A list price is not what you walk away with.
The Seller Net Sheet is the line-by-line account of what comes out of your sale price in Maryland and Washington, DC, and what is left. This page explains every line, where each number comes from, and how I use the sheet before we pick a price.
You see the proceeds before we pick a price.
A list price is not what you walk away with. Before we pick a price, you see the proceeds at every price we are considering, line by line, so the decision is made on the number that actually matters.
Michael Wade, REALTOR®Two list prices $20,000 apart are not $20,000 apart in proceeds. Some lines scale with price: transfer and recordation taxes, brokerage compensation, closing help. Others do not: your payoff and the title company's flat fees. The sheet does that arithmetic so you compare what lands in your account, not what goes on the sign.
Every line on the sheet, in plain English.
These are the seller-side lines on a Maryland or DC settlement statement, roughly in the order they appear.
-
01Mortgage payoff and the payoff letter
The title company orders a payoff letter from your lender. It states principal plus interest through the funding date, so it runs higher than your statement balance. A HELOC has to be closed, not just paid to zero, or the lien stays.
-
02Transfer and recordation taxes
Maryland collects a state transfer tax, most counties add a county transfer tax, and every county charges a recordation tax when the deed is recorded. In DC the seller pays the transfer tax and the buyer pays the recordation tax. Rates and the customary split are below.
-
03Title and settlement charges
The settlement fee, deed preparation, the fee to track and record the release of your old mortgage, and courier charges for the payoff. Flat fees that do not scale with price.
-
04Property tax prorations
Maryland's tax year runs July 1 through June 30, paid in advance, annually or in two installments. The tax is prorated to the settlement date: paid ahead, you are credited for the days you will not own the home; unpaid, your share is deducted.
-
05HOA or condominium
Dues are prorated to the settlement date. The association charges for the resale package the buyer is entitled to under Maryland law, and some add a transfer fee or capital contribution. The resale package is usually the seller's line.
-
06Water, sewer and utility finals
Water and sewer charges follow the property, so the title company collects a final reading or holds an escrow until the final bill clears; Baltimore City holds a water escrow. Some counties bill front-foot benefit charges for water and sewer lines, prorated the same way.
-
07Brokerage compensation
What you pay your listing brokerage, and whether you offer anything toward a buyer's broker. Both are negotiable and neither is set by law. The listing agreement spells out the listing fee and any offer to a buyer's broker; the sales contract can change the second one.
-
08Nonresident withholding
If you live outside Maryland when you sell Maryland property, the title company withholds a percentage of your proceeds for the Comptroller at settlement. It is a prepayment reconciled on your Maryland return. The rate is in the tax section below.
What the contract and the prep add
- Seller concessions and credits. Closing help negotiated in the contract, paid at settlement as a credit to the buyer. It reduces proceeds dollar for dollar, so it gets its own line.
- Repairs from the inspection response. Work you agree to complete, or a credit in lieu, after the buyer's inspection. See the inspection page.
- Home warranty. If you offer one or a buyer asks, the premium is paid at settlement on your side.
- Staging, prep and repairs before listing. Paid before the sale, not at the table, but still part of the cost to sell. The Before We List walkthrough decides what is worth doing.
- Termination fee. If you withdraw the listing before the term ends, the agreement includes a $1,500 cancellation fee.
On compensation. Every dollar of brokerage compensation on this page is negotiable and is not set by law, by Samson Properties, or by Bright MLS. The listing agreement you sign states the terms, and those terms govern.
Three taxes on one Maryland deed.
Maryland stacks three taxes on a recorded deed: state transfer, county transfer, and county recordation. The first is the same everywhere. The other two change at every county line, which is why the same price nets a different number in Columbia than in Silver Spring.
State transfer tax. 0.5% of the price. When the buyer is a first-time Maryland homebuyer purchasing a principal residence, the rate drops to 0.25% and the seller pays all of it. That allocation is state law, the one place the split is not custom.
County transfer and recordation taxes. Recordation is set per $500 of price; the table shows the effective percentage.
| County | County transfer tax | Recordation tax (effective) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery | 1.0% generally; reduced to 0.25%–1% on improved residential property depending on price | Tiered: 0.89% on the first $500,000 ($4.45 per $500); 1.35% from $500,000.01 to $600,000 ($6.75); 2.04% from $600,000.01 to $750,000 ($10.20); 2.16% from $750,000.01 to $1,000,000 ($10.78); 2.27% above $1,000,000 ($11.35) | Partial exemption on the first $100,000 for owner-occupant buyers |
| Howard | 1.25% | 0.5% | |
| Anne Arundel | 1.0% (1.5% at $1,000,000 and up) | 0.7% | |
| Baltimore County | 1.5% | 0.5% | First $22,000 exempt for owner-occupied |
| Baltimore City | 1.5% (2.1% over $1,000,000) | 1.0% (1.15% over $1,000,000) | Yield-tax surcharge over $1,000,000 |
| Prince George's | 1.4% | 0.55% | |
| Frederick | None | 1.4% | |
| Carroll | None | 1.3% | |
| Harford | 1.0% | 0.66% |
Rates as published by county and state offices; confirm current rates with the title company. The 0.5% state transfer tax applies in every county in addition to the figures above.
Who pays. In Maryland, transfer and recordation taxes are customarily split evenly between buyer and seller unless the contract says otherwise. That is custom, not law, and the contract controls.
In DC, two taxes and no county.
The District is a single jurisdiction, so there is no county layer. Two taxes attach to a deed, and by custom each side pays its own.
-
01
Transfer tax, paid by the seller
1.1% of the price under $400,000. At $400,000 and above, 1.45% of the entire price, not just the portion above the threshold.
-
02
Recordation tax, paid by the buyer
The same two tiers, charged to the buyer at recording. A reduced rate exists for eligible first-time DC homebuyers; that is the buyer's side, not yours.
-
03
The Homestead Deduction
DC's Homestead Deduction does not transfer with the deed. Your status ends with the sale, and the buyer applies in their own name after settlement.
-
04
What DC does not have
No county transfer tax, no front-foot charges, no customary split to negotiate. Rates are those published by the DC Office of Tax and Revenue; confirm with the title company.
Two lines that belong to your CPA.
I am not a tax advisor. These two lines are on the sheet because they change the number you walk away with, and a CPA confirms both.
Maryland nonresident withholding. If you are not a Maryland resident on the day you sell Maryland property, the title company must withhold part of your proceeds and send it to the Comptroller. For sales after June 30, 2025, the Comptroller's published rate is 8.75% for individuals and 8.25% for entities, applied to proceeds as the Comptroller defines them, not to the sale price. It is a prepayment: you reconcile it on your Maryland nonresident return, and any excess comes back. You can apply in advance for a full or partial exemption on Form MW506AE, for example when the home was your principal residence; the title company needs the certificate before settlement.
Capital gains and the primary-residence exclusion. Under IRS rules, a seller can exclude up to $250,000 of gain on a primary residence, or $500,000 married filing jointly, if the ownership and use tests are met. Gain is price minus what you paid and improved, not price minus payoff, so the sheet's number and your return's number are different things. The sheet notes the question; your CPA answers it, ideally before we list.
Not tax advice. Withholding and exclusion figures are as published by the Comptroller of Maryland and the IRS on the date this page was written; rates change, and your facts decide what applies. Confirm the withholding calculation with the title company and the tax treatment with a CPA.
One sheet at every price.
The net sheet is built with the pricing analysis, rebuilt as the facts firm up, and reconciled at the end.
-
With the pricing analysis
Proceeds at the recommended price and at each strategy price
The 21-page Seller Pricing Analysis ends with three pricing strategies. Each gets its own column, so you choose between proceeds, not list prices.
-
At your number
Your price, and your price after the market speaks
If you have a figure in mind above where the evidence lands, I run it. I also run it multiplied by the observed sale-to-original-list ratio for your area in Bright MLS, so you see what a price test has tended to cost nearby sellers.
-
Before the title quote
A placeholder cost rate, labeled as one
Until the title company quotes exact figures, taxes and settlement charges use a placeholder rate built from the county table and typical fee ranges. Every placeholder is marked.
-
At contract
Rebuilt with the real terms
Actual price, any concession, the inspection response, the payoff letter and the title company's figures replace the placeholders. From Contract to Keys covers what happens next.
-
At settlement
Reconciled against the settlement statement
The final sheet is checked line by line against the title company's statement before you sign. If a line moved, you hear why from me, not from the closer.
What the sheet looks like
Lines only. Your figures come from the title company, not from this page.
| Line | What drives it | Who confirms it |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | The contract, not the list price | Ratified contract |
| Mortgage and HELOC payoffs | Balance plus interest to the funding date | Lender payoff letter |
| State and county transfer taxes | Price, county, buyer's first-time status, contract split | Title company |
| Recordation tax | Price, county tiers, contract split | Title company |
| Settlement, deed prep, release, courier | Flat fees; do not scale with price | Title company |
| Property tax proration | Settlement date against the July–June tax year | Title company |
| HOA or condo dues, resale package, transfer fees | Association fee schedule and the contract | Association and title |
| Water, sewer, front-foot finals | Final reading or escrow; county or city practice | Title company |
| Brokerage compensation | Listing agreement; any offer to a buyer's broker | Listing agreement and contract |
| Seller concessions | Negotiated in the contract | Ratified contract |
| Inspection repairs or credit | The inspection response | Signed addendum |
| Home warranty | Whether one was offered or requested | Warranty invoice |
| Nonresident withholding | Residency on the day of sale; any exemption certificate | Title company and CPA |
| Net proceeds | Everything above | Settlement statement |
Two ways to list, explained before the kitchen table.
I would rather tell you this on a web page than at the kitchen table. Here is how I charge, why, and what the cancellation fee is for.
The full-service listing
The 21-page Seller Pricing Analysis, the ten-step Listing Distribution System, and the full Seller Toolkit. No hand-offs, from the first call to closing.
The listing fee is set in the agreement. A $1,500 cancellation fee applies if you withdraw the listing before the term ends.
The test-the-market listing
For a seller who wants to try a price above where the evidence lands. A reduced listing rate plus a $395 transaction fee, and the same marketing: the same analysis, the same distribution system, the same weekly report.
The same $1,500 fee applies regardless of outcome. A price test makes the sale more of a gamble, and the work is done up front whether or not the market agrees with the price.
Negotiable, and not set by law. All compensation on both options is negotiable. No rate here is fixed by law, by Samson Properties, or by any MLS. The listing fee, the transaction fee, and any offer to a buyer's broker are stated in the listing agreement, and the final terms are the ones you sign.
Why a cancellation fee: the analysis, photography, copy and launch are done in the first two weeks; if a listing ends early, that work was done without a sale. Why a second option: some sellers want to test a number, and I would rather structure that fairly than argue about it. The rate comes down because the odds are different; the fee stays because the work is not.
What sellers tend to forget.
Paperwork that takes time
- The HOA or condo resale packageAssociations are allowed time to produce it, and the buyer's review period does not start until it arrives. I order it early.
- The HELOC closure letterA line paid to zero is still an open lien. Your lender needs a signed request to close it before the payoff letter will come.
Money lines that move
- The water bill finalRequest the final reading for the settlement date, not your move-out day. An unpaid water bill becomes a lien.
- The Homestead creditMaryland's Homestead Tax Credit, like DC's deduction, does not transfer. Your buyer applies fresh, and their first full-year bill may be higher than yours.
What goes in the envelope
- Keys, openers and codesEvery key, garage opener, mailbox key, and the codes for any smart lock or alarm, delivered to the title company or to me.
- Your wire instructionsThe title company verifies wire instructions by phone. Never change them by email; that is how wire fraud happens.
The net sheet, answered.
Who pays transfer taxes in Maryland?
By custom, the state transfer, county transfer and recordation taxes are split evenly between buyer and seller unless the contract says otherwise. The one allocation set by state law is the first-time Maryland homebuyer case: the state transfer tax drops to 0.25% and the seller pays all of it.
How much is your commission?
It is negotiable and not set by law. The listing fee is stated in the listing agreement, along with whether any compensation is offered to a buyer's broker. I am happy to walk through it on a 15-minute call, and it appears as its own line on the net sheet.
Do I pay the buyer's agent?
Not by default. Whether you offer any compensation to a buyer's broker is your decision, written into the listing agreement, and buyers can also ask for it in their offer. Your choice appears on the sheet as its own line.
What is the cancellation fee for?
The pricing analysis, photography, copy and launch are done up front. If the listing is withdrawn before the term ends, that work was done without a sale, and the $1,500 fee is the honest price of it. On the test-the-market listing it applies regardless of outcome because a price test carries more risk from the start.
Can I sell "as is"?
Yes. The Maryland and DC contract forms allow an as-is sale, which means you are not agreeing to make repairs. It does not remove disclosure: Maryland sellers still provide a property condition disclosure or a disclaimer, and known latent defects must be disclosed either way. On the sheet, as-is tends to move money from the repair line to the price or the concession line.
What if I owe more than the home is worth?
Then the sheet shows a negative number, and it is far better to see that before we list than at the table. The options are to bring funds to settlement, to wait, or to talk with your lender about a short sale, which needs the lender's approval and takes longer. I run the sheet at several prices so you can take real numbers to your lender.
When do I get my money?
Typically the day of settlement or within a business day or two, once the buyer's lender has funded and the title company is ready to record. Most sellers take a wire. Your old lender's escrow refund arrives separately, usually within a few weeks.
See your proceeds before you see a sign.
Start with the instant estimate, or book a call and I will walk you through what a net sheet for your home would look like.
Equal Housing Opportunity. Michael Wade, REALTOR®, Samson Properties, licensed in Maryland and Washington, DC. 443-812-9980. This page is general information, not legal, lending or tax advice, and the Seller Net Sheet is not an appraisal. Transfer, recordation and withholding rates are as published by state, county and District offices on the date this page was written and are subject to change; confirm current rates and your exact figures with the title company and a CPA. Brokerage compensation is negotiable and not set by law; final terms are those in the signed listing agreement.