Ready to Sell Your Home? Here’s What You Need to Know

Most Long Island sellers walk into their closing expecting a check. What they don’t expect is to watch $56,000 disappear before the wire hits their account.

That’s not a worst-case number. On a $700,000 home — right around the Long Island median — total selling costs routinely land between 8% and 10% of the sale price. Nobody hands you that figure at the listing appointment. You find it on the closing disclosure, when it’s too late to do anything about it. I think you deserve to see it coming.

Where the money actually goes

Sellers tend to think about commissions and nothing else. Commissions are the biggest line item, but they’re not the whole picture. Here’s the full breakdown on a $700,000 sale:

• Agent commissions: 5–6% — $35,000–$42,000. The largest cost by far, and the one most sellers assume is fixed.
• Closing costs: 1–3% — $7,000–$21,000. Transfer taxes, title insurance, attorney fees, prorated property taxes. Some of this is negotiable; most sellers don’t know that.
• Repairs and pre-sale prep: 1–2% — $7,000–$14,000. Paint, landscaping, minor repairs, professional staging, photography. What you spend here directly affects what you net — spent strategically, it pays for itself.
• Buyer concessions: 1–2% — $7,000–$14,000. Credits requested at inspection or as part of an offer. Common, especially in the current market.

Add it up: $56,000 to $91,000 on a single transaction. Most of that number is negotiable. Almost no one negotiates it.

The commission math — and why it finally changed

For decades, the 5–6% commission was the quiet assumption baked into every transaction. Sellers paid it. Nobody explained why that percentage — applied to the full sale price of an appreciating asset — was the right model for compensating an agent whose workload didn’t change much whether the house sold for $500,000 or $900,000.

A recent industry-wide rule change shifted how buyer agent compensation works. Buyers are now responsible for negotiating their own agent’s fee directly — it no longer has to be baked into the seller’s commission split. That creates real room to renegotiate what you pay, if you’re working with an agent who structures their business around seller savings rather than the traditional model.

This is exactly what the flat fee model was built for.

Closing costs: the fees sellers overlook

Beyond commissions, that 1–3% closing cost bucket covers real line items: New York State transfer tax (0.4% of sale price), any applicable mansion tax, title insurance, escrow and attorney fees, and property taxes prorated to the closing date. On Long Island, attorney representation at closing is standard — budget $1,500–$3,000 for that alone. A good agent reviews the closing disclosure before you sign. A great one helps you push back on fees that shouldn’t be there.

Pre-sale prep: what’s worth spending and what isn’t

Not every seller needs to spend $10,000 getting a home show-ready. But every seller needs a strategy. Professional photography is non-negotiable — it affects how many buyers even click through to your listing. Beyond that, the right moves depend entirely on your home, your price point, and your timeline. I’d rather spend an hour with a seller mapping out a targeted pre-sale plan than watch them drop $8,000 on staging that doesn’t move the needle.

Run your own numbers

The calculator below isn’t hypothetical — it shows exactly what you’d pay under each Maison Pawli package versus a traditional 6% commission, at any sale price. Move the slider to your number and see what you actually keep.

The sellers who come out ahead

They’re not the ones who got lucky with the market. They’re the ones who mapped out their full cost picture before listing — who knew what they’d spend, what they’d net, and where there was room to negotiate. They asked the hard questions at the listing appointment instead of the closing table.

If you’re selling on Long Island in the next six months, the single most valuable thing I can do is sit down with you and build that picture before you sign anything. No pressure, no pitch — just the numbers, clearly laid out, so you make the decision that’s right for you.

Start at maisonpawli.com.

Disclosure: Cost estimates are based on typical Long Island market conditions and are provided for informational purposes only. Actual costs vary by transaction. This post does not constitute legal or financial advice. Consult a licensed attorney and financial advisor before making real estate decisions.

Sources: New York State transfer tax rates via tax.ny.gov; Long Island median home price data referenced from general market reporting as of 2024–2025.