$67K to sell a home? Consumers drastically underestimate the costs

Home sellers expect to spend about $18,500 on expenses, but the actual cost is more than $67,000, according to a new report from Clever Offers, a platform owned by Clever Real Estate.

The report found that on average, recent sellers spent:

• $21,024 on pre- and post-listing repairs and improvements
• $14,204 on seller’s agent commission
• $13,691 on buyer’s agent commission
• $8,217 on closing costs
• $5,277 on concessions to the buyer
• $2,439 on moving costs
• $2,393 on marketing and staging

That total is more than triple what sellers anticipated.

More than half (55%) said they were surprised by the costs — and nearly one-quarter (22%) went into debt to cover them. Forty percent reported feeling financially strained during the process.

In 2025, the average seller profit was $166,702 — up 14% from 2024. Still, 51% of those surveyed said their profits were lower than expected due to high expenses.

Other findings of the report include:

• 80% of sellers reported regrets, most commonly about agent commissions
• 67% of sellers who went without an agent believed they saved money, although only 68% of this group turned a profit versus 84% of those who used an agent.
• 81% of sellers who worked with agents said costs were clearly explained, versus 29% of those without representation.

Overall, 75% of sellers said they would have made different decisions had they known the true costs and believed they could have earned nearly $36,000 more on average.