What Sellers in Columbus Actually Net at Closing
Your net proceeds equal your sale price minus your mortgage payoff, the Franklin County conveyance fee, title company fees, prorated property taxes, and any seller credits. Every line is negotiable or statutory; a personalized net sheet from your agent is the only way to know your real number.
How do I calculate my actual net proceeds when I sell my Columbus home?
Your net proceeds are your sale price minus every debit that appears on your closing statement: your mortgage payoff, the Franklin County real property conveyance fee and transfer tax, title company fees, prorated property taxes, recording fees, and any seller credits you agreed to in the contract. The gap between your accepted price and the check you walk away with surprises a lot of sellers, knowing the categories in advance keeps that surprise from becoming a shock at the closing table.
Key Takeaways
The regional Columbus and Central Ohio MLS median sale price was $350,000 in July 2026, up 2.3% year-over-year, according to Columbus REALTORS® data.
Franklin County's real property conveyance fee is $3 per $1,000 of sale price plus a $0.50 transfer tax, per the Franklin County Auditor, this is a statutory charge your agent cannot waive.
Ohio property taxes are paid in arrears, so sellers typically credit the buyer for the portion of the tax year they owned the home, which appears as a debit on your closing statement.
Broker compensation is fully negotiable and not set by law, there is no standard or customary rate, and any compensation offered to a buyer's agent is separately negotiable from the listing fee.
A personalized net sheet from your agent and title company is the only reliable way to estimate your actual proceeds, area medians and general categories are a starting point, not a final number.
Why is the amount I walk away with lower than my sale price?
This is the question I hear most often after a seller sees their first closing disclosure. The accepted price is the headline number, but your closing statement is a full accounting of every debit and credit tied to the transaction. By the time the title company wires your proceeds, several categories of costs have already come out.
Here is the sequence of deductions that typically appears on a Columbus-area seller's closing statement, in the order they reduce your gross sale price:
1. Your mortgage payoff
If you carry a first mortgage, second mortgage, or home-equity line of credit, those balances are paid off directly from your proceeds at closing. The title company requests a formal payoff statement from each lender, that figure includes your outstanding principal, any accrued interest through the closing date, and sometimes a small per-diem for the days between the payoff date and when funds actually clear. This is usually the largest single debit on the statement.
2. Broker compensation
Broker fees are fully negotiable and are not set by law, custom, or any standard rate. The listing-side fee is agreed between you and your listing agent in the listing agreement. Any compensation you choose to offer a buyer's agent is optional and separately negotiable, it does not automatically flow from the listing fee, and it is no longer advertised on the MLS. If you want to know what these fees would look like in your specific situation, that conversation happens directly with me, not on a blog.
3. The Franklin County real property conveyance fee and transfer tax
This one surprises sellers who assume it is part of the title company's fee, it is not. The Franklin County Auditor administers a statutory real property conveyance fee of $3 per $1,000 of sale price, plus a flat $0.50 transfer tax on non-exempt transfers. The $3 rate is composed of $1 per $1,000 mandated by the State of Ohio and $2 per $1,000 set by the Franklin County Board of Commissioners (last updated August 2019, with the Auditor's calculator confirmed current as of August 2026).
One important exception: if you qualify for the homestead property tax exemption at the time of transfer, the county's permissive $2 portion is waived, reducing your conveyance fee to $1 per $1,000, but the $0.50 transfer tax still applies. Certain exempt transfers (family transfers, no-consideration deeds) pay only the $0.50 flat tax. Your title company determines exemption status and prepares the documentation for the Auditor.
Third-party calculators sometimes show a different rate for Franklin County, the Franklin County Auditor's official calculator is the authoritative source, not aggregator sites.
4. Title company fees and closing costs
The title company handles the mechanics of your closing, title search, title commitment, deed preparation, lien payoffs, recording, and the actual wire transfer of your proceeds. Their seller-side charges typically include a closing or settlement fee, and depending on what your purchase contract specifies, you may also be responsible for the owner's title insurance premium. That last item is negotiable in Ohio contracts, sometimes the seller pays it, sometimes the buyer does, and sometimes it is split. Your contract controls.
Recording fees for the deed and any mortgage releases are also collected by the title company and remitted to the county. These are set by the county recorder, not by the title company.
5. Prorated property taxes
Ohio taxes real property in arrears, meaning you pay this year's taxes next year. When you sell, the title company calculates the portion of the current tax year (and sometimes the prior cycle) that you owned the property, and that amount is credited to the buyer on the closing statement as a debit to you. Franklin County and most Central Ohio counties run two tax cycles per year, so the proration can cover a meaningful chunk of the calendar depending on your closing date.
This line item is one of the most variable on the statement, it depends on your property's assessed value, your closing date, and which tax cycle is currently open. I always walk my clients through the proration estimate before we get to closing so there are no surprises.
6. Seller credits negotiated in the contract
If you agreed to give the buyer a credit toward closing costs, repairs, or a rate buy-down, that amount shows up as a debit on your statement. Seller credits are a common negotiating tool in Central Ohio, particularly when inspection findings come up or when a buyer needs help with upfront costs. Every dollar in credits directly reduces your net, so it is worth running the math with your agent before agreeing to any credit amount.
What do current home prices look like across Central Ohio?
Knowing where your home sits in the market is the foundation of any net-proceeds estimate. According to Columbus REALTORS® data summarized in an August 2026 market report, the regional median sales price across the Columbus and Central Ohio MLS was $350,000 in July 2026, up 2.3% year-over-year, with 3,083 closed sales, a 6.3% increase from the prior year. A May 2026 Columbus Dispatch report citing National Association of REALTORS® data placed the Columbus metro median at $341,700 in Q1 2026, a 6.2% year-over-year gain that outpaced the national average.
The spread across submarkets is wide. Recent local market data (trailing roughly 90 days, as of September 2026) shows area-level medians across the communities I work in:
AreaMedian Sale PriceMedian Days on MarketLewis Center$549,05549Powell$540,00045Dublin$590,00035Westerville$455,00034Delaware$440,00041Upper Arlington$665,00052New Albany$617,45049Orange Township$581,50063
These are area-level medians, your specific home's value depends on condition, street, build year, and timing. A $665,000 median in Upper Arlington does not mean every home there sells at that price, and the same is true across every submarket. The only way to know where your home lands is a current comparative market analysis, not a headline figure.
It is also worth knowing that different data sets tell slightly different stories. Redfin's Columbus city data through July 2026 shows a median closer to $304,000, while Resideline's six-month Columbus dataset through mid-July 2026 shows a median of $260,000 with a wide spread across price tiers. City-only figures pull in a lot of entry-level inventory that does not reflect suburban submarkets like Lewis Center, Powell, or Dublin. When you are estimating your net, use a market analysis anchored to your specific neighborhood, not a citywide average.
How to build your own net-proceeds worksheet
A net sheet is not a guarantee, it is an estimate built from the best available information before closing. Here is the structure I use with every seller I work with in Central Ohio.
Step 1: Start with your gross contract price
This is the number on the accepted purchase agreement. Everything else is a deduction from this figure.
Step 2: Subtract your mortgage payoff(s)
Call your lender or check your online account for a current balance, then add a few days of per-diem interest to account for the time between your payoff request and your closing date. Your title company will request the official payoff figure once you are under contract.
Step 3: Subtract the conveyance fee and transfer tax
Using the Franklin County Auditor's conveyance fee calculator, you can calculate the statutory $3 per $1,000 plus the $0.50 transfer tax directly from your expected sale price. If you qualify for the homestead exemption, note the reduced rate. This is a fixed statutory charge, it is not negotiable and your agent cannot waive it.
Step 4: Subtract title company fees
Your title company will provide a preliminary closing disclosure or fee estimate once you are under contract. Seller-side charges typically include the settlement fee, any owner's title insurance premium assigned to you in the contract, and recording fees for the deed and any lien releases. Ask for an itemized estimate early in the process so nothing catches you off guard.
Step 5: Subtract prorated property taxes
Your title company calculates this based on your county's tax records and your closing date. Because Ohio taxes are paid in arrears, expect a credit to the buyer for the portion of the year you owned the home. The earlier in the tax cycle you close, the larger this proration tends to be.
Step 6: Subtract broker compensation
As noted above, this is negotiable and agreed in your listing agreement. Include the listing-side fee and any buyer-agent compensation you have agreed to offer. These are not fixed rates, discuss them directly with me.
Step 7: Subtract any seller credits
Add up every credit you agreed to in the contract: repair credits, closing cost assistance, rate buy-down contributions. Each one reduces your net dollar-for-dollar.
Step 8: Your estimated net proceeds
What remains after all of the above is your estimated net. The title company will produce a final closing disclosure before closing day that shows every line item. If the preliminary net sheet and the final disclosure differ materially, ask your agent to walk you through the changes before you sign.
I run this worksheet with every seller before we even list, so we go into the process with clear eyes. If you are considering a sale and want a real number based on your specific home, that conversation starts with a market analysis and a personalized net sheet, not a blog post.
One more thing worth knowing before you list: if you have received a cash offer from an investor or "we buy houses" company, understanding what those offers actually net you compared to a traditional sale is a critical part of the same calculation. The headline offer is rarely the full story.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the real property conveyance fee in Franklin County, and does the buyer or seller pay it?
Franklin County's conveyance fee is $3 per $1,000 of sale price plus a $0.50 transfer tax, per the Franklin County Auditor. In practice, it is typically treated as a seller cost in Central Ohio transactions, but who pays it is negotiable between the parties and controlled by your purchase contract, confirm the allocation in your own agreement rather than assuming a default.
How do prorated property taxes work when I sell my home in Central Ohio?
Ohio collects property taxes in arrears, meaning this year's taxes are not due until next year. When you sell, the title company credits the buyer for the portion of the current tax year you owned the home, and that credit appears as a debit on your closing statement. The exact amount depends on your property's assessed value, your county's tax rate, and your closing date, your title company calculates it from official county tax records.
What fees does the title company charge the seller at closing in Columbus?
Seller-side title company charges typically include a closing or settlement fee, recording fees for the deed and any mortgage releases, and potentially the owner's title insurance premium if your contract assigns that cost to you. The title company also collects and remits the statutory conveyance fee and transfer tax to the county, but those are pass-through charges, not the title company's own fee. Ask for an itemized preliminary fee estimate as soon as you are under contract.
Are seller closing costs and credits negotiable in Ohio, or is there a standard list?
Most items are negotiable. The conveyance fee and transfer tax are statutory and fixed by law, those are not negotiable. Everything else, including who pays owner's title insurance, whether the seller provides a credit, and broker compensation, is determined by your purchase contract and listing agreement. There is no standard allocation in Ohio; it is all deal-specific.
Do I still have to pay the conveyance fee if I qualify for the homestead exemption in Franklin County?
Yes, but at a reduced rate. If you qualify for the homestead property tax exemption at the time of transfer, Franklin County waives the permissive $2 per $1,000 portion, reducing your conveyance fee to $1 per $1,000, but the flat $0.50 transfer tax still applies, per the Franklin County Auditor. Your title company will confirm your exemption status and prepare the proper documentation for the Auditor's office.
Why does my Zillow or online estimate not match what I actually net?
Automated valuation tools estimate market value, not net proceeds. They do not account for your mortgage payoff, conveyance fees, title charges, prorated taxes, broker compensation, or any seller credits, all of which come out before you see a dollar. According to Zillow's own home-value index, their figures are based on algorithmic modeling, not actual closing data, and can diverge from MLS sale prices. A personalized net sheet built from your actual contract terms is the only reliable picture of what you will walk away with.
If you want to see how your area compares to the broader Columbus market right now, the June 2026 Columbus housing market update is a good place to start.
The gap between your accepted price and your net proceeds is predictable once you know the categories. What is not predictable from a blog post is your specific number, that depends on your mortgage balance, your closing date, your contract terms, and your home's market value. I build personalized net sheets for every seller I work with in Lewis Center, Powell, Dublin, Upper Arlington, and across Central Ohio before we ever put a sign in the yard.
Ready to see your real number? Request a seller consultation and I'll put together a net sheet built around your home.
About Chrisi Hagan
Chrisi Hagan is a REALTOR® with the Collins Lassiter Group at Red 1 Realty, serving Columbus and Central Ohio. Ranked in the top 1% of Columbus MLS agents, she specializes in helping buyers and sellers, including those rightsizing, relocating, and military families, make confident moves across Lewis Center, Powell, Dublin, Westerville, Upper Arlington, New Albany, and the broader Central Ohio region.
Equal Housing Opportunity. Chrisi Hagan is licensed as a Real Estate Salesperson in Ohio, regulated by the Ohio Division of Real Estate & Professional Licensing. This article is general information only and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Confirm your own costs and net proceeds with your title company, tax advisor, or lender. Broker compensation is fully negotiable and not set by law.
