How to Estimate Your Net Proceeds From a Florida Home Sale: Cash Offer vs Listing Worksheet

Your net proceeds from a Florida home sale are the sale price minus your mortgage payoff, your closing costs, any commission, repair credits and the cost of carrying the house until it closes. Only the net is comparable: a cash offer with a lower price can leave you with a number close to a listing, or not, depending on the lines. Below is a worksheet, then the same $450,000 house run through both routes.

Start with the price and subtract in this order: the mortgage payoff, the deed documentary stamp tax, the owner's title policy and title fees when the seller pays them, prorated property taxes and association dues, any agent commission, repair credits after inspection, and the carrying costs from the day you list to the day you close. What remains is the check. Commission is shown here only as a cost line; this guide does not recommend an agent or a price.

Your statement balance is not your payoff. A payoff letter from your servicer adds interest through the closing date and any late fees, and a foreclosure lawsuit adds the lender's legal costs. The title company requests the letter once you have a contract, and the figure is good only through a stated date, so it rises a little for every day the sale runs long. If you are behind, the missed payments are already inside that number: you do not catch up first, the arrears are paid from the proceeds at closing.

Taxes and HOA or condo dues are split at the closing date. You pay for the days you owned the house and the buyer pays the rest, and if you paid ahead, the buyer credits you. A condo or HOA home also needs an estoppel certificate showing what is owed, and unpaid dues or an unpaid special assessment come out of your proceeds. Our guide to [Florida seller closing costs](/blog/florida-seller-closing-costs-cash-sale-vs-listing) covers each line.

The assumptions are labeled because only the payoff, the tax rate and the price are fixed by documents: a $280,000 payoff that includes $10,000 of arrears and fees, a sale at the full $450,000, and 75 days on the market. Doc stamps are $3,150 ($450,000 divided by 100, times $0.70). The assumed lines are $2,500 for the title policy, $22,500 for commission and concessions, $5,000 in repair credits after the inspection, $2,400 in prorations and $9,000 in carrying costs for 75 days of mortgage interest, taxes, insurance and utilities.

Net: $450,000 minus $280,000, $3,150, $2,500, $22,500, $5,000, $2,400 and $9,000 is $125,450. That figure holds only if the house sells at full price, the buyer's loan closes and the repairs stay at $5,000.

For the example, assume a written as-is cash offer of $380,000 that closes in 14 days. This number is an assumption, not a quote: a real offer depends on condition, title and the contract. Payoff is the same $280,000. Doc stamps are $2,660. Keep the title policy at $2,500 and prorations at $2,400 so the comparison stays fair. There is no commission, no repair credit and 14 days of carrying cost, assumed at $2,000.

Net: $380,000 minus $280,000, $2,660, $2,500, $2,400 and $2,000 is $90,440.

On these assumptions the listing nets $35,010 more. That gap is what the speed and certainty cost: the cash sheet closes in 14 days with no financing contingency and no repair negotiation, and the listing sheet depends on a full-price sale in 75 days that may not happen. A listing that sits, drops its price or loses a buyer to a failed loan moves toward the lower sheet and adds weeks of carrying cost. If a deadline is real, such as a court-set foreclosure sale date, the certain number is worth more. See the [Florida foreclosure timeline](/blog/florida-foreclosure-timeline) before you decide.

Run your own numbers: replace each assumed line with a quote. Ask a title company for a seller's estimated closing statement on your address, and ask any buyer for the offer in writing with the closing costs it covers.

The payoff grows. Arrears, late fees and, after a lawsuit is filed, attorney fees and court costs are all in the figure, and liens such as an unpaid contractor or association balance are paid from the proceeds at closing. If the total is larger than the sale price, the sale needs lender approval as a short sale. Our guide on [selling a house when you are behind on payments in Florida](/blog/can-i-sell-my-house-if-im-behind-on-payments-in-florida) walks through how the arrears are paid, and the [how it works](/how-it-works) page shows how we take a house to closing.