Cost of Selling a Home

New analysis finds that the average homeowner spends about $20,851 to sell their home, and that most of the cost comes from taxes, fees, and agent commissions.

In fact, more than two-thirds of the cost are related to commissions, sales and transfer taxes, translating to about $14,281 for the median home, according to Zillow and Thumbtack's data. The lowest seller costs in the study was in St. Louis, with an average $13,704, while the lowest closing costs in the study were in Cleveland and Indianapolis, $9,046 and $9,858, respectively.

In San Jose, Calif., the cost of selling the typical home is an astonishing $83,770, in part because of its sky-high median home value of $1.2 million, which brings closing costs (taxes plus commissions) to $76,015. Professional help with home preparation and local moving costs are substantial as well in Silicon Valley, summing to an average of $7,755—behind only Sacramento, where prep costs come to $7,840 but closing costs are a more moderate $24,990.