What Selling Your Portland Home Really Costs: A Veteran Seller's Guide

The Number Most Sellers Get Wrong

Before listing, almost every seller does the same quick math: sale price, minus the loan payoff, minus the commission. Early this year, 83% of sellers expected to get their asking price or better. For most, that number is too high.

The commission is the line you saw coming, and it's negotiable. Whatever we agree to goes in the listing agreement, and I'll explain exactly what it covers before you sign. The costs that sting sit lower on the settlement statement.

“Don't ask what it costs to sell. Ask what you're going to walk away with.”

Concessions

A concession is money you put toward the buyer's side: closing costs, a repair credit or a rate buydown. Heading into this year, 39% of sellers expected to give one, but 46% actually did, the highest spring share on record.

In Portland, sellers often cut the price first and then give a credit on top. This past July, 31% of local sellers dropped their price, against 20% nationally. That's two hits to your bottom line, and it usually comes from a home priced wrong on day one.

Closing Fees

Title, escrow, recording fees, prorated property taxes, and your loan payoff with interest through the closing date. None of it is large on its own, but together it's real money, and it's rarely in the number sellers carry in their heads.

Transfer Tax Depends on Which Side of the River You Sell

Oregon has no state transfer tax, so selling in Multnomah or Clackamas County costs nothing here. Washington County is the Oregon exception at $1 per $1,000 of price. Cross the Columbia and Washington charges a real estate excise tax the seller pays, with a graduated state rate plus a local rate.

I'm licensed in Oregon and Washington. If your home is on the Washington side, the excise tax is often the biggest line on your statement after the commission.