Two national reports out this week point the same direction: contract activity is cooling. That's useful context for testing a realistic sale price, not a verdict on what your house is worth.
Two fresh national reports point the same direction: fewer buyers are signing contracts. Redfin's September pending-sales report, released this week, showed contract signings down 4% from August after seasonal adjustment — the weakest reading in roughly a decade outside the 2020 pause. HousingWire's weekly count through October 9 ran 15.4% behind the same week a year ago. Different measures, different windows, but both point toward weaker contract activity. Freddie Mac's survey held the thirty-year fixed at 7.40% for a second week.
None of that tells you what your specific house will sell for, or what you would keep from it. Asking the sale price is necessary — you cannot plan without it — but it is only half the question. The other half is what lands after the costs.
The price is what the market says. What you keep is what the decision is about.
Between the sale price and the check are five lines: the mortgage payoff, brokerage compensation, New Jersey's Realty Transfer Fee, closing items (attorney, certificates, water and sewer, recording), and, above one million dollars, a second state fee on the whole price. Two are set by statute, one by agreement, and the rest are yours to know. None of them is a surprise once written down.
Eric walks the sheet line by line, sale price to payoff to the state's two fees, on the same calculator the card below opens. Eighty-four seconds; the example is a North Jersey house, the lines are the same at any price.
The same hypothetical seller, $285,000 still owed, 5% total brokerage planning default, Treasury transfer fees, $2,500 of closing estimates — run across a realistic low, middle and high sale price, the way you'd actually build that range from comps, not a county median.
| If it sells for | Costs incl. NJ fees | NJ transfer fees | Est. cash to you |
|---|---|---|---|
| $700,000 · low | $43,745 | $6,245 | $371,255 |
| $775,000 · middle | $48,290 | $7,040 | $441,710 |
| $850,000 · high | $52,835 | $7,835 | $512,165 |
| $1,050,000 · over the line | $75,680 | $20,680 | $689,320 |
Hypothetical low/middle/high, not a valuation. Build your own range from comparable closed sales and competing listings, not a countywide median. 'NJ transfer fees' is the Realty Transfer Fee plus, over $1,000,000, the Graduated Percent Fee (P.L. 2025, c.69) on the whole price. Planning estimates only; brokerage compensation is negotiable.
Change the payoff, the price, or the brokerage line and the estimate recomputes in your browser. No sign-up.
Weaker contract activity is exactly why a realistic sale price matters more than usual right now. That number should come from recent comparable closed sales and competing listings in your town and price band, not a countywide median — a median describes the mix of what sold, not your house.
Build a realistic low, middle and high for your home, then run all three. At a hypothetical $285,000 payoff, 5% total brokerage and about $2,500 of closing estimates, $700,000 nets roughly $371,300, $775,000 roughly $441,700, and $850,000 roughly $512,200. The point isn't which number is right — it's seeing your proceeds move across the range you can defend.
One more line worth knowing: since July 10, 2025, under New Jersey's P.L. 2025, c.69, a seller above $1,000,000 pays a Graduated Percent Fee on the entire price — 1% in the $1M–$2M band, rising in steps to 3.5% above $3.5M — on top of the ordinary transfer fee. At $1,050,000 that's $10,500 added to a $10,180 transfer fee.
Hypothetical worked range from the planning defaults at thedesilvateam.com/net, not a valuation of any specific property. Build your own low/middle/high from comparable closed sales and competing active listings in your town and price band — not a countywide median. Not an appraisal, not a settlement statement, not a quote. Brokerage compensation is negotiable. Over $1,000,000 the Graduated Percent Fee (P.L. 2025, c.69) applies to the whole price; the table in the USE card shows the step.
Five lines sit between the sale price and the check, and the two set by law are the two most sellers have never heard of.
If you are weighing a sale, run the sheet at your realistic low, middle and high, not the number you hope for, and read the brokerage line for what it is: set by agreement. If your house sits near $1,000,000, the fee step belongs in that pricing conversation from the start.
If you are selling to buy your next home, evaluate the two transactions separately. What you'd keep from this sale across your realistic range is one number; what the next home costs is another, and the two can give you different negotiating room. After reserves and the costs on this sheet, what's left may contribute toward the next purchase — it isn't automatically the down payment.
Run the sheet before the conversation about price, not after it.
In a hypothetical example with $285,000 still owed, a 5% total brokerage planning assumption, the Realty Transfer Fee ($7,040 at $775,000) and about $2,500 of estimated closing items, the seller keeps roughly $441,700. Change the payoff or the brokerage agreement and the figure moves; it is a planning estimate, not an appraisal or a settlement statement.
For residential transfers on or after July 10, 2025, the seller pays a Graduated Percent Fee on the entire price when it exceeds $1,000,000: 1% up to $2 million, 2% to $2.5 million, 2.5% to $3 million, 3% to $3.5 million and 3.5% above that. It is in addition to the ordinary Realty Transfer Fee, so a sale one dollar over $1,000,000 carries roughly $10,000 more in statutory fees than one at $1,000,000.
No. Brokerage compensation is set by agreement between the seller and the brokerage, not by law or by any brokerage. The net sheet defaults to a combined 5% so the estimate is honest, and lets you enter whatever you actually agree to.
Book a 15-minute call with Eric DeSilva or email hello@thedesilvateam.com.
Figures in this edition reflect data as of the original send date above and are not updated retroactively; treat this as dated market commentary, not a current snapshot. Rate and market data as cited in the original edition; imported from The DeSilva Team's newsletter archive.