller closing costs, transfer tax, and your estimated take-home — every rate drawn from the source cited on this page.
- Median sale price: $688,000
- Typical agent commission: 5.57%
- Seller closing costs: 1%
- Est. seller transfer tax: 0.46%
What will you net?
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Prefilled with the Massachusetts median sale price ($688,000). Change it to your home's price.
Every rate, with its source.
Four sourced Massachusetts figures drive every estimate on this page; the citation sits right beneath each one.
Reading the Massachusetts rate sheet.
The transfer-tax line swings the most from state to state. Massachusetts sellers hand over an estimated 0.46% — around $3,165 at the median — when the deed records (HomeLight, Jan 2025 ($4.56/$1,000, seller pays)). Excise stamps of $2.28 per $500 on deeds (seller pays) in most counties. Barnstable County has a local surcharge.
Start with the price: the median Massachusetts sale ran $688,000 (Redfin state market tracker, May 2026), and the typical listing needed 21 days to go under contract (Redfin state market tracker, May 2026). Call it 3 weeks of mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, and utilities that keep accruing while the sign sits in the yard — carrying costs no line item on this page captures.
For scale: that $688,000 median sits above the midpoint of the 50 state medians in the same Redfin tracker ($413,000), and the 21-day pace is quicker than the cross-state median of 42 days — a tailwind for sellers who need the money sooner rather than later. The wait runs on property taxes too: Massachusetts's 1.23% average effective rate ranks 16th of 50 — in the upper half of states.
Then come the seller's closing costs: 1%, roughly $6,880 at the median, covering title work, settlement, recording, and prorations (Redfin national 1-3% excl. commission, low end (transfer tax shown separately), May 2026). Massachusetts is an attorney-close state: legal professionals are required at the closing itself, so their fees are part of the bill rather than an optional extra.
Commission is the biggest line on the sheet: Massachusetts's 5.57% average comes in under the 5.68% average across the 50 state figures in the same Clever survey — about $757 less on a $688,000 sale than at the cross-state average rate. Expect about $38,322 of a median sale to go there, typically split between the listing agent and the buyer's agent (Clever Feb 2026 survey (state avg)).
Sellers ask; the data answers.
Who pays the transfer tax in Massachusetts, and how much is it?
The seller's estimated share in Massachusetts is 0.46% of the price, which works out to about $3,165 on a $688,000 median-priced sale (source: HomeLight, Jan 2025 ($4.56/$1,000, seller pays)). Excise stamps of $2.28 per $500 on deeds (seller pays) in most counties. Barnstable County has a local surcharge.
What share of the sale price goes to selling costs in Massachusetts?
About 7.03% at the median: a $688,000 sale in Massachusetts carries roughly $38,322 in agent commission (5.57%) and about $6,880 in seller closing costs (1%), plus about $3,165 in seller transfer tax, for a combined $48,367 before mortgage payoff, repairs, or concessions. Sources: Clever Feb 2026 survey (state avg); Redfin national 1-3% excl. commission, low end (transfer tax shown separately), May 2026.
What are the net proceeds on a typical Massachusetts home sale?
At the $688,000 median (Redfin state market tracker, May 2026), subtracting every sourced selling cost on this page leaves an estimated $639,633 — before the mortgage payoff and any repairs or concessions, which vary house by house. With Massachusetts listings taking a median of 21 days to go under contract (Redfin state market tracker, May 2026), each extra week of waiting quietly adds carrying costs on top.
Selling at $688,000: the full ledger.
Here is the whole ledger at the $688,000 median: each row multiplies that price by the cited rate beside it, just as the calculator above does for any number you enter.
| Line | Rate | At the median |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price (median) | — | $688,000 |
| Agent commission | 5.57% | −$38,322 |
| Seller closing costs | 1% | −$6,880 |
| Transfer tax (seller) | 0.46% | −$3,165 |
| Total selling costs | ≈7.03% | −$48,367 |
| Estimated net proceeds | $639,633 |
The net figure is pre-payoff: the mortgage balance, repairs, and any buyer concessions vary house by house. Sources: Redfin state market tracker, May 2026; Clever Feb 2026 survey (state avg); Redfin national 1-3% excl. commission, low end (transfer tax shown separately), May 2026; HomeLight, Jan 2025 ($4.56/$1,000, seller pays).
What the math doesn't show.
What this page has been adding up is the traditional route in Massachusetts: commission, seller closing costs, and transfer tax claim roughly 7.03% of the price ahead of your mortgage payoff. Repairs, concessions, and the wait for a financed buyer to close stack on top. Each figure is an estimate built from the sourced rates; actual costs depend on county, property, agent, and buyer.
The cash-sale alternative flips the trade: an independent cash buyer takes the house as-is, so the commission, repair, and waiting costs largely fall away while the headline price comes down. After subtracting everything above, the gap between the two nets is often smaller than it first looks.
Your cash option: Request offers to sell your Massachusetts house as-is for cash: no repairs, no commissions, no fees to you. Comparing is free, and the decision about what happens next stays yours.
See what the Massachusetts numbers mean for your house.
Compare the traditional math above with a fast as-is sale — free tools, sourced data, and a timeline you control.
Selling fast in Massachusetts →