What Does It Actually Cost to Sell Your Home? A Full Breakdown

Every seller asks me the same first question: "Junaid, what's this actually going to cost?" Fair enough. You should know exactly what you're signing up for before you list, not after.

Here's the honest, line-by-line picture as at 2026. Every figure is indicative and every one comes with a range, because the honest answer depends on your home, your suburb and the campaign we agree on. Where I've quoted a specific number, it's a market average right now, not a fixed price.

1. Agent commission

The biggest single cost. On the Brisbane south side commission generally sits between **2% and 3% of the sale price plus GST**. The exact number depends on suburb, property type, and the marketing you choose.

The important part: **commission is only payable if your home sells.** No sale, no commission. That structure aligns my incentive with yours, and it should.

2. Marketing and advertising

This is where most confusion happens. Marketing is a separate line item from commission, and it's paid by the vendor whether the home sells or not.

A typical marketing budget on a south-side home in 2026 is **$3,000 to $6,000 plus**, depending on price point and campaign. That covers professional photography, video, floor plans, signboard, premium placements on realestate.com.au and Domain, targeted social media, and any print or brochures.

Higher price points usually justify a higher spend because the buyer pool is more spread out and harder to reach. A $2m home in Rochedale needs a different plan to a $900k home in Logan Reserve. I'll tailor a package to your property, not to a template.

3. Conveyancing and legal fees

You'll need a conveyancer or solicitor for the legal transfer. Budget **$1,200 to $2,500** for a standard residential sale on the south side in 2026.

That covers contract preparation, dealing with the buyer's solicitor, organising settlement, and lodging the transfer. I can refer you to conveyancers I work with regularly, or you're welcome to use your own.

4. Pre-sale preparation (optional)

Entirely up to you. Some homes need very little, some need a proper tidy-up to present at their best. Rough current ranges:

- Deep clean and declutter: **$500 to $1,500** - Professional styling: **$3,000 to $6,000** depending on home size and campaign length - Minor repairs, touch-up paint, pressure wash, garden tidy: **$500 to $3,000** - Carpet cleaning or replacement if needed: **$500 to $3,000**

You don't need all of it. Often you don't need any of it. Before you spend a dollar, walk the property with me and I'll tell you what's worth doing and what isn't. That advice is free and it's honest: spending money you shouldn't only takes from your net.

5. Discharge of mortgage and settlement adjustments

Your bank will charge a mortgage discharge fee, typically **$300 to $600**, plus a title release fee. Council rates, water and body corp (if applicable) are adjusted at settlement: you're refunded anything you've prepaid past the settlement date. These aren't costs so much as reconciliations, but they'll show up on the settlement statement.

A note on pay-later marketing

If cashflow is tight, you don't have to fund the marketing campaign up front. Ray White Rochedale offers CampaignAgent pay-later financing: **0% interest, up to $25,000 of marketing financed, a flat fee of 6.9% of the financed amount, paid at settlement.**

You can run the campaign your home deserves without writing a cheque before it starts. Ask me about it at your appraisal and I'll run the numbers for your specific situation.

What it all adds up to

For a typical south-side home selling for around $1m in 2026, **total selling costs usually land between $30,000 and $40,000 all in**. The biggest variable is the commission percentage, which depends on the campaign we agree on.

No hidden fees, no surprises. Every cost gets put on paper before you sign the agency agreement, and every invoice gets shown to you. That's how it should be, and that's how I run it.