The cost of selling a house in Massachusetts is typically in the range of seven to ten percent of the sale price when you include the real estate commission, and lower, around two percent or less, if you count only the non-commission closing costs. The exact number depends on your price, your payoff, and what you spend on prep, which is why every seller should see a written net sheet, with their own numbers, before they list.
The Big Item: Commission
The real estate commission is the largest selling cost and it is negotiable; there is no standard rate in Massachusetts. Commission is typically structured as a total percentage that covers the listing side and an offer of compensation to the buyer's side, and since the 2024 practice changes it is set out explicitly in your listing agreement and the purchase documents. Judge it against your net, not the percentage alone: the agent's pricing, prep guidance, marketing, and negotiation are what the fee buys, and those move your final number more than small differences in the rate.
The Massachusetts Closing Costs
The deed excise tax, often called tax stamps, is $4.56 per $1,000 of the sale price, paid by the seller in Massachusetts. On a $700,000 sale that is $3,192. Your attorney's fee for the sale side typically runs in the low thousands. Then the smaller items: the smoke and carbon monoxide detector certificate from the fire department, recording fees, a municipal lien certificate, payoff processing for your mortgage, and, if you are in a condo, the 6D certificate and any association document fees. If your home is on septic, a Title V inspection is part of the pre-sale picture, and any septic repair is a cost of its own category.
The Costs Sellers Forget
Prep and presentation: cleaning, paint, small repairs, maybe staging. Carrying costs during the sale: mortgage, taxes, insurance, and utilities until closing day. And your mortgage payoff itself, which is not a cost of selling but is the largest single deduction on the sheet, so see it in writing early. A good net sheet puts every one of these on one page, with your actual payoff, so the number you walk away with is a fact, not a feeling.
I prepare net sheets for Amesbury sellers free, alongside the valuation, so the cost question is answered with your numbers, not averages. Call Doherty Properties at (978) 746-0124 and ask for me, Chris Doherty.
Chris Doherty is one of the top-producing agents in the Merrimack Valley. He personally sells 100+ homes a year across Greater Lowell and the Merrimack Valley, with 3,000+ career transactions, and Doherty Properties, the company he leads, has handled over $1 billion in real estate transactions.
Doherty Properties LLC, 14 Jackson Street, Lowell, MA 01852 | 160 Main Street, Unit 7, Haverhill, MA 01830 | 4 Courthouse Lane, Suite 2, Chelmsford, MA 01824 | (978) 746-0124 | [email protected]
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